Raidió heads

Every year Gael Linn, the Irish-language organisation, runs a radio competition, Comórtas Clár Raidió, with RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, for secondary schools.

By putting together 15- to 20-minute programmes on a subject, and in a style, of their choice, students have a chance to practise their Irish while getting a glimpse into the world of radio.

The first part of the competition is divided

in two, with sections for Irish- and English-language schools; then the best of each go head to head for the national prizes.

Last year's overall winner was Gaelcholáiste Reachrann, in Donaghmede, north Dublin, where students made a documentary about a new organisation at the school. "Students in fifth year set up a business to help get more people speaking Irish, called Béal na nGael," says 17-year-old Laura Ní Chathasaigh. "It is for anyone who wants to speak even a little bit of Irish. There is no test, and it is simply a way of showing your enthusiasm for Gaeilge.

"I was the interviewer," says Laura. "We interviewed the teacher and students involved and based the show on how they put together their company."

The students won €600 to spend on recording equipment for their school. Parts of their documentary were also broadcast on RTÉ.

Micheál Ó Rúis, who researched the programme, sees the media as an excellent way to promote Irish. "It's a good way of getting to a large number of people all at once," he says. "If it was up to me I would promote Irish more through the medium of TV - maybe have an Irish slot as part of the main six o'clock news. Even if presenters said hello and goodbye in Irish it would encourage more people to speak it in their everyday lives."

Clongowes Wood College, in Co Kildare, came second with a programme on rugby at the school, including the highs and lows of its Leinster Schools Senior Cup team.

"The show was 15 minutes long," says Seán Carmody, who is now in fifth year. "There was a combination of music and interviews. We recorded our school's cheerleading team singing rugby songs and also played recordings of other well-known chants. In between we had various interviews with the coaches and players of the Senior Cup team."

The students were invited to Raidió na Gaeltachta, in Co Galway, where they had lunch with teams from other winning schools, were presented with €400 and heard part of their documentary being broadcast.

The same students are going to enter the competition again this year. "In TY we got to improve our oral Irish through more extracurricular activities," says Seán. "As well as the radio project we also wrote a film script in Irish. Those kinds of exercises are so much more exciting than grammar and are also really good experience for younger people. We enjoyed doing it and showed that we could communicate in Irish, so our interest in the language has grown."

• The closing date for registration for this year's competition is this Friday; finished programmes must be with Gael Linn by February 22nd. See www.gaellinn.com or contact Niamh de Búrca on 01-6753303. Gael Linn offers two other schemes for TY students: a multimedia course, held weekly at its Dublin headquarters (€125), and a residential film-making course in Co Mayo (€260). Contact Martina on 01-6753293 or Daithí on 01-6753306