Businesses in Co Donegal are being urged to follow their Galway counterparts in using Irish, not just for the sake of the language but to increase profits.
A seminar in Letterkenny next Tuesday, "Gno le Gaeilge - Cen Fath?", will highlight the economic benefits of using Irish when conducting business.
Comparisons will be made with Galway and Wales, where customers are attracted to companies offering a bilingual service.
"When you come into Letterkenny now you could be in Mullingar or Mullinavat - there is nothing to indicate that you are in the gateway to the biggest Gaeltacht in the country," said Mr Colm O Dulachain.
The event is being organised by a sub-committee of Donegal County Development Board, Grupa Oibre na Gaeilge.
Mr O Dulachain, of the group, said a study in 1997 found Donegal's Gaeltacht population spent some £100 million and that £30 million of this was spent in larger centres such as Letterkenny and other towns outside the Gaeltacht.
Apart from Gaeltacht residents who might prefer to go to restaurants offering a bilingual menu, or buy their clothes from an Irish-speaking shop owner, the seminar organisers believe there are a lot of other people passing through Letterkenny who would be attracted to such services. These include large numbers visiting from the North, where there has been a large increase in the use of Irish.
Gaelscoils are also growing rapidly in the county, with primary schools in Letterkenny, Buncrana and Donegal town. A new Irish-language secondary school has opened in Letterkenny and a Business Studies course is taught through Irish at the Institute of Technology.
Gaeltacht areas make up 28 per cent of the land mass of Co Donegal. "There are a lot of people who speak Irish and are educating their children through Irish but yet they don't know if Irish is welcome in pubs, shops or restaurants," Mr O Dulachain said.
Speakers at the seminar will include Ms Brid Ni Chonghoile from Gaillimh le Gaeilge, Ms Delyth Haf Kenny of the Welsh Language Board and Mr Padraig O Cunnachain of Gael-Taca in Cork.
In Wales, many companies have found the use of the Welsh language to be a good marketing tool.
For example, once lamb and mutton was labelled in Welsh it sold much better than imports from Australia. Telephone and other utility providers have also found people will choose a company providing a bilingual service.
Co Donegal already has its own example of a company which found that branding in Irish helped boost business. A tie manufacturer in Falcarragh, now called Carbhait, saw an increase in business when it changed its name. The manager, Ms Frances McCarthy, said there had been a very positive response to the brand name both in Ireland and Germany.
Studies in Galway have also found that businesses benefited once Irish was introduced, in the form of signage, bilingual menus or brochures or in services offered through Irish.
Mr O Dulachain said the practical support available to business owners would be discussed at Tuesday's seminar, at the Holiday Inn. His hope was that in a year's time people visiting Letterkenny would know they were in a gateway to the Gaeltacht.
Meanwhile, Glencolmcillebased Oideas Gael has started publishing a new on-line magazine, Beo.ie, to ensure there is no shortage of quality reading material available to Irish speakers.
Oideas Gael attracts people from more than 30 countries to its courses each year and its teachers also travel around the world, so it is not surprising that the new magazine has international input.
Webmaster of Beo.ie is Mr Michal Boleslav Michura, a fluent Irish speaker from the Czech Republic. The editors are Mr Eamonn O Donaill, author of the language course Now You're Talking, and Ms Ailin Ni Chonchuir.
More than 20,000 people on the Oideas Gael e-mail network were informed of Beo.ie on May 1st and a new edition will appear on the first day of every month.