DESPITE COMPLAINTS ABOUT the quality and pronunciation of Irish in public service announcements, there has been a significant increase in their acceptance among the public, according to new research conducted by a global advertising and marketing company.

Public bodies are required by law to spend a proportion of their advertising in Irish each  since 2022. The Official Languages ​​Act 2003 (as amended in 2021) requires public bodies to spend 20% of their annual advertising budget on advertising in Irish in the media and 5% on advertising in Irish-language media.

While the response from the public has been thought to be positive, there have been complaints from Irish speakers about the standard of Irish and the comprehensibility of the voice overs in some advertisements.

Research, which was conducted by WPP Media Ireland and analysed responses from 4,800 survey participants, revealed that 57% of the public recalled seeing an advertisement in Irish.

The results 0f the latest dedicated survey carried out in three waves, in April, August and October, follow the company’s Media Tracker surveys which included questions regarding the Irish language ads in the first half of both 2024 and 2025.

70% of participants indicated that they had a good understanding of the advertisement in Irish and did not recall seeing it in English and that 35% of the public who took the meaning of the advertisement in Irish had no recollection of seeing the advertisement in English,

This research follows a report in October from the Office of the Language Commissioner which revealed that €18.7m was spent on public advertising in Irish – out of a total of almost €95m – in 2024, a significant increase on the €14m spent on Irish language advertising in 2023.

The lesson in this, according to WPP Media Ireland, is that the advertisement in English is an ‘essential guide’ for a person to be able to convey the message of the advertisement in Irish.

Another lesson the advertising company is teaching is that the public recognises that when Irish is used in advertising campaigns it is a genuine attempt to connect with Irish speakers and promote the language, not the same as complying with a statutory requirement.

Participants were asked why they thought public bodies were advertising in Irish and 41% said they believed it was an attempt to reach out directly to the language community.

A further 33% responded it was to spread the word widely to the public, including some Irish speakers, and 26% answered by saying it was simply to comply with a statutory requirement.

Eimear McGrath, Research Director at WPP Media Ireland, acknowledged that this aspect of the industry is still young and said there was a need for more collaboration between writers of the English and Irish versions of advertisements. She also said she was not aware of any training courses for writers of the Irish versions of advertisements.

“This desire for authentic engagement is a powerful insight for future strategy,” she said.

It indicates that the public views Irish language advertising as more than just a regulatory requirement, they see it as an opportunity for brands to demonstrate a deeper cultural commitment.

“This expectation for genuine connection, rather than mere compliance, is a key takeaway for advertisers.”

Based on the research, the company believes that there is a need to move from the current model – translating advertisements into Irish – to a new model of transcreation where the Irish version would be created from scratch with collaboration of the English language creative team.

 Paul Enright, business director of Mindshare, a brand of WPP Media Ireland, said that the current model of direct translation could be ineffective and deficient and that the result may not be as good as it could be.

“The current model of direct translation can be an inadequate and ineffective strategy, leading to underperformance,” said Enright.

We are seeing that Irish language advertising is currently an echo, not a voice.

“Even when direct translation is unavoidable, it is crucial to maximise its effectiveness which we know can be done a number of different ways.”

The research also showed that not only are Irish language ads by Government departments and agencies  having a positive impact on the public, but that the public would also welcome advertisements in Irish or with Irish from the private sector.

According to research conducted by WPP Media Ireland last year, 40% said they would welcome companies outside the public sector publishing/distributing advertisements in Irish. When the same research was conducted in the first half of this year, that share had grown to 47% but according to the latest research, that number has grown to 61%.

The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme