Press

Exciting new ‘Súil Eile’ campaign celebrates 30 years of TG4 – discover more about the campaign and the vision behind it

02.11.26

Súil Eile Promo
Súil Eile – Images
 

Landmark campaign celebrates the Irish language and Ireland through a different lens as TG4 marks its 30th birthday.

TG4 is marking its 30th birthday with a major new campaign, ‘Súil Eile’, celebrating three decades of seeing Ireland differently and looking ahead to the next chapter in the broadcaster’s story. Launching the campaign brings TG4’s distinctive identity : ‘Súil Eile’, a different perspective to life through a bold new creative film developed with ‘The Tenth Man’ and acclaimed filmmakers the McGloughlin Brothers.

At the heart of the campaign is a celebration of Irishness, the Irish language and Ireland in all its richness and complexity: its people, language, landscapes, culture and creativity. Moving across past, present and future, the film presents familiar places and ideas from unexpected perspectives, reflecting TG4’s role over the past 30 years in offering audiences an alternative way of seeing and experiencing Ireland.

Deirdre Ní Choistín, Director General of TG4, said:
“Thirty years ago, TG4 launched with a clear ambition: to create a connection with audiences through Irish language media. ‘Súil Eile’ was central to TG4 from the very first broadcast on Halloween night 1996. Thirty years later, ‘Súil Eile’ is reimagined in this campaign to reflect the ambition of the motto and to ensure it is as relevant as ever. It reflects the distinctive perspectives and colour that the Irish language and TG4 brings to our understanding of the world around us and a nod to the vision that came from the grassroots movement who sought a dedicated Irish language television service and hoped that would become a reality. As we mark this milestone, we are proud of all that TG4 has achieved over the past 30 years and look forward with ambition to the next chapter.”

The campaign is rooted in the idea that the Irish language offers more than a different way of speaking; it can also offer a different way of seeing the world. Through striking imagery, inventive filmmaking and an unmistakably Irish sensibility, ‘Súil Eile’ invites audiences to look again at the country they know and discover something new.
 

Seán Cathal Ó Coileáin, TG4 Brand and Creative Director, said:
“For thirty years ‘Súil Eile’ has been our guiding light, an idea that has driven us to see Ireland differently, challenge the norm and celebrate the unexpected. As media becomes more disrupted and more fragmented at a greater pace, that ethos becomes more important than ever. ‘Súil Eile’ will continue as our North Star and will shape how we think, how we create and how we serve new audiences across every medium.”
 

Ken Robertson, Founder & CEO of The Tenth Man said:
“‘Súil Eile’ is one of those rarest of rare brand ideas that gets more relevant with age. Thirty years ago it described why TG4 needed to exist. Today, when so much of what we see is shaped by algorithms and increasingly familiar points of view, another way of looking at the world feels even more important. “We didn’t want to explain ‘Súil Eile’. We wanted the work itself to behave like Súil Eile. Infrared literally allows us to see something that was there all along, but invisible to the naked eye. Kevin and Páraic McGloughlin took that thought somewhere extraordinary, with Max Cooper’s music adding another dimension to it.”
 

The McGloughlin Brothers said:
“This project with TG4 was a breath of fresh air for us, it offered a rare chance for us to explore Ireland creatively, with a freedom to make something unconventional and emotionally resonant. It was a real pleasure to work on! The entire team was so passionate about Ireland, our beautiful language, and representing Ireland through a creative eye. Everyone involved was open to varying ideas and happy to embrace something a little bit different. Which was right up our alley! In the spirit of ‘Súil Eile’, the film sets out to show Ireland from a different vantage point, revealing the country in a new light. At it’s core, the work explores the beauty and diversity of Ireland across past, present, and future, using unconventional filmmaking techniques to challenge familiar ways of seeing. This simple idea informed everything and let us present Ireland as a rich, layered landscape, one that gains depth and resonance when experienced through Irish.”
 

Acclaimed Photographer Kevin Goss-Ross said:
“It was a real honour to be asked to shoot a series of photographs for TG4, and the trusting partnership with the team at The Tenth Man made for a rare period of creative exploration and freedom. For a campaign that invites us to see the world anew through Irish, I started by researching language and its effect on the human brain, explored Irish folklore, and pulled together a selection of interesting techniques to experiment with finding hidden colour in organic ways, and to explore the colour concealed in time and language. I shot two of the images with an infrared camera with a 550nm IR filter which removes visible light and renders foliage in vivid pink tones.

Just as the ancient Irish language can unlock new ways of seeing the world, this technique brings colour to life as time elapses, revealing something that would otherwise remain invisible by exploiting a quirk of an early colour-photography process. On average, I spent around eight hours at each location, waiting for the light or capturing each scene at different times of the day to find the colour hidden in time. I also attached small lights to a drone to light-paint entire landscapes in long exposures once darkness fell, blending the images shot in the evening with those captured throughout the day.”
 

Paul Moran, Zenith Ireland said:
“We are incredibly proud to join TG4 in celebrating its 30th anniversary, a remarkable milestone for a broadcaster that has had a profound impact on Irish media and culture. For three decades, TG4 has consistently punched above its weight, delivering world-class content while championing the Irish language and building a deep connection with audiences across generations. As a long-standing partner of TG4, we have had the privilege of witnessing that journey first-hand. We congratulate the entire TG4 team on this achievement and are proud to play our part in bringing this milestone ‘Súil Eile’ campaign to audiences across Ireland.”
 

For 30 years, TG4 has championed original Irish language storytelling across drama, documentary, entertainment, music, sport, news and children’s content, providing a platform for voices, communities and perspectives from across Ireland. ‘Súil Eile’ reflects that legacy while also looking to the future, reaffirming TG4’s commitment to creativity, innovation and to presenting Ireland and the world through a uniquely Irish-language lens. The campaign is currently rolled out across TG4 television, digital and social platforms, supported by a wider campaign delivered in collaboration with The Tenth Man and Zenith Ireland.