merrion street

Cuan Ó Seireadáin, Chairman Raidió na Life, Foras na Gaeilge Chief Executive Seán Ó Coinn and Muiris Ó Fiannachta, Station Manager of Raidió na Life with an Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. 

A new period in the history of Foras na Gaeilge was marked as An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD opened Foras na Gaeilge’s new head office at 63-66 Amiens Street at a special event tonight.  An Taoiseach toured the new offices which include new Raidió na Life studios and was very impressed by the facilities. Government Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of Culture with responsibility for Gaeilge, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Joe McHugh TD, accompanied An Taoiseach at the event.                              

Foras na Gaeilge Chief Executive Seán Ó Coinn said,

“I am delighted that we have found a permanent home for our Dublin staff, who had been previously located in two separate offices, especially given the present high demand for office space in the capital. We have now found a long-term office space, close to the city centre and public transport hubs, which will be easily accessible for the public and staff alike. The offices are suitable for the nature of Foras na Gaeilge’s work, and have facilities the public can use. I hope that the city’s Irish language community can make this building their own as they did 7 Merrion Square, and we can therefore create a new history for the building in what is Bliain na Gaeilge 2018 … the beginning of a new era for the Irish language in the capital.”

Ó Coinn gave particular recognition to former Chief Executive Ferdie Mac an Fhailigh, who saw the need for and started the search for a new head office as far back as 2015, and to all, both staff members, board members and others, who had an input into the move to Amiens Street.

A mix of employees, former employees, current and former board members, ministers and departments of state, lead organisations and Irish language organisations as well as organisations based in the area attended the launch of the head office of the all-island organisation in Dublin 1. Gráinne McElwain, television producer and presenter and current board member of Foras na Gaeilge, lead the proceedings as bean an tí. Award winning Irish language band IMLÉ brought the event to a close with a special performance of the song Críochfort, which won Song of the Year at Nós Music Awards 2017.