The bilingual book ‘TG4@10: Deich mBliana de TG4' (Ten Years of TG4), celebrating the first ten years of the Irish language television station TG4 will be launched Friday, 17 October at NUI Galway.
The book will be launch in Aras na Gaeilge, NUI Galway at 6.00pm by Michael D. Higgins T.D. who, as Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, gave the go-ahead for TG4. The station first came on air as Teilifís na Gaeilge (TnaG) in 1996.
The book is published by Cló Iar-Chonnachta and edited by Dr Eithne O’Connell of Dublin City University and Dr John Walsh and Professor Gearóid Denvir of NUI Galway.
It is a collection of essays, complete with summaries in Irish, written by both academics and those working in the television industry. Topics under discussion include the historical and political background to the founding of the station, TG4’s language policy, the social and economic impact of the station and the specific challenges of broadcasting in Irish as well as the use of immigrant languages and English.
“We felt sure that this book will make an impact”, said one of the editors, NUI Galway lecturer, Dr John Walsh. Last week, the book was awarded an Oireachtas na Gaeilge literary prize of €1,000 for a substantial pioneering work in Irish.
“The essays are based on a seminar at NUI Galway organised with DCU in 2006 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of TG4, and the book is likely to be appeal to anyone interested in the media or in language and broadcasting issues. We made a point of having full Irish/English interpreting services on offer at the seminar and have translated sections of the book into English as well so as to make it accessible to those who are interested but don’t have great Irish language skills.”
