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Is leor beirt

August 31, 2012

Lá Idirnáisiúnta Litearthachta Domhanda

August 31, 2012

Be a part of the nationwide project: Our Life in One Day

August 31, 2012

RTÉ and Macalla Teoranta are asking under 18s to join in the creation of an extraordinary documentary.

On Tuesday, September 25th 2012, hundreds of young people from all around Ireland will record and submit roughly two minutes of video of what they did or what they saw, felt or thought on that day.

Anything goes: an appointment with the dentist; a homework completed on the bus; a haircut, a song, a cow milked at dawn, a hedgehog discovered in the garden; a family get-together; a conker-hunt on the walk home from school; a viral video or Facebook session.

As for the techie stuff, contributions can be filmed on a smart-phone, an i-phone, a video camera, anything. Anyone who owns a recording device can be part of this unique documentary which will be broadcast later this year on RTÉ.

More information on the project will be available in the coming weeks on www.rte.ie/trte/ourlife.html  or you can contact Macalla Teoranta (01)6703880 or 016704012 or 01 670 489 email ourlifeinoneday@gmail.com.

Gaeilge Locha Riach’s Heritage Week

August 30, 2012

Heritage Week – Gaeilge Locha Riach

Ceardlann: Drámaíocht don Ghaeilge agus Trasna an Churaclaim

August 30, 2012

Sorry, this entry is only available in Irish.

School gets free toilet paper

August 30, 2012

A toilet-paper maker has come to the aid of a school that asked pupils to bring in their own toilet paper, towels, and soap to class due to Government funding cuts.

After the Irish Examiner’s weekend story about the policy at Gaelscoil Chloch na gCoillte in Co Cork was discussed on 2FM’s Breakfast with Hector show, producers decided to see if any Irish companies could help out.
Shane McEntaggart, sales manager at Dawn Paper & Tissue, heard the end of the item on the radio show on Monday and was surprised by the situation.
“I suppose it highlights problems with funding at a lot of schools, and we were happy to help in our own small way,” he said.
Every child and staff member at the school will be sent a 10-pack of the company’s new Silk ‘n’ Soft brand from the Drogheda factory, where 18 people work.
The toilet paper can be used in the washbags that all pupils from first to sixth classes must bring to school. The washbags must also include a hand towel and soap.
School principal Carmel Nic Airt said everybody at the school was grateful to Mr McEntaggart for his generous gesture. She said the washbag measure was introduced as the school tried to deal with falling income.
“We’re looking at creative ways to get a better bang for our buck with regard the funding available to us. Funding is being cut back and our costs have gone up,” Ms Nic Airt told radio presenter Hector Ó hEochagáin.
As highlighted in Saturday’s Irish Examiner, despite rising numbers, Department of Education grants to the school for running costs, bills, secretarial and caretaking services fell by €25,500 to €101,587. Like all primary schools, its capitation grant, used for insurance, heating, and other costs, has been cut by another 3.5% this year to €178 for each of the 320 pupils.
Ms Nic Airt said the washbag policy meant the school did not have to increase the €25 charge for each child under its book rental scheme.
With 320 pupils at the school, the gesture from Dawn Paper & Tissue will cost almost €700, as well as the cost of delivery to the school next week.
Breakfast With Hector producer Alan Swan said the colourful radio presenter saw it as an opportunity to help out the school and its families, as well as giving a little bit of promotion to an Irish business.
“This an Irish company doing a new product and hopefully, with their help, any money saved at the school can be used for educational purposes,” he said.
A similar policy introduced in 2009 at a primary school in Carrigaline, Co Cork, prompted a Dublin firm to send a toilet paper supply for its 540 pupils.

www.irishexaminer.com

Irish language classes for all levels in your area

August 30, 2012

IRISH language enthusiasts – as well as those who would like to start out on the path to picking up a ‘cúpla focal’ – are being urged to be on the lookout for a whole range of classes and social events in the Dungannon and Cookstown areas over the next weeks and months.

