Cúrsaí Gaeilge ag dul chun cinn ar an líon.

[Irish Times]

Courses in Irish language are thriving on Internet
"They have a great website!" Mr Kim Moore, from California, was explaining how he and his wife ended up in Glencolumbkille, on the west coast of Donegal, learning Irish last week.
He had an interest in the language because of his Irish roots, which are in Co Laois, and learned a little from tapes. "My wife sells real estate, and she closed a deal. We contacted Oideas Gael through the Internet, booked by e-mail, and two days later we booked a flight."
This year about 60 per cent of Oideas Gael's bookings came from the Internet. "With the site, people have a fair idea what they're coming to," said co-founder and director Mr Liam Ó Cuinneagáin.
He sees this as a way of developing cultural tourism, which he considers central to rural development.
Oideas Gael uses modern methods of communication, and imaginative combinations, to interest people in expanding their knowledge of the Irish language.
Its courses, aimed at adults, run from Easter through the summer, and allow people to combine courses in Irish with archaeology, hill-walking, pottery or Irish dancing and music.
The levels range from level one, for complete beginners, to level eight, for fluent speakers. People can attend for one or more weeks, and some, like Mr Moore and his wife, attend for up to a month, moving up through the levels as their language skills improve.
According to Mr Ó Cuinneagáin, the school is now worth between £750,000 and £1 million annually to the local economy. More than 1,600 students have registered this year, about half of them from abroad. Their countries of origin range from the US, through most European countries, to Japan.
Not all have Irish connections. Deborah van Waudenberg, from the Netherlands, wanted to understand what the Clannad group sings about. She has been coming to Glencolumbkille for four years and is now at level three in the language classes. Paul Mansaur, from Nova Scotia in Canada, is here because he is studying Irish at the University of Halifax.
Oideas Gael sprang from discussions between Mr Ó Cuinneagáin and his friend and colleague, Dr Seosamh Watson, about how to halt the decline of Irish as a spoken language in Gaeltacht communities.
"If the locals see strangers coming in to learn the language, they might ask why they are willing to let it go."
Oideas Gael began in 1984, and now has a home in a new, purpose-built building which houses classrooms, a computer room and a restaurant as well as accommodation. "It was built on a wing and a prayer," he said, but it is now clearly thriving.