(Gaeilge) Míbhuntáistí an dátheangachais á bhfiosrú in Ollscoil Cambridge
June 23, 2016
(Gaeilge) Folúntais Poist
June 23, 2016
(Gaeilge) 45 bliain ó tosaíodh an feachtas do Scoil an tSeachtar Laoch
June 23, 2016
(Gaeilge) Folúntais Poist
June 21, 2016
(Gaeilge) Fáinne Cnoc Shliabh gCuillinn: Turas Treoraithe i nGaeilge, Dé Sathairn 30 Iúil 2016, 10.30am – 4.30pm
June 21, 2016
(Gaeilge) Stiúrthóir do Champa Samhraidh Locha Riach de dhíth.
June 21, 2016
(Gaeilge) Iris Shruth na Gaeilge, Coláiste Chaitríona, Ard Mhacha, ar fáil ar líne
June 20, 2016
(Gaeilge) Ó Pheann an Phiarsaigh i mBéal Feirste agus Anagaire an tseachtain seo
June 20, 2016
Call for secular Gaelscoil in north Dublin
June 20, 2016
Reversal sought on rejection of first non-denominational gaelscoil in north Dublin area
Campaigners for a multidenominational Gaelscoil in north Dublin are calling for a change in the criteria used to grant school patronage after an application to open an Irish-medium school was rejected.
Minister for Education Richard Bruton refused to sanction the Gaelscoil in the Drumcondra/Marino/Dublin 1 catchment area despite the application registering the names of 733 children from the immediate area and adjacent school districts.
The children’s names – a record-breaking number for Gaelscoil campaigns nationwide – were submitted by proposed patron An Foras Pátrunachta on behalf of parents as part of the application.
Despite noting evidence “of considerable demand for all-Irish provision at primary level”, the department rejected the Gaelscoil application in favour of an Educate Together school, scheduled to open on the All Hallows campus inDrumcondra in September.
The department’s New Schools Establishment Group determined that some of the children listed on the Gaelscoil application were from outside the immediate area due to be served by the school.
Parents say a derogation should be given to Gaelscoileanna on the basis that they cannot numerically compete with English-language schools in any given catchment area.
Secular ethos
Supporters of the proposal argue that there is no comparable multidenominational Irish-medium school in any of the adjoining school districts and the proposed school would be the only Irish-medium school of this type on the northside of the city.
Parents are now hoping the minister will allow for the co-location of the school alongside the new Educate Together school on the All Hallows site.
Karolina Stefanczak, a Polish woman living and working in Ireland who wishes to send her three-year-old daughter Gaia to the Gaelscoil, said despite the high level of interest stated, “many of us were from ‘outside the catchment area’ and therefore ‘disqualified’”.
“Currently there is not a single Irish-medium multidenominational primary school available from O’Connell Street to Swords. Living in the capital as we do it is bizarre that we do not have the option of this type of education. The Government should ensure that there is this type of education available for any parents who want it without imposing significant distances on them to travel.”
Highlighting the fact that the school would be the only Irish-medium school in the area without a religious ethos, she said: “Such a school would break that idea that the Irish language is only available to Catholics. Having a multidenominational Irish school opens the Irish language to everybody.”
In answer to a parliamentary question asked by Green Party TD Catherine Martin on the matter in the Dáil this week, Mr Bruton said his officials “are keeping the changing demographics in the Drumcondra/Marino/Dublin 1 area under review”.
‘Grave injustice’
Siún Mulrennan from Drumcondra, who speaks Irish to her children at home, said she and her family were “devastated” when the application was rejected. “Parents I have spoken to since the decision feel that this is a grave injustice.”
Ms Mulrennan believes the refusal to grant permission is in contravention of the 20-Year Strategy on Irish which says a high standard of all-Irish education will be provided to school students whose parents or guardians so wish.
Despite the rejection, parents are continuing to register their children’s names for the Gaelscoil and over 800 children are now on the list.
An online petition started by Ms Mulrennan and her husband calling on the Minister to co-locate an Irish-medium school with the Educate Together school on the All Hallows campus has been signed by more than 1,600 people.
A decision is expected in the coming days on an appeal lodged by An Foras Pátrunachta with the Department of Education over its refusal to approve the application.
Gael Choláiste Chill Dara principal retires
June 20, 2016
After nearly 40 years in teaching, local principal Séamus Ó Ceanainn (Jim as he is widely known) has decided to step down as head of Gael Choláiste Chill Dara and retire.
In his second floor office above the school he spoke to me about the uphill battle to get the school from it’s humble beginnings in 2003 to where it is today.
The concept of the school was formed by parents of children leaving the Gaelscoil who wanted their kids to be able to continue their education through Irish at the second level.
“We were ready to open in September 2003 with nine students in Curragh Grange after being in consultation with the Department of Education for about nine months and were expecting recognition, but that didn’t happen.
After a bit of a battle with the department they granted us recognition but said they wouldn’t activate the school until next September. We couldn’t officially take in any students. It was like having cigarettes with no matches.”
He and the other teachers finished out the school year unofficially (and unpaid) and come September 2004 they welcomed 25 new students.
“By 2004 the Department still didn’t give their full support but they did begin to pay teachers wages and capitation grant. The school was kept going mostly because of the local community’s willingness to help, most of our equipment and furniture came from donations and I made many of the old desks by hand or by taking old desks and making them suitable for secondary aged students.
“NUI Maynooth granted us the use of their labs for many years when we had none of our own to carry out science projects.”
It wasn’t until 2010, seven years after the opening of the school, that the Gaelcholaiste began to get the support that other schools typically receive.
“The Board began to pay for accommodation but would only do so for six months in Herbert Lodge, where we were based at the time and told us we had to move into St Patrick’s in Naas if we wanted to continue to receive the payments. The building was in disrepair when we first moved in but has since been renovated to the highest standard.”
Talking about what the school has become he said that he believes it is “a reflection of the wider community that lives along the Dublin, Kildare, Portlaoise corridor (Irish and non-Irish speakers alike), who supported the school from its inception.”
On the future of the school he spoke glowingly of the soon to be principal Amanda Ní Dhuibhir, who has been with the school since the beginning. “She’s somebody who understands the development of the school and is also very active in the local community with irish language organisations … One of the best candidates you could ever interview for any job.”
He feels the school serves the ideals of Pearse and leaders of 1916 who “understood the huge importance of language and cultural integrity as an essential part of a nation’s identity, there’s a demand for institutions like the school reflecting this growth in language and culture in the country, the census data from the last 20 years shows that Kildare has the fastest growing Irish language community in the country. My Grandmother was beaten in school for speaking irish, that’s how close we are to that generation.”
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