Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/gaeltacht-gift-card-seven-counties-merchant-network/ --- description: Údarás na Gaeltachta begins onboarding merchants for a Miconex gift card across seven Irish counties, targeting local spending and employee reward budgets. title: Gaeltacht gift card recruits merchants across seven counties image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/gaeltacht-gift-card-recruits-merchants-across-seven-irish-counties-0752ead6b5c91afe8545f976e8bbf02f.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Gift Cards](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/) # Gaeltacht gift card recruits merchants across seven Irish counties Údarás na Gaeltachta is building a merchant network for a physical and digital gift card, with local spending and corporate rewards central to the business case. By [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) September 22, 2026 3 min read Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fgaeltacht-gift-card-seven-counties-merchant-network%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Gaeltacht%20gift%20card%20recruits%20merchants%20across%20seven%20Irish%20counties "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fgaeltacht-gift-card-seven-counties-merchant-network%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Gaeltacht%20gift%20card%20recruits%20merchants%20across%20seven%20Irish%20counties%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fgaeltacht-gift-card-seven-counties-merchant-network%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Seven people stand behind a large Cárta na Gaeltachta display card in an official programme photograph.](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/gaeltacht-gift-card-recruits-merchants-across-seven-irish-counties-people-stand-behind-w1280.webp) The programme is recruiting businesses across the Gaeltacht ahead of its public launch. Official publicity photograph. Photo: Údarás na Gaeltachta [Údarás na Gaeltachta](https://giftcard.news/organization/udaras-na-gaeltachta/) has begun recruiting businesses for a gift card serving Irish-speaking districts across seven counties. The authority announced the programme on September 22\. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) Cárta na Gaeltachta will cover participating premises in Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Kerry, Cork, Meath and Waterford. The [Miconex](https://giftcard.news/company/miconex/) programme plans physical and digital cards. Consumer launch is still forthcoming. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) ## A local-development authority enters gifting Established in 1980, Údarás is the regional authority responsible for the Gaeltacht’s economic, social and cultural development. Its enterprise and job-creation work sits alongside an objective of sustaining Irish as the everyday language of these communities. The gift card therefore belongs to a broader economic-development remit, rather than a retailer’s stand-alone customer promotion. [\[S03\]](#article-source-3) Chief executive [Tomás Ó Síocháin](https://giftcard.news/person/tomas-o-siochain/) says the programme is intended to increase local footfall and spending. That is the authority’s stated objective, not a measured result from a card that has yet to launch. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) ## The merchant network is the product The programme’s business page identifies individual gifts, employee rewards, staff recognition and tourism promotions as uses for the card. Customers would buy one balance and choose where to spend it among participating Gaeltacht businesses, including restaurants, pubs, hotels and shops. [\[S02\]](#article-source-2) That structure gives the purchaser a way to direct a budget towards a defined community without choosing one merchant for the recipient. Commercially, the range of participating businesses matters: a card with useful everyday destinations offers more redemption opportunities than one accepted in only a few specialist outlets. This is the logic of the model, not a forecast of adoption. [\[S02\]](#article-source-2) The programme page says businesses pay no registration fee or transaction commission and need no additional equipment. The [Mastercard](https://giftcard.news/company/mastercard/)\-backed card is designed for existing payment terminals, with redemption exclusively at participating physical premises. Those terms reduce the practical barriers to joining the network. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) [\[S02\]](#article-source-2) ## An additional market for an existing platform Miconex is a Scottish provider of gift-card programmes tied to places rather than single retail brands. It introduced its Perth programme in 2015 and now reports operations in more than 200 locations across the UK, Ireland, Canada and the United States. Its role extends beyond payment technology to programme setup and ongoing support. [\[S04\]](#article-source-4) Corporate purchasing is part of that business. Miconex estimates that employee incentives and other corporate sales accounted for half of network sales in 2025\. That historical mix explains why an employer buying staff rewards can be an important distribution customer for a local card. It does not establish the future sales mix in the Gaeltacht. [\[S04\]](#article-source-4) For the authority, success would mean turning participating outlets into places where those budgets are actually spent. For merchants, the potential benefit is access to prepaid demand. For Miconex, the project expands geographic coverage. None of those opportunities establishes incremental revenue or profit. The release gives no sales target, programme budget, provider remuneration or confirmed launch day. Measuring the outcome will require more than counting cards sold: redemption and repeat purchasing will matter too. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) ## In this article ### Companies * [Mastercard](https://giftcard.news/company/mastercard/) * [Miconex](https://giftcard.news/company/miconex/) ### People * [Tomás Ó Síocháin](https://giftcard.news/person/tomas-o-siochain/) ### Organizations * [Údarás na Gaeltachta](https://giftcard.news/organization/udaras-na-gaeltachta/) ### Sources and documents * [\[S01\] September 22 announcement and merchant onboarding](https://udaras.ie/en/news/carta-na-gaeltachta-new-gift-card-to-back-local-business-across-the-gaeltacht/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Údarás na Gaeltachta * [\[S02\] Programme uses and participating business model](https://udaras.ie/en/business/carta-na-gaeltachta/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Údarás na Gaeltachta * [\[S03\] The authority’s economic, cultural and social remit](https://udaras.ie/en/about/what-we-do/?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Údarás na Gaeltachta * [\[S04\] Miconex background and corporate purchasing](https://mi-cnx.com/about-miconex?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — Miconex Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fgaeltacht-gift-card-seven-counties-merchant-network%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Gaeltacht%20gift%20card%20recruits%20merchants%20across%20seven%20Irish%20counties "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fgaeltacht-gift-card-seven-counties-merchant-network%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Gaeltacht%20gift%20card%20recruits%20merchants%20across%20seven%20Irish%20counties%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fgaeltacht-gift-card-seven-counties-merchant-network%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) Journalist — Gift Cards & Digital Gifting Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Gift Cards](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/) News ### [California gives old gift card stock a reprieve while keeping the $15 cash-out rule](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/california-sb1078-gift-card-stock-cash-redemption/) [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) September 20, 2026 4 min [Gift Cards](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/) News ### [RaiseRight adds Benihana and Rent the Runway eGift cards](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/raiseright-benihana-rent-the-runway-egift-card-distribution/) [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) September 19, 2026 3 min [Gift Cards](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/) News ### [Flying Ace uses half-price gift cards to support Dayton classrooms](https://giftcard.news/gift-cards/flying-ace-dayton-gift-card-fundraiser-2026/) [Suzie Elis](https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/) September 18, 2026 3 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/brand/giftcard-news-logo.svg"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/#person","name":"Suzie Elis","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/suzie-elis/","description":"Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Gift Cards & Digital Gifting","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/suzie-elis-editorial-portrait.webp","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Suzie Elis editorial profile."}},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/gaeltacht-gift-card-recruits-merchants-across-seven-irish-counties-people-stand-behind.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/gaeltacht-gift-card-recruits-merchants-across-seven-irish-counties-people-stand-behind.webp","width":1600,"height":1067,"caption":"The programme is recruiting businesses across the Gaeltacht ahead of its public launch. 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