Appointments made to the Board of the North South Language Body

Appointments made to the Board of the North South Language Body

The thirteenth North South Ministerial Council Institutional Meeting was held today, Friday, 13th September, in Dublin Castle, Dublin.

The Council approved the appointments of new Board Members to the Language Body, including two members nominated by the Irish Government. Gemma Ní Chionnaith and Mairéad Ní Ghabháin were appointed to the Board of Foras na Gaeilge, one of the agencies of the North South Language Body, for a four-year term.

Speaking about these appointments today, Minister Catherine Martin and Minister of State Thomas Byrne said they were happy that new board members with a range of skills and experience were being appointed to the Board of Foras na Gaeilge, and that they hoped the organisation would be able to make further progress now that meetings of the North South Ministerial Council were being held once again.

It is expected that the next meeting for the language sector of the North South Ministerial Council will be held later in the autumn.

ENDS

Biographical note - Nomination to the Board of Foras na Gaeilge

Gemma Ní Chionnaith

Gemma Ní Chionnaith is from Indreabhán in the Conamara Gaeltacht. She undertook various courses at the University of Galway and the University of Limerick over the years, 6 of which were spent studying through the medium of Irish.

It is this strong academic background which shaped her career, working as an Irish language broadcaster for more than 20 years. During this time, Gemma has presented a range of different programmes for TV and radio, including Rugbaí Beo and Seó Spóirt on TG4.

In recognition of her significant work in the field of radio, she was awarded Oireachtas na Gaeilge’s Radio Personality of the Year award for her work on Géill Slí on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta.

Gemma is passionate about the growth and development of Irish, hoping to use her wide experience and expertise in Irish language education and broadcasting to promote the mission of Foras na Gaeilge.

Mairéad Ní Ghabháin

Mairéad is a solicitor and partner at the law firm Matheson LLP. She achieved a bachelor’s degree in civil law and a master’s degree in commercial law in University College Dublin before qualifying as a solicitor in 2011.

Mairéad is the representative for language communities outside of the Gaeltacht on the Irish Language Services Advisory Committee which was established in 2022, under Section 8, of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act, 2021.

She attained a Higher Diploma in Lawyer-Linguistics and Legal Translation from the King’s Inns in 2011. She has spent years as an instructor and examiner for the Law Society of Ireland’s Irish language courses. In 2014, she was appointed to the Irish Legal Terms Advisory Committee as the representative of the Law Society of Ireland. She was a founding member of Borradh, a community of business leaders wishing to put the Irish language at the heart of their professional life.

She is from An Cheathrú Rua in Conamara and lives in Dublin.