Zippy’s Friends in Irish

The Health Service Executive (HSE) Health Promotion and Improvement Teams deliver Zippy’s Friends across primary schools in the Republic of Ireland. As the national body responsible for public health and social care services, the HSE introduced the programme in 2007 as part of its wider commitment to promoting children’s mental health and emotional wellbeing. As a long-standing partner of Partnership for Children, the HSE has played a vital role in embedding the programme within schools, contributing to research and supporting its continued growth and impact in Ireland with thousands of children.

After many successful years of delivery, we were delighted to work closely with our partners in the HSE to expand the programme further through the launch of an Irish-language version of Zippy’s Friends earlier this year. This milestone was made possible with the support of Dréimire (an Irish language translation company) whose expertise ensured that the programme was translated with accuracy and cultural sensitivity. There is a growing Irish-medium education sector, and this marks a significant step forward in making the programme accessible to children learning in Irish, ensuring that they can explore emotions and develop coping strategies in their first or preferred language.

This new Irish-language version also builds on Zippy’s Friends’ strong international reach, adding to the more than 20 languages the programme has already been translated into.

More information about our international partners and reach: Our international partners

You can also read the evaluation paper from the randomised controlled trial of Zippy’s Friends in Ireland here: Zippy’s Friends Ireland RCT evaluation