Seachtain na Gaeilge 2014 has arrived
March 4, 2014
The annual Irish language festival will take place from 1-17 March with events to celebrate the language happening all over Ireland and abroad
Seachtain na Gaeilge 2014 kicked off in Killarney at the weekend with an open-air concert by the group Seo Linn as a part of Ard-Fheis Chonradh na Gaeilge 2014.
The beginning of the festival was also marked in Dublin where a ‘Game for Gaeilge’, a challenge match between Castleknock GAA and CLG Na Gaeil Óga took place. The match was played in Somerton Park, the home ground of this year’s festival ambassador, Ciarán Kilkenny, and there were several other special guests including the Sam Maguire Cup. Celebrations also took place in Belfast where Lynette Faye, another ambassador for this year’s festival, attended Queen’s University Féile GAA along with representatives from Líofa 2015.
Thousands of events take place every year as part of the festival that promotes the Irish language and culture in Ireland and places all over the world. Events include conversation gatherings, traditional music, sean-nós and Irish dancing, historic walks, poetry reading, lessons, speed dating as Gaeilge, children’s events, storytelling, concerts, and many cafés will hold conversation circles. The festival gives everyone a chance to experiment and have fun with Irish, whether they are fluent speakers or only dipping their toe in the language for the first time.
Speaking in Killarney at the weekend, Brenda Ní Ghairbhí, Bainisteoir Sheachtain na Gaeilge, said that it’s important the events cater to the interests of the community and we are extending an open invitation to all to take part in the festival and to use whatever Irish they may have at events or at home, at work, with friends, on social networks or any other way. “Irish belongs to all of us”, said Ní Ghairbhí.
Among the main events taking place this year are: Rith 2014, the national marathon run from Baile Bhúirne to Belfast between 7-15 March; Cinemobile will go on a mini tour around the country from 5-7 March with showing the best of Irish language cinema to school children; Gaelspraoi as part of the St. Patrick’s Festival will take place in Dublin from 14-17 March and the festival will come to a close with Ceiliúradh Phobal na Gaeilge in Belfast City Hall on St. Patrick’s Day.
Seachtain na Gaeilge events are run nationwide and worldwide by community groups, schools, local authorities, libraries, cultural, sport and music organisations and more besides. The list of Seachtain na Gaeilge events is available on www.snag.ie and on the festival app, SnaG 2014, which is available to download for free on iTunes and on Google Play.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
Féile Ongar 2014
March 4, 2014
As part of this year’s Seachtain na Gaeilge celebrations the Irish language community in Ongar, Dublin 15 are organising Féile Ongar. This festival Irish will take place from 7th -10th March 2014. Events include concerts, childrens shows and entertainment, historic talk with Pádraig Ó Snodaigh (Vice-President of Conradh na Gaeilge), Bodhráin workshop with Ian Ó Ríordáin plus various Irish language classes.
A programme of events is available Here
For more information contact ó Paula Melvin, Oifigeach caidrimh phoiblí Mhuintir na Gaeilge Ongar
T: 086 158 90 63 / R: paulamelvin@hotmail.com
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
Féile na Gaeilge faoi lán seoil i gCeatharlach
March 4, 2014
Ciorcail Ghaeilge na seachtaine i gCeatharlach
March 4, 2014
Rith Linn!
March 3, 2014
NCCA Newsletter
March 3, 2014
You can read the newsletter online here.
Seachtain na Gaeilge ag Gaelscoil Moshíológ
March 3, 2014
Irish language under threat
March 3, 2014
A chara, – Irish has been described as a functionally useless language (Eanna Coffey, February 25th). This may come as a surprise to the 200 Irish speakers of An Ghaeltacht-sur-Seine here in Paris.
The Irish are remarkable among “English speakers” on mainland Europe in their appreciation for and willingness to learn other functionally challenged local languages such as French, German and Spanish. A great many from other English-speaking countries are notorious for keeping to English-speaking circles and expecting the locals to speak English.
Not so the Irish, and particularly those who can speak some Irish. They have great respect for other people’s languages, plus a willingness and ability to learn them. This comes from first having respect for their own language.
