Corn Ghlór na nGael na mBuachaillí
June 6, 2012
Stádas na Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht: Scéim Labhairt na Gaeilge 2010/2011
June 6, 2012
PUBLIC MEETINGS: NEW IRISH-MEDIUM SCHOOLS OPENING IN STEPASIDE AND TALLAGHT IN 2013
June 5, 2012
Parents who would like to enrol their children in one of the new Irish-medium schools due to open in Stepaside and Tallaght in 2013 are invited to come along to get more information about the new schools, and anyone interested in helping to promote the new schools will be especially welcome. These public meetings are being organised by An Foras Pátrúnachta and GAELSCOILEANNA TEO. on Tuesday, June 26th 2012 at 8pm in Bewley’s Hotel, Leopardstown, Dublin 18 and on Wednesday, June 27th 2012 in the Maldron Hotel, Tallaght, Dublin 24.
Both organisations greatly welcomed the announcement made in March by Minister Ruairí Quinn that two new Irish-medium schools will open in Stepaside and Tallaght in September 2013, with An Foras Pátrúnachta as their patron.
Caoimhín Ó hEaghra, General Secretary of An Foras Pátrúnachta, the largest single patron for Irish-medium schools, said, “It’s great news that a new Gaelscoil will open in Stepaside and another in Tallaght. Irish-medium education is going from strength to strength, particularly with three new schools set to open in Dublin under the patronage of An Foras Pátrúnachta in 2012 and 2013.” The school in Stepaside will be the second in the area to open under the patronage of An Foras Pátrúnachta; Gaelscoil Thaobh na Coille opened in 1995 and has been growing rapidly ever since. Mr. Ó hEaghra went on to say that “the new Gaelscoileanna will greatly add to these areas and will satisfy the huge demand there for Irish-medium education.” GAELSCOILEANNA TEO. also welcomes the opening of the new schools. The organisation’s CEO, Bláthnaid ní Ghréacháin, had this to say about the developments in the Irish-medium education sector; “We’re delighted that recognition is being given to the huge demand for Irish-medium schools with the sanction of two new schools for these areas. Our organisation has been involved in the establishment and development of Irish-medium schools on a national level for 40 years now, and the growth of the movement is proof of a wider and better understanding amongst parents of the many benefits enjoyed by children who attend Irish-medium schools. Parents understand that an excellent standard of education is provided in Irish-medium schools and that they cater for children from all socioeconomic and linguistic backgrounds and of all levels of ability. This gives children in Stepaside and Tallaght the opportunity to benefit from this very effective system of education.”
Parents will have the opportunity to register their children with the new schools at these meetings, and the staff of An Foras Pátrúnachta and GAELSCOILEANNA TEO. will be on hand to speak to parents and answer any questions they might have. Information will be provided on the new schools, the benefits of Irish-medium education and how parents can be involved in the set-up and promotion of these new schools. We would be delighted to see you there if you’re interested in registering your child, in getting more information or in volunteering for a role in the future of the new schools.
Further information:
An Foras Pátrúnachta
Caitríona Bairéad, Development Officer :: caitriona@foras.ie :: 01-6294110 :: www.foras.ie
GAELSCOILEANNA TEO.
Clare Spáinneach, Development Officer :: cspainneach@gaelscoileanna.ie :: 01- 853 5193 :: www.gaelscoileanna.ie
Notes for Editors:
An Foras Pátrúnachta was founded in 1993 so that new gaelscoileanna opening in the coming years would have another choice with regard to patronage. An Foras Pátrunachta is a national patron for both primary and second level schools. An Foras Pátrúnachta is the patron of 61 primary schools and 3 secondary schools.
An Foras Pátrúnachta is a patron of Irish medium schools that have a choice of Catholic, Interdenominational and Multidenominational ethos. The vision of An Foras Pátrúnachta is to develop, strengthen and promote education through the medium of Irish throughout the country.
An Foras Pátrúnachta is recognized by the Department of Education and Science as a patronage system which is acceptable and appropriate for first and second level schools.
GAELSCOILEANNA TEO. is the coordinating body for Irish-medium schools. The organisation was founded in 1973 as a national volunteer organisation to support the development of Irish-medium schools at primary and post-primary level. It provides motivation, assistance and practical support to parents and local communities who wish to found new schools and it operates according to demand. There are 175 Irish-medium primary schools and 41 Irish-medium post-primary schools outside Gaeltacht areas at present.
Details of the public meetings:
26/06/2012 at 20:00
Stepaside
Bewley’s Hotel, Central Park, Leopardstown, Dublin 18
27/06/2012 at 20:00
Tallaght: Firhouse/Old Bawn
Maldron Hotel, Whitestown Way (N81), Tallaght, Dublin 24
Andrew McKimm: Leaving Cert: it’s an Irish renaissance as hostilities cease
June 5, 2012
An Englishman gave us back our flag — and now we are reclaiming our own language from extreme republicanism, writes Andrew McKimm
THIS year sees the launch of the revamped Leaving Certificate Irish Paper. It will be a markedly changed exam in which 40 per cent, instead of the former 25 per cent, is being awarded for the oral component of the test. This is the first major change to the Irish paper in about 15 years.
I asked Richard Barrett, who teaches Irish in Blackrock College, Dublin, what prompted such a significant shift in the examination of Irish. Does he see this trend as a kind of dumbing down of Irish by moving away from a more literature-based curriculum? Where is Peig in all of this? Is her legacy in danger of drowning somewhere off the Blasket Islands?
