The outgoing Secretary-General of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Mr Tadhg O hEalaithe, has been appointed chairman of Udaras na Gaeltachta. Mr O hEalaithe (52) was appointed Secretary General of the Department of the Gaeltacht in 1991 and has served in a similar role at the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht since it was established in 1993. He retires on January 20th.
Meanwhile, the Government is to establish a Gaeltacht Commission to examine how the use of Irish as a day-to-day language can be improved for Gaeltacht people. The commission will be asked to report before the end of the year.