Despite often being associated with a more traditional way of life, the Gaeltacht is home to some very modern and high-tech businesses. For example, companies involved in electronics, engineering, information technology, film, television and video production, high fashion textiles and clothing, food processing, fish farming, rubber and plastics manufacturing, electronics, assembly, crafts and modern office services have all found a home there.

Nor is it a stranger to overseas investment - indeed, companies from Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom and the USA have made the Gaeltacht their investment destination Udaras na Gaeltachta provides an attractive financial package for new and expanding businesses looking to locate in Gaeltacht areas, including grants for equipment, building and training.

An tUdaras assists prospective investors through all stages of start-up, from location identification to help with recruitment, training and legal requirements. It also has available a portfolio of modern industrial buildings and sites, including Gweedore Business Park and Dingle Business Park. For further information on the wide range of supports available, visit www. udaras. ie and go to the industrial development area of the web page.

There are, of course, tools to aid companies working through Irish both inside and outside of the Gaeltacht. For example, Foras na Gaeilge, the body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language throughout the whole island of Ireland, has launched a new round of bilingual/Irish language schemes, which will give SMEs a marketing advantage over competitors by financially assisting them in the production of bilingual Irish/English signage and materials.

"We are involved in the promotion of the Irish language as a viable business tool, " said Gearoid Trimble, manager of the business division at Foras na Gaeilge. "We are involved in placing the unique selling point that it the Irish language in a business context for the first time. It has been estimated that there are about 1.6 million people on the island of Ireland who claim to understand Irish, so we see these as a potential 1.6 million target customers. The time has come for Irish to be utilised by the business community, not just for tokenism, but within a viable business context."

In order to capitalise on this unique selling point, the new schemes will allow businesses (new and old) to produce signage as well as print and multimedia materials in a simple and cost-effective way. Under the outdoor signage scheme Foras na Gaeilge will provide match funding to a maximum of 2,000/£1,000stg while under the materials scheme match funding will be provided to a maximum of 1,000/£750 to SMEs. Both schemes will remain open until September 2006 and will operate on a first-come-first-served basis outside Gaeltacht areas.

The Irish language is, of course, intrinsically linked to Irish culture, which is why it helps for people to be able to speak it, and occasionally to speak it well. Gael Linn is well known throughout Ireland for its publications and its music, but it also runs courses in Irish for people at all levels of ability. It can also customise its courses for specific sectors, such as people working in the public sector, the legal fraternity or general business. These courses are offered primarily at Gael Linn's Dame Street headquarters, or can be provided for companies in-house on request.

Gael Linn is also noted for its publications, which are mainly educational, and for its music label, which has a spectacular back catalogue of Irish music that it releases systematically. For example, this year will be the first time that Mise Eire will be released as a full soundtrack, even including its 1960 original release.

Indeed, media has been a major employer in the Gaeltacht areas, especially since the founding of Raidio Na Gaeltachta in 1972. Part of the RTE network, it fulfils a major part of the public service remit of RTE, and provides its programmes 100% through Irish (although in a bid to modernise and to attract a younger audience, it has started broadcasting some music through English in the evenings).

The service has increased from about one and a half hours of MW service when it was first set up to a truly 24/7 FM broadcast in 2006. It currently employs about 115 throughout the Gaeltacht area, and broadcasts from a number of studios throughout Ireland.

However, there is an even higher profile media organisation working within the Gaeltacht. Since coming on air just under ten years ago, TG4 has grown to become the most high-profile Irish language project of the postwar era. The channel's success in establishing itself as a niche broadcaster in the mainstream of the highly competitive television market in Ireland, has been rewarded with rising audience figures and a string of national and international prizes for programmes.

Is meascan cliste den chultur agus den trachtail e TG4, gno Gaeilge a chothaionn breis is 400 post ar fud na hEireann, a bhformhor san earnail neamhspleach leiriuchain.

Ta de bhuntaiste breise ag na daoine a oibrionn san earnail seo go gcuireann a noiliuint agus a dtaithi ar a gcumas fostaiocht a fhail i dtionscal na teilifise in aon ait ar domhan.

"Irish language television is big business now, " said Padhraic O Ciardha of TG4 "In addition to TG4's own annual spend of over 20m on commissioning programmes from the independent sector, the recent arrival of the Sound and Vision scheme (run by the BCI) and the Northern Ireland Irish Language Broadcast Fund, has resulted in an even higher investment in production with subsequent rise in employment."