Gradam Gnó na nDéise

Gradam Gnó na nDéise is an awards scheme to recognise businesses in Dungarvan and West Waterford that develop and use the Irish language as part of their business. It is a joint initiative between the Irish Office of Waterford County Council and local Gaeltacht community development company, Comhlucht Forbartha na nDéise. The scheme is being actively supported by West Waterford Chamber of Commerce.

The scheme is intended to encourage businesses to use the Irish language as a marketing and business tool, through raising awareness of the economic and cultural benefits of promotion and usage of Irish. Waterford County Council and Comhlucht Forbartha na nDéise are delighted to be able to announce prizes of free advertising for the category winners in this year’s Gaeilge & Gnó, thanks to the generous sponsorship of local newspapers, the Dungarvan Leader and the Dungarvan Observer.

A business can enter itself, or another company or a customer can nominate a business. Entrants can work on the further development of the Irish language in their businesses with support from both Comhlucht Forbartha na nDéise and Waterford County Council. Judging will take place in April 2011, with the winners being announced around Easter 2011.

For more information on Gradam Gnó na nDéise, you can watch a short news piece from Nuacht TG4.

You can download the information leaflet at the bottom of this page.

You can also download a nomination/entry form for Gradam Gnó na nDéise 2010/2011 at the bottom of this page.

Gradam Gnó na nDéise - Advantages

There are many ways in which you can use Irish to enhance your business and to give you an ‘edge’ over your competitors. Studies have proven that marketing and promotion of a business and an area as an Irish language cultural location is also attractive to visitors and tourists, and brings with it economic and tourism benefits. Foras na Gaeilge has plenty of information on the advantages of using Irish in business.

GNÓ Means Business – Match Funding Available

Foras na Gaeilge is the body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language throughout the whole island of Ireland. It has a wonderful section called GNÓ means Business on its website, where you can find a wealth of information on support services relating to using Irish in your business. 

Foras na Gaeilge is committed to supporting the Business Community in the practical business application of Irish through schemes such as the ‘Bilingual Signage Scheme’ and the ‘Bilingual Materials Scheme’. Match funding is available to SMEs for bilingual/Irish signage. Foras has developed a wide range of business support aids, most of which are available free of charge and there is an extensive collection of bilingual templates which can be downloaded free from their website.

Improving your Language Skills for Business

As well as using Irish in signage, stationary, flyers, menus and other promotional literature, you can introduce a basic element of Irish into the way you do business with your customers. Whether you are fluent or have the cúpla focal, there are basic ways to introduce an element of bilingualism over the counter, adding to the cultural ethos of your business.

There are Irish language classes available locally, at different levels:

Irish Classes every Monday and Thursday in Gaeltacht na nDeise for beginners, improvers and intermediate levels. €10 per class. Week-long summer classes also available.

Informal Conversation Circle meets every Tuesday. People of all levels of competency and those who would just like to listen to Irish being spoken are welcome!

Spend a Day in the Gaeltacht! – A day of language awareness, music and/or dance workshops, bus-tour of areas of historic and/or cultural interest, and evening traditional music session. Lunch and Supper provided. Bookings for groups of 15 or more. Other activities and accommodation can be arranged depending on demand. Contact Cabríní de Barra, Development Officer with Comhlacht Forbartha na Gaeltachta for details on all of the above. Tel: 087-6532044 or e-mail: cabrini@o2.ie

Conversational Irish Classes are also provided by the Co. Waterford VEC in Dungarvan at Coláiste Chathail Naofa. You can download the current programme of Night Classes from their website.  Contact Adult Education Officer, Danny Cunningham for details on (058) 41195 or dannycunningham17@yahoo.com 

Other Supports

Foras na Gaeilge has produced a very handy pack of support materials to get you started in the promotion of Irish in your business. Entitled “Making Irish work for your Business”, the pack (which is free of charge) contains a range of custom designed business support aids, such as stickers, small indoor signs, business card holders, advice and other tools to make Irish more visible in your shop/business.  You can order this pack directly from Foras na Gaeilge’s website, or contact Máire Seó Breathnach, Waterford County Council (msbreathnach@waterfordcoco.ie) or Cabríní de Barra, Comhlacht Forbartha na nDéise (cabrini@o2.ie) , who can also source a pack for you.

Foras na Gaeilge has also published a very handy ‘Lámhleabhar Miondíola’ (Retail Handbook), which is a simple guide to the use of the Irish language in the retail industry, giving vocabulary for different types of businesses (bakers, butchers, book shops, hardware, pharmacy etc..) See www.gaeilge.ie for more details.

Cúpla Focal

Here are a few basic phrases/words that might come in handy to get you started:

Irish Phrase & Phonetic pronunciation	English meaning
Dia dhuit, an féidir liom cabhrú leat? [Dee-ah gut, un fay-dir lum cow-roo lath?]	Hello, can I help you?
Conas atá tú? [Ku-nass a-taw too?]	How are you?
Ba mhaith liom..... [Buh woh lum....]	I would like......
Tá sé fuar/fliuch/te..... [Taw shay foor/fluck/teh...]	It’s cold/wet/hot
Más é do thoil é [Maw-shay duh hull ay]	Please...
Go raibh maith agat [Guh rev moh ag-ut]	Thank you

 

Gradam Gnó Entry Form & Info

For more information on Gradam Gnó na nDéise, and to download a nomination/entry form for this year's Gradam, please click on either of the links below.

Gradam Gnó - Information Leaflet: Gradam Gnó_Bileog Eolais (Gradam Gnó_Bileog Eolais, 214 kbs)  

Gradam Gnó - Nomination/Entry Form: Gradam Gnó_Foirm Ainmniú (Foirm Ainmniúcháin do Ghradam Gnó 2010-2011, 97 kbs)