“Not at all — I see it as an entirely positive step and one that is very much in keeping with the modern healthy trends in the attitude of students to learning Irish nowadays,” he replies.
He proceeds in his measured, calm way, every point springing with clarity from a deep understanding and love of a language to which he has devoted a lifetime of teaching.
“There are four components to learning any language — listening, speaking, reading and writing. For far too long, the speaking part has been underplayed!”
I can’t resist the opportunity of playing devil’s advocate. What about the large number of people who claim that Irish is a dead and useless language and that it should be totally abolished from the curriculum? He sighs patiently as this is a question that he has to face almost every day.
“People say to me all the time that, after spending 13 years learning Irish in school, they can’t put two words together. I tell them that I beg to differ. Of course they can put two words together and usually quite a lot more. I can give them a quick vocab test and they can get it completely right. I can speak to them and they can understand me perfectly.”
He adds, “Thirteen years of studying anything doesn’t imply perfect knowledge. Does 13 years of studying maths mean that you’re going to get an A?
“It has been a trend for many years not to like Irish but, in fact, most people don’t feel that negative about it any more. People now have a greater sense of our history and are regretful of the fact that they don’t know more Irish.
“Parents keep telling me that they were ‘useless’ at Irish and didn’t like it. This of course makes it much harder to pass on to the next generation. Ironically, the young people whom I teach are the least hostile towards it — they just see Irish as being part of the system. In our school, we have Seachtain na Gaeilge which virtually every boy in the school gets involved in. The smarter ones opt for the ceili with the girls from Sion Hill next door.”
Ultimately does Richard think that attitudes to Irish have improved over the last 20 years? Did the boom —the era of the Fionns and the Saoirses — actually cause a proliferation of more than just that a cupla focail?
“Over the last 30 years, Ireland as a nation has matured and is not trying so hard to prove itself. Irish now exists as part of our heritage, and we accept it. The extreme Republican element in this country had hijacked both the language and the national flag. Ironically, it was an Englishman, Jack Charlton, who gave us back our flag and allowed us to wave it without being viewed as terrorists.
“The days of narrow-minded gaelgoiri being able to define ‘Irishness’ is gone and the language belongs to no political or religious tradition. In fact, some of the best performers in Irish nowadays are our immigrants.”
Apart from our newfound national confidence that started with The Joshua Tree and the discovery of Michael Flatley — both of which have reached their natural apotheosis in Jedward — Richard thinks that credit for our modern, more positive attitudes towards Irish lies with the governments of the last 40 years.
“Healthy bilingualism, which started as unwritten government policy in the Seventies, became de facto policy in the Eighties. Ireland is an English-speaking country and there is now no attempt to replace English with Irish, to pointlessly pit one against the other. The realism of the modern era has buried the ‘one-language nation’ approach.”
What about the reduction in the literature component in newspapers, does this mean that Irish as a literary medium is dying out?
Peig almost single handedly killed off my own admittedly fragile interest in Irish at school. It was only the genius of Padraic O Conaire (coincidentally a past pupil of Blackrock College) and his masterful short stories, Scothscealta, that saved it.
Richard shares my abject enthusiasm for Scothscealta and thinks that a great TV series based on O Conaire’s work has yet to be made.
Richard reminds me that things have moved on a lot since I was in school.
“Irish still has a thriving literary culture with a small but committed audience. The topics on the Leaving Certificate include crime, murder, drug addiction, abortion. The work of poets like Nuala Ni Dhomhnail is some of the most sensual you will read in any language.
“In fairness to Peig, she was the first to forsee that she was part of a dying culture on the Blasket Islands. ‘Ni bheidh ar leithieidi aris ann.’ (Our kind will not be seen again.) Peig can never be viewed as great literature but her book is a vital historical document, a window to the past,” he says.
It is thanks to Richard Barrett and many other teachers of Irish in this country that the Irish language is prevented from going the way of people of the Blaskets and becoming nothing other than a memory.
http://www.independent.ie/
Walking to School and Raising the Green Flag in Clonakilty
June 5, 2012
Daltaí na Gaelscoile Chloch na gCoillte (Clonakilty Gaelscoil pupils) came out in force recently on Lá Náisiúnta Siúil ar Scoil to partake in the Green Schools’ National Walk to School Day, joining school children from all over Ireland. The Green Schools’ initiative aimed to have more than 20,000 children walking to school on the day, known as Walk on Wednesday (WOW), which is held annually. Children from Gaelscoil Chloch na gCoillte were joined by some of their tuismitheoirí (parents) and múinteoirí (teachers), making up the grand total of 214 walkers!
The Bus Siúlóide (Walking Bus), was in celebratory mode as it made its way from outside the Bank of Ireland to the school building at the Waterfront. Méara an Bhaile (Town Mayor), Cllr. John Loughnan, joined in and on arrival at the school did the honours of hoisting the school’s second Green Flag at An Gaelscoil, which had been presented formally the previous day. Daltaí na Gaelscoile (the pupils) were delighted to receive their second Brat Glas, which was in recognition of their efforts to save energy ar scoil and also raise awareness of the importance of energy saving le dhá bhliain anuas (over the last two years).
Cionnaith Ó Súilleabhain,
Rúnaí Scoile,
Gaelscoil Chloch na gCoillte,
Cois Uisce,
Cloch na gCoillte,
Iarthair Chorcaí.
Ré órga an Cheoil i nGaelscoil na Lochanna
June 5, 2012
Múinteoir Bunscoile, Scoil Lorcáin
June 5, 2012
Múinteoir Bunscoile, Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin
June 5, 2012
