Some of the participants at the Wikimedia Community Ireland Rising Voices Workshop at the National library of Ireland. CC BY-SA 4.0.

The following article is republished as part of a collaboration with Wikimedia Community Ireland and was originally published on their website on July 28, 2025. 

On July 14, 2025, Wikimedia Community Ireland hosted a Rising Voices Digital Activism Workshop for 20 participants at the National Library of Ireland.

Those in attendance included a range of stakeholders from the Irish language media and technology community.  We were joined by educators, representatives from Conradh na Gaeilge (a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide), Tuarisc.ie, GaelGoer, ADAPT’s eSTÓR project team (aimed to improve machine translation and promote digital language equality in Europe), Raidió na Life, Raidió Rí-Rá, along with Irish language content creators.

Open knowledge is important for maintaining inclusivity, accessibility and diversity in the information we consume. It plays a key role in helping to dismantle a society in which certain traditions, beliefs, voices, heritage, ethnicities, or languages are valued or dominant over others.

Consequently, Irish language outreach is a key element of our work. Vicipéid, the Irish language Wikipedia, offers a valuable place for the Irish language to thrive in a community setting in the digital space. We were delighted to join Rising Voices’ international collaboration to co-host the workshop with the National Library of Ireland.

About Rising Voices and the UNESCO Digital Activism Toolkit

Rising Voices is a Global Voices outreach project that supports underrepresented communities who want to tell their own stories using digital media. Fifty percent of today’s spoken languages will be extinct or seriously endangered by 2100. Irish is considered to be at risk of digital extinction and was listed by the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger as “definitely endangered.”

For the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022 to 2032 Rising Voices and a range of collaborators worked together to create the UNESCO Digital Initiatives for Minority Languages toolkit. The toolkit illustrates how the internet and other digital tools can be utilised to conserve and promote Indigenous languages and was the basis of the workshop.

Indigenous, endangered, and low-resource languages all have unique contexts, needs, and different resources available to them; thus, it is important to understand the local context. Grassroots action is key to achieving impactful, meaningful change. Action needs to be informed by experience and local knowledge, or in other words, those who are actively using the language in the digital space.

The Rising Voices Digital Activism Workshop 

Irish language Journalist Panel at Rising Voices x Wikimedia Community Ireland Workshop. CC BY-SA 4.0.

The schedule of the day was jam-packed with passionate presentations, interactive sessions, group Q&As, and panel discussions. Although a bilingual event, most attendees opted to use their Irish throughout the event, which had an open and warm atmosphere, instilling confidence in each participant’s language skills.

The day kicked off with a panel discussion with Maitiú Ó Coimín (Tuairisc.ie) and Róisín Ní Mhaoláin (Raidió na Life) on how digitisation has changed the landscape of media. Nóirín Ní Bhraoin, co-founder of the GaelGoer app (the first communications app in the Irish language), also presented. Cassie Ní Chatháin and Kate Ní Dhubhlaoich from Conradh na Gaeilge presented on Irish language activism initiatives and community organising.

Dr. Abigail Walsh from ADAPTs eSTÓR Project presented alongside her colleagues Mark Andrade and Bláithín Heffernan. They presented their current work on data curation using Vicipéid data. The project aims to develop key resources for Irish Machine Translation (EC) and ensure high-quality processing of Irish digital text data, which is vital for Digital Language Equality.

The post-presentation discussion highlighted the rift between the technological tools that are available for minority and majority languages, along with how powerful they have the potential to be in elevating the language in the digital space.

Content creation offers a launchpad for digital activism

Irish language content creators Laura Pakenham and Cúán de Búrca also presented. Their Irish language content serves as prime examples of how we can use social media platforms to promote the use of minority languages in our everyday lives.

Pakenham inspires users to implement Irish into their everyday language. She spoke about overcoming imposter syndrome and emphasised how mistakes can only lead to learning. She often posts vlog-style videos of her going about her day in Galway, but using Irish in her everyday interactions, like buying a coffee or popping to the shops. Her inspirational content is based on the ethos that instead of being intimidated by a lack of fluency, we should focus on the words we do have and make simple everyday switches.

Content creator and podcaster, De Búrca emphasised that revitalising minority languages starts with a community, which can be “as simple as two people speaking Irish rather than English.”

He also mentioned “the Kneecap effect” and how Irish is trending. However, he emphasized that engaging with the Irish language on a deeper level can lead to a richer experience of our linguistic heritage.

Both speakers provided the audience with some insights into content creation as Gaeilge on TikTok. They shared just how important small details like understanding how to increase engagement and cultivate your audience can be powerful skills for digital activism.

Workshop outcomes: TREORCHLÁR – ROADMAP

Cailínréalta, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

After the presentations, participants worked together to come up with a roadmap for digital activism for Irish. This roadmap outlines the current landscape, challenges, tools, goals, and collective vision for the future of the Irish language in digital and community contexts. It highlights a growing interest and pride in Irish among the public, though this is met with limited resources, government disengagement, and a lack of supportive infrastructure.

Major challenges include insufficient funding, time, and understanding of community needs, as well as a shortage of accessible digital tools in Irish. The roadmap envisions a future where Irish is widely spoken, visible in public and online spaces, supported by strong digital tools like translation apps and AI technologies, and integrated into everyday life, education, and services. Ultimately, the dream is for Irish to be a living, thriving language, used confidently across all aspects of society.

The next steps for the Rising Voice Digital Activism Initiative are to bring the results of the discussions and roadmap to those involved with the Government’s Irish Language support schemes Action Plan, for delivery of the Digital Plan for the Irish Language.