As Gaeilge on the air

The Gael Linn radio competition brings students into contact with Irish in a vibrant and effective way. It could be the first step for those looking for a career on the airwaves, writes John Holden.

MOST STUDENTS WILL tell you that the future of the Irish language depends on how relevant it is made to their everyday lives. If its old-fashioned and dated image could be purged, they say, more Irish people would be keen to use the language on a regular basis.

The media is a good place to start. Gael Linn's radio competition is proving popular with Transition Year students; entrants are expected to produce an Irish radio programme of between 15 and 20 minutes on a subject of their choice. There are two categories, one for gaelscoileanna and another for English-speaking schools.

The 2008 winners in the English-speaking category were a group of TY students from Muckross Park College in Donnybrook, Dublin 4. Their Irish teacher, Declan Mullany, says it was hard work but well worth it in the end. "The kids said it was much more work than they anticipated," he says. "In order to get it right, they needed to produce several drafts, both written and recorded. They thoroughly enjoyed it but a long number of hours were put in to get it right.

"Gael Linn is to be applauded for organising a project that really grabs the attention of the pupils. For what the students put in they got a huge amount out."

So what does it take to achieve success? A good grasp of Irish is only half of it. Technical know-how in relation to recording and editing is also important. "We had to write a script and then record it," explains Keelin Dowd (16) of Muckross Park College. "The recording side of things caused us a lot of difficulty. We weren't sure how to go about it. We didn't have much equipment in the school so it was up to us to just learn how to do it."

Necessity is the mother of invention, so in the end the students had to improvise. "We tried a few different microphones but none of them worked with our laptop," says Anna Cagney (17). "Some were too loud and some were too quiet. So we had to use a video camera to record our sound. It worked out okay."

Gael Linn stresses how important it is for students not to get bogged down in the technical. "Different schools have different equipment," says Niamh de Búrca of Gael Linn. "In general we accept entries on audio CDs but even a tape will do."

So content rather than format is what's important. "We could talk about anything so we decided to talk about our school and the environment," says Keelin Dowd. "We're trying to get a green flag in Muckross Park at the moment so it was very topical among the students."

Sorcha Ní Dhuill (16) was presenter for the winning show. "It was great. I just chatted away to the different guests on the show and introduced all the topics. It was important to make it sound like a radio programme so the Irish needed to be fluent and come naturally. That was difficult as we were working from a script. But I think overall it turned out fine."

Indeed it did. In fact, for all the students' concerns about the technical side of their programme, judges for the competition highlighted the high standard of editing and technique used. "Their presentation was very good," says Niamh de Búrca. "As was the actual broadcast - they created a very relaxed atmosphere and there was a good sort of rhythm to the programme, which is difficult to achieve. The actual discussion of green issues was also very informative and the development of the themes was very good.

"They also displayed some good technical skills like back-announcing ," she adds. "They used voiceovers and fading too. All in all, the sound editing was very good."

THE GAEL LINN radio competition has a tendency to excite students and really brings the language to life for them, which is the best opportunity the language has if it is to thrive outside of Gaeltacht areas.

"One of the downsides of Irish at the moment is that the curriculum feels old-fashioned," argues Sorcha Ní Dhuill. "We sit in class learning about poems written decades ago. But the radio competition makes you come in contact with Irish in a real way and improve your spoken language by talking about complicated issues, like the environment."

Anna Cagney believes that we need to change our approach to the way we teach the language in schools. "It needs to be made more accessible to young people in class," she stresses. "Grammar and essays are all important. But it has to be made part of our everyday lives. People need to be aware of what's out there. There are loads of great programmes on TG4 and Raidió Na Gaeltachta that address young people's issues. But many students don't even know about them. I really enjoy languages and I certainly want to be talking Irish forever."

The deadline for registrations for the 2009 Gael Linn radio competition is Jan 23, 2009. Finished programmes must be in by Feb 13, 2009. For more information, see www.gael-linn.ie