Údarás na Gaeltachta Named Ireland's Best Inhouse Marketing & Communications Team

Údarás na Gaeltachta has been named Ireland’s best in-house marketing and communications team, taking Gold at the eir Business Chambers Ireland Awards 2026 in Dublin on Friday night.

Now in its 14th year, the eir Business Chambers Ireland Awards represent the benchmark for excellence within the Irish business community. This year’s winners were selected across 29 categories by an independent panel of industry experts, with entries assessed on business performance, innovation, customer focus, leadership, and overall impact.

The win completes a strong run of national recognition for Údarás na Gaeltachta’s marketing and communications function. The Spider Awards recognised the team’s pioneering use of AI in bilingual communications with its AI-Powered Marketing Excellence Award at the 2026 ceremony, while the Galway Chamber Business Awards 2025, sponsored by the Shannon Airport Group, honoured the team’s broader digital transformation work with the Digital Transformation & Technology Award.

The award reflects not only the work of the communications and marketing function but the broader work of the Údarás na Gaeltachta team whose achievements provide the substance behind every campaign. The Údarás marketing team operates in unusually complex territory: promoting economic development, supporting Gaeltacht communities, and championing the Irish language, all in a bilingual environment and across multiple platforms and audiences. The team has embraced emerging technologies to enhance the reach and impact of its communications without losing the authenticity its communities expect.

Established in 1980, Údarás na Gaeltachta supports over 9,500 jobs across client companies in Gaeltacht regions, with those companies generating over €1 billion in annual sales. The organisation works across enterprise development, job creation, language planning, and the social and cultural life of Irish-speaking communities.

Michelle Ní Chróinín, Head of Communications and Marketing, Údarás na Gaeltachta

Michelle Ní Chróinín is Head of Communications and Marketing at Údarás na Gaeltachta, a role she took up in January 2025. She brings over 25 years of experience in strategic communications, media, marketing, and corporate governance. She joined from the University of Galway, where she served as Director of Strategy and Planning and previously as Head of the Press Office for 13 years. Michelle served on the Board of TG4 from 2012 to 2022, including a period as Interim Chair, and currently serves as Chair of Muintearas and as a Board Director of Macnas. A native of Baile Mhúirne, Co. Cork, she lives with her family in Moycullen in the Galway Gaeltacht.

Kevin Ó Flatharta, Digital, Marketing and AI Manager, Údarás na Gaeltachta

Kevin Ó Flatharta is Digital, Marketing and AI Manager at Údarás na Gaeltachta, a role he took up in April 2024. Before joining Údarás na Gaeltachta, he built an extensive career across Irish-language broadcasting and media, working with leading independent production companies including Nemeton, Telegael, and Eo Teilifís, before spending nearly two decades at TG4 where he pioneered several industry firsts, including the first live inter-county GAA game broadcast on YouTube in Ireland. He won awards at the Sharks Kinsale advertising awards and the GEMA Awards Europe (formerly Promax Europe), the leading honours for entertainment marketing excellence across the continent. He has also judged at SMARTIES Europe, the GEMA Awards Europe, and the Sharks Kinsale awards.

Since joining Údarás na Gaeltachta, Kevin has focused on developing the organisation’s marketing and communications capability, including an AI-powered bilingual communications system subsequently nominated for a national eGovernment Award, one of the first such applications of generative AI in Irish public sector communications. He served as a Director of Ability West from 2015 to 2021, where he oversaw the rebranding of the organisation. He holds a Master’s in Digital Marketing with Distinction from the University of Salford and a First Class Honours degree in Digital Technology, Design & Innovation from TU Dublin.