This is not only useful, it also creates enormous goodwill towards the Irish and Ireland, and dare I say it, could perhaps be considered functional!
– Is mise,
CIARÁN Mac GUILL,
Cathaoirleach,
An Ghaeltacht-sur-Seine
Conradh na Gaeilge, Paris branch,
Rue Gaston Paymal,
Clichy,
An Fhrainc.
www.irishtimes.com
A monument to our national failure
March 3, 2014
The Saturday Night Show (RTE1)
THE Irish language is a crucial national resource. There is no doubt about that. It stands there as the most towering monument of almost everything that has gone wrong in this country.
And if we could see it in that light, and if we studied how we managed to create such a thing, and if we resolved to do everything in a completely different way in future, it might nearly have been worthwhile.
In that sense, the recent resignation of the Irish Language Commissioner, mainly on the grounds that the State is no longer supporting the language, is obviously a good thing.
His objection to the way things are done these days, suggests that there has been a change of attitude on the part of the State. And any change is self-evidently bound to be good, or at least better than whatever was there before.
Unfortunately, the role of Irish Language Commissioner itself has not been abolished. But we are indebted to the old one for his complaint that due to the lack of civil servants who are fluent in Irish, it is now compulsory for most Irish speakers to speak English in their official dealings.
Yes we can carve that one on the monument, if we can find a bit of space. We who have had to do compulsory Irish or face the most serious consequences, are now invited to empathise with people forced into compulsory English on rare and relatively trivial occasions. Yes, it is a good one.
Undaunted by the immensity of this tragedy, Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh took the fight to Brendan O’Connor on The Saturday Night Show. Indeed quite a lot of people are taking their fights to Brendan O’Connor these days, with the result that The Saturday Night Show is becoming like The Late Late of ancient mythology, when everyone seemed to be fighting, and Ireland was the better for it.
Blathnaid went on a march recently, asking as an Irish speaker to be supported, “because I’m supposed to be supported”.
O’Connor mentioned little tokens of support such as the education system and the TV station, but Blathnaid still felt that she wasn’t being supported as she’s supposed to be supported.
It seems to have escaped her attention that these measures which she feels might ameliorate the situation, such as giving people jobs in the civil service because they speak Irish, have been tried. Dear God, they’ve been tried – indeed way back the Irish language movement came close enough to destroying RTE itself, with its efforts to make it an Irish-only service.
While that would have involved an element of positive discrimination, it would have been positive only for the privileged few, the Irish-speakers who did well for themselves, if not for the language that they espouse. For Ireland in general, this form of institutionalised discrimination has not been positive. It has been negative.
Just about everything that the Irish State has done about the Irish language has had a negative outcome, resulting in a failure so colossal, it is becoming apparent even to the language enthusiasts, who respond by urging the State to keep doing the things it used to do, only more so – Blathnaid would like the entire primary school system to be converted to Irish.
And yet we have such an opportunity here, to teach the world the lessons of this catastrophe – not just the superhuman scale of the failure in itself, but the way that the official bullshit in this area has flowed freely into so many other areas, feeding our sense of self-delusion, our ability to tolerate the ridiculous on an enormous scale.
If we can engage in a solemn process to ascertain the number of Irish speakers in this country, and we arrive at an official figure of roughly 1.7 million, it is hardly surprising that our numeracy skills in general and our maturity in dealing with certain unavoidable realities, have been found wanting. Yes we have created a monument here.
And if Blathnaid wants to chip away at that mighty structure, she might start by organising another march, starting in Parnell Square with a call for the abandonment of compulsory Irish in every conceivable form.
Perhaps then we can feel the agony of our gaeltacht brethren forced into paying their property tax in English – we don’t know how they do it.
www.independent.ie
Information Evening in Gaelscoil Mhic Aodha, Kildare
March 3, 2014
Gaelscoil Mhic Aodha is having an open evening in the school on Tuesday the 11th of March at 7.30pm. The address is Tower View, Kildare Town, and all are very welcome.
