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‘Preab Suas’ is a multi-platform TV, mobile and web Irish Language learning project, aimed at an audience aged 13 to 21 years and linked to BBC Northern Ireland’s Irish language unit and a number of related websites.

At its heart is the sport of Gaelic football, a fast and furious amateur game, which regularly attracts thousands of spectators to its club and county matches.

In a pacey, edgy presentation, the project will present individual football stories and coaching material, delivered through Irish, as a language learning resource, with a theme which connects directly with young people.

It will taps into young Irish people’s unadulterated passion for everything even remotely connected to Gaelic football – the teams, the players, the kit, the local club, the culture, the language, the outings to club matches and the big county clashes. Especially in rural areas, it’s the mortar between the bricks that build the community.

As well as teaching Irish, the project also aims to act as a catalyst for promoting the use of the language through bite-size football themed films.

The TV broadcasts of the short films will be supported by a dedicated website and will be available as mobile downloads, for use on the football pitch. Televised features will comprise short, engaging presenter-led coaching videos, containing coaching drills and training sessions.

Interviews with high-profile players will offer inspiration, encouragement, motivation and mentoring, while young people from the grassroots communities will pitch in with their own testimonies about the highs and lows of their own football journeys.

‘Preab Suas’ has been supported by Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund.