Meitheal Chill Dara Irish language conference on March 6

For the second year running, Cill Dara le Gaeilge, in partnership with Sallins-based community group Sult na Sollán, is organising Meitheal Chill Dara, an Irish language conference for County Kildare.

This annual conference focuses on language planning in County Kildare and is the only county-wide language planning event of its kind in Ireland. Meitheal Chill Dara provides an excellent networking opportunity for the Irish language community, for language activists, for service providers, for businesses and for anyone with a general interest in the development of the Irish language within the county – to share news, to exchange ideas and to talk about plans for the year ahead. The event provides a platform to promote upcoming events, to share best practices and to listen to key-note speakers. The event will be hosted virtually this year on Zoom on March 6 and anyone can register here.

Cill Dara le Gaeilge is the lead organisation for Irish language planning in County Kildare. The process of drafting the first ever Irish language plan for Co. Kildare started back in 2017 in cooperation with Sult na Sollán. A series of workshops, surveys and community meetings were arranged with multiple drafts being written and re-written before the final version of the first ever county-wide plan for County Kildare was launched on 28th February 2019 in Áras Chill Dara, Naas. The plan and video highlights from this launch event are available online. Cill Dara le Gaeilge aims to support local firms who wish to promote their business through the Irish language as well as supporting community groups that organize Irish language events in the county.

Meitheal Chill Dara will start at 14:30 on Saturday, March 6. It is a great honour for Cill Dara le Gaeilge that the event will feature a statement of support from Minister Catherine Martin and also from Minister of State Jack Chambers. The Irish language officer from Kildare County Council will also address attendees. The schedule will have plenty of representation from groups and community activists from all parts of the county and will also feature keynote speeches from Victor Bayda, who is an Irish language planning officer for Ghaeltacht Uíbh Ráthaigh and also from Caoimhín ó hEaghra, Ardrúnaí An Foras Pátrúnachta. Colm Ó Mongáin from RTÉ will the fear an tí hosting proceedings on the day.