Ceardlann Ghaeilge i gCeatharlach
March 18, 2014
Comhartha sláinte
March 18, 2014
Bhí mé ag rá an tseachtain seo caite nach bhfaighimid a lán deiseanna Gaeilge a labhairt.
Táimid inár gcónaí in Eirinn, ach tá timpeallacht Bhéarla agus timpeallacht chultúrtha Shasanach againn. Amuigh ar an tsráid, cluintear Béarla an t-am ar fad, beagnach, agus ag amharc ar an chuid is mó de na comharthaí os cionn na siopaí i nDoire, shílfeá go raibh tú i mbaile Sasanach. D’imigh cuid mhaith de na comharthaí Gaeilge i rith na mblianta: Siopa Sheáin, ar Shráid an Chreagáin, mar shampla – bhí ceacht beag Gaeilge sa chomhartha sin. Feictear ainmneacha sráideanna ina lán áiteanna, áfach, agus cuidíonn sin go mór le stór focal agus le litriú na Gaeilge.
Ach tá bláth nua ag fás amuigh san fhásach. Bhuail mé isteach i siopa/caife nua ar Shráid an Chaisleáin i lár na cathrach ar na mallaibh- an Siopa Císte – comhartha taobh amuigh i nGaeilge! Labhair mé leis an úinéir, Seán Ó Baoill. Tá Gaeilge mhaith aige, cé go ndeir sé go bhfuil sí rud beag meirgeach. Ach tá scoth na Gaeilge ag duine de na freastalaithe, Aoibheann Ní Dhéin. Tá sí bródúil as a teanga, agus tá sí breá sásta comhrá a dhéanamh. D’fhreastail Aoibheann ar Bhunscoil Chomcille i nDoire, agus ar Mheánscoil Dhoire sular druideadh í. Tá beirt óganach eile ag obair sa chaife – iardhaltaí na Meánscoile fosta, agus tá Gaeilge ar a dtoil acu. Léiríonn sé seo gur féidir fostaíocht a chruthú tríd an Ghaeilge.
Chomh maith le Gaeilge bhlasta, faigheann tú cístí blasta sa chaife/siopa. Tá tríocha bliain de thaithí ag Seán. Faigheann sé uibheacha óna chearca féin, agus fásann sé torthaí do na cístí: úlla, rúbarb, sméara dubha, sútha talún. Mar sin de, feiceann tú gur siopa glas atá ann sa chiall leathan den fhocal!
Tá fáilte roimh achan duine chuig an Siopa Cístí- Gaeilgeoirí agus Béarlóirí araon. Bain sult as cuairt ar an áit an-Ghaelach seo an tseachtain seo, go háirithe. Beannachtaí na Féile ar ár léitheoirí go léir!
I was saying last week that we do not get many opportunities to speak Irish. We live in Ireland, but we have an English speaking environment and an English cultural environment. Out on the street, you hear English nearly all the time, and looking at the signs above most of the shops, you would think that you were in an English town. Many Irish signs have disappeared over the years: Siopa Sheáin on Creggan Street, for instance – there was a little Irish lesson in that sign! You can see a lot of street names in many places, however, and that is a great help with regard to vocabulary and spelling. But a new flower is blooming out in the desert. I dropped into the new café/shop in Castle Street recently- An Siopa Císte- which has the sign outside in Irish. I spoke to the owner, Seán Boyle. He has good Irish, although he says it is a little rusty.
One of the waitresses, Aoibheann Ní Dhéin, has excellent Irish. She is very proud of her language and is very pleased to chat! Aoibheann attended Bunscoil Cholmcille in Derry and the Irish secondary school before it closed. There are two other young people working in the café: they are also former Meánscoil pupils, and they are both fluent speakers. This shows that jobs can be created through Irish. As well as great Irish, you get great cakes in the café/shop. Seán has thirty years’ experience. He gets eggs from his own hens, and he grows fruit for the cakes: apples, rhubarb, blackberries, strawberries. So it is a green shop in the broad sense of the word! Everyone is welcome at the Siopa Císte- Irish speakers and English speakers! Enjoy a visit to this very Irish place – this week especially. A happy Saint Patrick’s Day to all our readers!
Sliocht na Seachtaine/ Quotation of the week
‘No language can survive if its use is confined to just private and domestic contexts. A lot of us now feel that we can only practice the language with other consenting adults behind closed doors.’ John Glennon, Irish Times, 7 Márta.
www.derryjournal.com
An chéad chlár raidió Gaeilge ó Nua Eabhrac le tosnú ar Raidió na Life!
March 18, 2014
£10,000 bronnta ag Gael-Mheiriceánaigh ar an Ghaeloideachas
March 18, 2014
Rith 2014: Gaeil ag rith ar son na Gaeilge
March 18, 2014
Feighlí linbh
March 18, 2014
A special visitor to Gaelscoil an Chuilinn!
March 13, 2014
Minister Joan Burton paid a visit to Gaelscoil an Chuilinn to help them to launch Seachtain na Gaeilge and to discuss a permanent site for the school. Nach álainn an pictiúr!
Appointment of new Language Commissioner
March 13, 2014
Uachtarán na hÉireann, Michael D. Higgins yesterday appointed Mr. Rónán Ó Domhnaill as An Coimisinéir Teanga.
Originally from An Cheathrú Rua, Ó Domhnaill (38) spent seven years as Political Correspondent with Nuacht RTÉ/TG4 and as a member of RTÉ’s Political Unit.
Ó Domhnaill succeeds former Commissioner Seán Ó Cuirreáin, who announced his resignation from the post on 4th December 2013 stating that there was little else he could personally achieve in relation to language rights for Irish speakers and Gaeltacht communities. Ó Cuirreáin referenced the lack of implementation and the low standard of the language scheme system, the lack of competence in Irish throughout the state service, and the government’s decision to merge the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga with the Office of the Ombudsman as factors contributing to his decision.
Mr Ó Domhnaill said that it was an honour and a privilege to be appointed as the country’s second ever Coimisinéir Teanga and stated his intention to protect the linguistic rights of Irish speakers without fear or favour, and to fulfil his legislative responsibilities with vigour and enthusiasm.
At the event in Áras an Uachtaráin, Mr Ó Domhnaill paid special tribute to his predecessor, Seán Ó Cuirreáin and expressed his gratitude to the staff in the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga for their warm welcome and also thanked the Minister of State for the Gaeltacht, Dinny McGinley, and the Government for nominating him as An Coimisinéir Teanga.
www.gaelport.com
Caribbean and Irish pupils speak as Gaeilge over Skype
March 13, 2014
Separated by thousands of miles, but not by a common language.
History was made yesterday when a gaelscoil hooked up for the first time on Skype with a primary school in the Caribbean, and they both conversed as Gaeilge. Ireland and Montserrat, also known as the Emerald isle, are the only two nations in the world which hold public holidays to mark St Patrick’s Day, and it’s believed it was also the first Skype link between the two islands. Many surnames on Montserrat are Irish as most of its population are descended from Irish slaves who were sent there in the 17th century and married black slaves working on plantations. The idea for the Skype link-up came from freelance journalist, Graham Clifford, from Fermoy, Co Cork. He was on the tropical island yesterday ensuring the transmission went smoothly between Gaelscoil de hÍde, in his hometown and St Augustine’s primary school which is on the outskirts of Monserrat’s capital Plymouth.
Graham’s daughters Molly and Aoife attend the gaelscoil and were able to say hello to him along with their classmates. In both schools, the children dressed up to mark the occasion. To the delight of teachers in Fermoy the Montserrat children sang ‘Ó ró sé do bheatha abhaile’ in almost perfect Irish. Their charges replied with ‘Trasna na dTonna’ (Across the Waves). Both sets of children then spoke to their counterparts of their lives and the type of education they’re receiving. “To see the children on both islands chatting away and singing and dancing for each other was something else. Here on Montserrat they are aware they have Irish heritage, but through this interaction they got to see it in action,” Graham said. “We’ve been organising this call for weeks and in that time they’ve been learning Irish songs and dances, decorating their school in green, white and orange and learning about Ireland. Even if I meet one of the children walking down the street or strolling along the beach on the island they’d roar out ‘Céad míle Fáilte’,” he added.
St Augustine’s principal Claudia Skerritt said it was a wonderful experience for her pupils and would “make the St Patrick’s Day celebrations on Montserrat all the more special”. Their parish priest, Fr George Aggers, who is originally from Cobh, said the children “were very excited and thankfully remembered the ‘cúpla focals’ I taught them.” Gaelscoil de hÍde principal Sean Mac Gearailt said his pupils and teachers were thrilled with the link-up. “I hope we will do more of this with St Augustine’s into the future whereby the pupils can exchange on Skype, through emails and letters. ” he said. “It will help us to exchange ideas and learn more about each other’s history, education and resources. It worked a treat, it was fantastic. There was great credit to the teachers over there to teach their pupils Irish. It just goes to show we have a shared heritage and language, even though we are thousands of miles apart.”
www.irishexaminer.com
Changes to junior cycle education
March 13, 2014
A chara, – I think it is necessary to remind the Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn,
regarding his plans for the Junior Cycle Student Award programme, that the substantial changes and improvements that have taken place in Irish education over the past 20 years were all implemented and delivered by teachers – the introduction of transition year, the Leaving Certificate vocational programme and the Leaving Certificate applied programme (the last of which is probably the reason that Ireland has the highest student retention rate in Europe).
We have welcomed greater integration of children with special educational needs and learning difficulties into mainstream education, adapting our educational provision and methodologies to their needs. Social, personal and health education (SPHE) and civic, social and political education (CSPE) have come on stream at Junior Cert level. Practical examinations and project work form part of the assessment of almost all practical subjects, and many schools have also introduced the oral Irish exam at Junior Certificate level. All schools have embraced technology in the classroom, and numerous changes to syllabuses, the latest being Project Maths.
All these changes have been embraced by teachers in an effort to improve the suitability and quality of the education we provide on a daily basis to students all over this country. Teachers are not opposed to change. We welcome it. We are at the coal face of education, seeing the changing needs of our students every day, and yet Mr Quinn refuses to listen to us. Not a very good example for the children of the country, and nor would their teachers be if we sat back and were bullied into introducing a flawed educational programme rather than standing up to protect the rights of the students in our care. – Is mise,
GEAROIDÍN O’DWYER,
Abberley,
Killiney, Co Dublin.
Sir, – This is a plea to Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn to speak to the Welsh minister for education Huw Lewis before he changes the Junior Cert. On Newsnight recently he was asked why Wales had plummeted in international school rankings. The reply – they had changed from state exams to individual school assessments. We need to up our game here, not drop it. – Yours,
MAURA McSWEENEY,
Mount Albany,
Blackrock, Co Dublin.
www.irishtimes.com
