Astronauts, Queens and Bandits Promote Irish in TG4 Campaign

TG4 has launched a quirky new advertising campaign featuring an eclectic bunch of celebrities including drag queen Panti Bliss, astronaut Chris Hadfield, Rubberbandit ‘Blindboy Boatclub’, women’s rugby sensation Sene and weather presenter Caitlín Nic Aoidh, to encourage everyone to use and celebrate whatever Irish they have.

The ‘Tá Gaeilge Agam’ campaign, has been devised in collaboration with award winning advertising agency Publicis, as part of TG4’s involvement with ‘Bliain na Gaeilge’. This is a government backed initiative to support the Irish language during 2018. 

‘Tá Gaeilge Agam’ is an attention grabbing, fun, multi-media campaign on print, television, radio, online and outdoor media. It is directed at all levels of ‘Gaeilgeoir’, to inspire us all to use our Irish whether we have a ‘cúpla focal’, like Spaceman Hadfield, who famously tweeted ‘as Gaeilge’ while orbiting the earth, or we are ‘líofa’ like multi-talented Donegal native, Caitlín Nic Aoidh.

In a social media post supporting the initiative, Irish women’s star rugby star Sene Naoupu says: ‘I come from New Zealand and speak fluent Samoan. When we lived in Japan, we also learnt and spoke fluent Nihongo (Japanese). When we lived in England we spoke English. So naturally when we moved to Ireland, which has become our home, we immersed ourselves into the Irish culture and that includes understanding the proud history and identity that is Gaeilge! All too often, particularly as a sporting nation, we take pride in our Irishness yet don’t extend that pride in our language’.

TG4 is calling on people to follow Sene’s and the other celebrities’ lead, to like & share the media, use the ‘twibbon’, as well as taking up the challenge themselves to speak whatever Irish you have loudly & proudly, wherever you are.

Creative Director of TG4, Seán Cathal Ó Coileáin says, ‘The Irish language needs to be relevant, inclusive and diverse if we are to embrace a new wave of people who are interested, but a little apprehensive about speaking our language. This campaign is TG4’s fun way of calling all of these people to positive action’.