DUBLIN, Ireland - A national campaign has been launched to encourage communities outside of Gaeltacht areas to participate in promoting the Irish language in their communities.

It seeks to establish more Gaelphobal communities, which will be assisted in developing a language plan to increase the use of Irish in their area.

Foras Na Gaeilge launched the campaign in Letterkenny, one of several towns supported by the organization to help more people speak Irish.

Foras is investing more than €4.1 million in language planning in eight areas that have been officially recognized for local language development.

Letterkenny is designated as a Gaeltacht service town, and the launch took place at the new Lonra Leitir Ceanainn offices, which include comhr social areas and a library.

The public awareness campaign, launched by Foras Na Gaeilge Chairperson Regina U Chollatin, aims to make learning about the Irish language in their community easier.

The media campaign will include a series of videos highlighting existing gaelphobal. They will demonstrate their work and the significance of the Irish language in their community.

It is accompanied by a new gaelphobal website and the Guthanna Gaelphobal podcast, a series of conversations with people involved in the language planning process.