National Eisteddfod leads Welsh language and culture bodies who will switch to .cymru .wales

The National Eisteddfod is today confirming that it will adopt the .cymru .wales online internet brands when they become available later this year.

The same decision is also being announced today by Urdd Gobaith Cymru; the influential Welsh language women’s network Merched y Wawr; the Welsh Language Commissioner; the Scarlets rugby team; Mudiad Meithrin, the Welsh early years specialists; the online Mabon a Mabli Shop which is a subsidiary of Mudiad Meithrin specialising in Welsh-medium and bilingual early years resources; Canolfan ABC, the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol Centre for Welsh Medium Studies in Business and Management; and popular t-shirt and hoodie company Cowbois, which has made innovative use of the Welsh language in its distinctive fashion brandings.

They join an ever growing list of Founders who will make the switch including S4C, FSB Wales, the Welsh Government, the National Assembly, the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, Young Farmers Wales, Sport Wales, the Welsh Books Council, the Arts Council for Wales, and a range of small businesses including Y Lolfa, Fabulous Welshcakes and Clark’s Pies.

Speaking on behalf of Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru, which is currently holding its annual festival in Carmarthenshire, Chief Executive Elfed Roberts said: “The Eisteddfod is extremely pleased to be part of both .cymru and .wales. It’s a natural step for us to adopt this brand, since the Eisteddfod is one of the most prominent Welsh brands and our festival is a shop window for Wales, therefore having addresses which say .cymru and .wales will be a boost to us and our work.”

According to Efa Gruffudd Jones, Chief Executive of the Urdd:

“The Urdd believes that using the domain .cymru will strengthen our message to our members of the importance of a Welsh identity both in language and culture. We look forward to introducing this important development to our website which communicates with 50,000 of our members and which is one of the most popular Welsh language websites.”

Gill Griffiths, National President of Merched Y Wawr, added her voice too:

“Merched y Wawr is eagerly awaiting the chance to use a .cymru email. This is a golden opportunity for us to promote and confirm the identity of our nation before the whole world. We are grateful to all to all those who have worked so assiduously to ensure these groundbreaking domains.”

Speaking on behalf of Cowbois, Wyn ap Gwilym said:

“The chance to adopt an online dot which says Wales is a natural and exciting step for Cowbois. We are very committed to using the Welsh language online as well as on our t-shirts and we are delighted to commit to using the new dots, and to encourage other predominantly Welsh language to do the same.”

Ieuan Evans, Chair of Nominet’s Wales Advisory Group, said, “We are thrilled to announce that these key, Welsh bodies will be switching their domain names to .cymru and .wales as soon as possible. The domain names provide an excellent opportunity for Wales’ unique language and culture to make its mark on the digital world and it’s excellent that these significant bodies will be joining us on this journey and leading the way for other businesses and organisations across Wales.”

Nominet, the company behind .cymru and .wales, supports the Welsh language online and has created a strong policy framework for the new domains to develop and grow:

– Domain Resellers who sell the domain names to the public will be required to stock both .wales and .cymru domain names providing equal status to Wales’s two languages and the two domain names. There will be a restricted launch phase that will benefit businesses active in the Welsh market before the domains are opened up on a first come, first served basis.

– Individuals, companies and organisations will be able to choose to register their domain name in either .cymru or .wales or both.

– An innovative partnership has been set up with Gwynedd Council’s Galw Gwynedd to offer bilingual call centre support to Welsh and English speaking callers. Nominet will also publish a voluntary Welsh Language Scheme.

– In a unique approach that we have developed especially for these domains, both domain spaces will allow the registration of names that use the diacritic marks used in the Welsh language to mirror non-diacritic domain names.