A city councillor is encouraging the public to take part in #Gaeltober, an initiative for people to use Irish on social media and in their daily lives throughout the month of October.
Social Democrats Galway City East councillor Owen Hanley said #Gaeltober was “a great opportunity” for those looking to learn more Irish. “If you’re looking to get involved via social media just grab Duolingo and participate,” he said.
Cllr Hanley said there was a perception that people attempting to use what Irish they have, but who were not fluent, would be corrected, or worse, chastised for the smallest mistake. “The Irish community understands you are not always fluent,” he said, “Irish Twitter users are always happy to help others putting in effort to learn Irish.”
For #Gaeltober, Cllr Hanley said he would do “nearly daily posts” in Irish. “As a councillor for Galway City, the only bilingual city in Ireland, I’m very passionate about putting an emphasis on the Irish language,” he said, “particularly when it comes to efforts to making the language relevant in modern settings. Galway Pride had its first fully bilingual Pride this year carried forward by the work of the LGBT+ Gaelgeoir group Anseo and Aiteach, and we were able to show how Irish matters to people today.”
