The anti-hero of 'Lig Sinn i gCathú' is coming to the stage. We shouldn't hold his language against him, writes Seán Tadhg Ó Gairbhí

Long before Hector and the outlaw chic of TG4 there was Máirtín Ó Méalóid, the hero of Lig Sinn i gCathú, Breandán Ó hEithir's 1976 book. A coming-of-age novel that has retained its contemporary feel, Lig Sinn i gCathú, or Lead Us into Temptation, tells the story of Ó Méalóid, a drunken, dissolute Galway student whose capacity for idleness and irresponsibility is matched only by his thirst for good stout and bad company. Ó hEithir's touching, irreverent and eminently accessible work is that rarest of literary achievements: an Irish-language best-seller.

Darach Mac Con Iomaire's new stage adaptation, which opens at Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe and continues its run as part of a series of Irish-language productions at Dublin Fringe Festival, should serve as a timely reminder that the term "Gaelic blockbuster" need not refer only to the latest Hollywood production made at Ardmore Studios.

"Maybe Irish-language literature and theatre has been too inward looking and hasn't facilitated the imagination often enough," he says. "There is no reason whatsoever why an Irish-language play cannot be both challenging and a popular success. At the moment the challenge for all theatre seems to be getting people to go. We can't make excuses either; if people don't attend a play you have to ask yourself why."

Mac Con Iomaire acknowledges the difficulties that face Irish-language theatre but refuses to play the blame game. "The catalyst for change has to come from us, and we have to ensure that every production is as good as if not better than a production in any other European language. As a minority we probably have to ensure that it is 10 times better if we are to get any recognition, but so be it."

Ó Méalóid's hilarious efforts at juggling a life of excess and idleness with the pressures of academia and the expectations of his family were greeted with enthusiastic affection by an Irish-speaking public that remains by and large unstirred by some of the more obtuse efforts of its writers.

As a child Mac Con Iomaire, whose father, Liam, has written a highly regarded biography of Ó hEithir, knew the journalist and writer from his visits to the family home and testifies to the humanity, warmth and humour that he believes were central to the success of Lig Sinn i gCathú.

"We couldn't wait for Breandán's visits. When Breandán was around it was like Santa Claus had arrived. Lig Sinn i gCathú is full of vivid and rich language and is a wonderfully visual novel, but I think that it was Breandán and Máirtín Ó Mealóid's humanity that made and continues to make it so popular. That and the fact that so many people rushed out to buy it to see if they were in it or not."

Since he became artistic director of the Taibhdhearc, the national Irish-language theatre, in 2000, Mac Con Iomaire has overseen a quiet revolution, insisting on high production values and ushering in a new professionalism that has led to critically lauded adaptations of the likes of Máirtín Ó Cadhain's Cré na Cille and Myles na Gopaleen's An Béal Bocht. He is relishing the prospect of taking Lig Sinn i gCathú to Dublin.

"It is wonderful to be part of something like the fringe. That's the kind of exposure the Taibhdhearc needs if the progress we have made is to continue and if we are to secure the funding and recognition necessary to maintain high standards."

The programme for the first year of the fringe's Borradh Buan mini-festival, at Axis Arts Centre in Ballymun, reflects the diversity of a theatrical scene that has been approaching something like rude health in recent years. Along with Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe, the work of groups such as Aisling Ghéar, Aisteoirí Bulfin, POC Productions and the newly emerged Fíbín will be represented at the Axis.

In recent years Irish-language theatre has lost the whiff of the parlour, and although production standards remain a little uneven, the expectations of a long-suffering audience have been raised. A cursory glance at the Ballymun centre's hectic schedule promises everything from puppets to politics.

Ray Yeates, Axis's artistic director, believes a skewed value system is applied to Irish-language theatre. He argues that Irish-language drama continues to be marginalised by a form of cultural discrimination that refuses to judge the work on its theatrical merits.

"With Irish-language theatre we're always on the fringe and are constantly asked to prove ourselves. There still exists a cultural apartheid that views an Irish-language play as merely a vehicle to secure a grant. Lots of shows in English don't work, but when a show in Irish doesn't work everything is blamed, including the language itself. It's time we started to look at Irish-language drama as just theatre."

Yeates enlisted locals to sell out several of the Borradh Buan productions, using an innovative system in which sections of the community "adopted" a show and set about filling the theatre.

"Everyone has problems selling seats - the Abbey sometimes only sells 28 per cent. This festival demonstrates that there is a role for the community and that, with smaller set-ups with lower overheads and a venue open to receiving them, Irish-language plays need not be inaccessible. Like all theatre the problem is finding the balance: first you have to get them in, then you can challenge them."

Lig Sinn i gCathú opens at An Taibhdhear, Galway, tonight, moving to Axis Arts Centre, Ballymun, on October 9th and 10th as part of Dublin Fringe Festival