Among the events planned as part of the continuing Líofa 2015 project, the annual Irish Language Summer School at Termonaguirk, near the An Creagán visitor centre, is sure to be one of the biggest attractions when it takes place towards the end of this month.
Meanwhile, Josephine McCaughey, Irish Language Officer with Dungannon and Cookstown Councils, is hoping people will be encouraged by locally available classes which, she explained, will be advertised in newspapers and online over the coming weeks.
The Líofa Project, which will be celebrating its first birthday on September 22, had the original aim of encouraging 2015 people from all walks of life across the North to commit to becoming fluent by the 2015 deadline.
The project has proved hugely successful and since the original target has not only been reached but exceeded, a new target of 5000 people has now been set.
As the first anniversary approaches, an important step now for anyone who has signed up on the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure website, www.dcalni.gov.uk, or indeed for anyone interested in signing up, is to think also about registering with an Irish Language class to commence or recommence the journey to fluency.
According to Josephine: “An abundance of interesting and fun classes and events in which people from all age groups and backgrounds can participate are now available in Tyrone and incidentally, participation is one of the secrets to success.”
She adds: “Towards the end of September the annual Irish Language Summer School takes place at the homestead of the last native speaking seanchaí (storyteller) in the parish of Termonaguirk, Co Tyrone. It is situated about a mile from An Creagán visitor centre on the Omagh-Cookstown Road.
“The Summer School will cater for all levels of Irish Learners by day and will offer bilingual events at night so you don’t have to be líofa (fluent) to enjoy it. The best of good old Irish hospitality is second to none at this event and if you have never been you will know what is meant by this when you get there.
“Anyone who has ever attended will know that Scoil Samhraidh Peadar Joe Haughey is one of the best small festivals in the North. For more information you can contact Francis Clarke, Peadar Joe’s grandson, on 077 8894891.”
Local councils are working in partnership with Irish Language organisations including Foras na Gaeilge, the all-Ireland body responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the whole island of Ireland.
The role of the Irish Language Development Officer for Cookstown and Dungannon is to promote the language and culture to as wide an audience as possible.
The aim is to have classes and events, where there is appropriate community-led demand, not only in central town locations such as Cookstown and Dungannon but also in surrounding villages and rural community settings.
The Irish Language Development Officer aims to ensure that people are aware of the vast range of Irish Language classes and events happening in these two Council areas.
If you are organising Irish classes or an Irish Language event, you can contact Josephine with details so that this information can be shared and promoted in the local press and on the web over the coming weeks.   This can be done by emailing gaeilge@cookstown.gov.uk or gaeilge@dungannon.gov.uk or 079 200 16106.

www.tyronetimes.co.uk

Testing times lie ahead as primary pupil numbers reach 20-year high

August 30, 2012

PRIMARY school pupil numbers are at their highest level in 20 years.

As the back- to- school rush gets under way, the baby boom of the past decade has pushed enrolments up to about 525,000 this September.
This is about 10,000 more than last year – and the number will continue rising until 2019.
Second- level schools are also seeing a surge, with an additional 5,000 pupils bringing enrolments up to about 327,000 this year. A peak in enrolments at post- primary is not expected until about 2027, when it is projected to reach around 400,000.
The explosion in pupil numbers comes as nine new primary and five new post- primary schools open this September.
It also means some good news for newly- qualified primary teachers who are looking for jobs. It is estimated that about 500- 600 such positions need to be filled this year, including up to 400 new posts to cater for the jump in pupil numbers and the replacement of about 200 teachers who retired over the summer.
However, primary teacher graduates – about 1,800 this year – continue to outstrip the number of vacancies available.

Cuts
The news is less promising at post- primary level, though, where cuts of 700 teachers announced in last year’s Budget are affecting job opportunities.
However, there is some relief on the way for the schools worst hit by the embargo on middle management promotions earlier this year.
The Department of Education advised school managers this week that it would now allow a limited number of appointments at assistant principal level. It is a recognition of the loss of staff experienced in some schools in recent months arising from retirements.
In February, a ban was imposed on the payment of allowances associated with positions such as assistant principal and other posts of responsibility.
It is part of the wider ban on the payment allowances to public servants, pending a review aimed at cutting € 75m a year off the € 1.5bn a year bill for such payments.  The same ruling has also affected the pay of new teachers, who are now starting on a salary of € 27,814, having lost their qualifications allowance of about € 5,000.

www.independent.ie

Irish Courses for Adults 2012 / 2013 with Gael Linn

August 29, 2012

Gael-Linn’s Irish language Course will commence once again in September 2012.  Designed to achieve fluency, Gael Linn evening courses involve 24 hours tuition over a 6 week period. Courses are offered at:

  • Beginners
  • Intermediate level
  • Advanced level

For further information contact:
Gael-Linn
35 Dame Street
Dublin 2
Tel: (01) 6751200
E-mail: eolas@gael-linn.ie
Website: www.gael-linn.ie

Slán Sábháilte – First Aid Courses through Irish

August 29, 2012

Slán Sábháilte provide training with FETAC accreditation in First Aid and Manual Handling through the medium of Irish. They can be contacted on 087 2385566 or paraoman@eircom.net and further information on their services is available on www.slansabhailte.ie.

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