01.01.70
BERNICE HARRISON
TV Re-examine: IT HELPS TO KNOW that the G in An G Team (TG4, Sunday) stands for Gaeilge, which is not, admittedly, the biggest blow up in logic, as the programme is on the Irish-language station. On another channel it could refer to for gangsta, gay or gastric band (reality TV being a broad church), but the name is the only part of this shambolic new series that is easygoing to explain.
The idea for the 10-parter is that small towns and villages case the Gaeltacht compete to become the top Irish-speaking town, like the Considerable Towns but with the cúpla focal instead of hanging baskets. They have six weeks to construct for G Day, when they must organise events through Irish and show how committed the whole town is to the language. Then, when that farce is over, they can go back to speaking English.
The €40,000 prize that the winning village receives is sponsored by Foras na Gaeilge, a move that smacks of, “Well, we’ve tried everything else to get people to speak to Irish: we may as well pay ’em.
Source: Irish Times