RTÉ celebrates Irish Sign Language Awareness Week

Thursday, 08 Sep 2022 12:34
By RTÉ
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RTÉ will mark Irish Sign Language Awareness Week, from Monday 19th – Sunday 25th September,  with some special Irish Sign Language (ISL) programming and content across our services throughout the week, highlighting RTÉ’s ongoing commitment to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community in Ireland

***Highlights include:

>RTÉ One’s Nationwide will include ISL on Monday 19th September (7.00pm). This will also be available on RTÉ Player.

>On RTÉ 2, News2Day will feature young Deaf and Hard of Hearing contributors across the week.

>On RTÉjr and RTÉ2, a number of children’s programmes will feature ISL across the week, including an ISL version of the new series of Let’s Find Out.

Here’s what they can look forward to:

On RTÉjr
Wild Kids: Monday 19th – Friday 23rd September
The Body Brothers: Saturday 24th & Sunday 25th September
Storytime: Monday 19th – Friday 23rd September
Makers: Saturday 24th & Sunday 25th September
Let’s Find Out: Monday 19th – Friday 23rd September

On RTÉ2
Wild Kids: Saturday 17th – Friday 23rd September
The Body Brothers: Saturday 17th – Friday 23rd September
Squad Goals: Saturday 17th – Friday 23rd September
Gamer Mode: Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th September
Ace My Space:  Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th September
Let’s Find Out: Saturday 17th – Friday 23rd September

***And there’s more:

>RTÉ will also be running an ‘Online Feedback Session’ for Access users of RTÉ content, with ISL interpreters and live subtitles, on Friday 23rd of September between 10am and 12pm.  You can register here.

>RTÉ will resume ISL classes for its employees.

>RTÉ Player will feature recent RTÉ ISL programming throughout the week, including:

  • Cold Case Collins
  • Clear History – Series 2 (Ep 1-6 available from Monday 19th September)
  • Ireland in Music
  • Clodagh
  • Shackleton’s Cabin
  • The Tommy Tiernan Show – Series 6 (All episodes available)
  • Brian Friel: Shy Man, Showman
  • The Talk TV 2022 – All episodes
  • Super Garden – Series 13 (All episodes)
  • Faoi Bhláth – 12 episodes available by Monday 19th September
  • John Connors’ Acting Academy – All episodes available
  • Crimes and Confessions – All episodes available
  • The Keith Barry Experience – Series 2 (All episodes available)
  • Home of the Year – Series 8 (All episodes available)

This ISL content follows other ISL highlights across RTÉ:

  • Last year’s Late Late Toy Show was available with ISL for the third year, and for the first time with a Deaf presenter, Sarah Jane O’Regan.
  • RTÉ promoted this ISL exclusive through several videos featuring a special message from Signing Santa and The Holy Family School for the Deaf in Cabra.
  • Throughout the pandemic, RTÉ provided ISL for the broadcast of essential health information from HSE briefings, in addition to al Covid announcements by An Taoiseach.
  • More recently, RTÉ provided ISL interpretation for the Garda Centenary Commemoration, which was available for all viewers on the RTÉ News channel and RTÉ Player.

RTÉ’s Head of Access, Kevin Burns said, “We’re delighted to celebrate ISL Awareness Week. ISL has never been more important for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community in Ireland and RTÉ will highlight its importance through a range of activities and content across the week.  We are building on the work started during the pandemic with Home School Hub ISL , important public health announcements and Taoiseach addresses which were broadcast live with ISL.  

RTÉ increases the range and volume of programmes it provides with ISL every year and works closely with the Deaf Community to ensure that we’re providing them with the best service we can.  A positive reflection of this engagement is the fact that this year’s Late Late Toy Show will again feature a Deaf Signer, Nationwide will broadcast on RTÉ One with ISL on Monday September 19th, and earlier this year Liveline broadcast a week of programmes featuring Deaf contributors sharing their experiences. We look forward to learning more from our Deaf and Hard of Hearing users at our Access Feedback Session during ISL Awareness Week so we can continue to develop our support of the Deaf community in Ireland”.

For more on ISL Awareness Week on RTÉ keep an eye on RTÉ’s social media channels using #ISLRTE

For more on ISL Awareness Week, visit https://reachdeafservices.ie/irish-sign-language-isl-awareness-week/

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