School cuts hit classroom teaching time
January 14, 2014
CUTS in teacher numbers have left some schools struggling to offer students the minimum 28 hours a week of classroom teaching.
A major review of teaching time in second-level institutions is to be carried out after several schools were found to be falling short of basic requirements. SCHOOLS are struggling to offer pupils the minimum 28 hours a week of classroom teaching due to education cutbacks. A major review of teaching time in second-level institutions is to be carried out after several schools were found to be falling short of basic requirements. The Department of Education has admitted the cutbacks of recent years have been “an added challenge” for schools in meeting the standard. The problem has been identified in a number of recent Whole School Evaluation (WSE) reports published by the department’s inspectors.
In some cases, schools count assembly or study time as part of the 28 hours, but the rules stipulate that it must be spent on direct teaching and learning. In a recent WSE report on the 425-pupil Colaiste Cois Life, Lucan, Co Dublin, the inspectors reported that pupils were being left short one-and-a-half hours a week.
Pressure
At Meanscoil Iognaid Ris, Longmile Road, Dublin, inspectors also noted that instruction time fell short of the minimum 28 hours. And inspectors found the 525-pupil Salesian Secondary School, in Pallaskenry, Limerick, counted a 15-minute weekly session between class tutors and pupils as part of its 28 hours. Michael Moriarty, general secretary of the Education and Training Boards Ireland, said achieving the 28 hours was becoming more difficult. Ferdia Kelly, general secretary of the Joint Managerial Body representing secondary schools, said it would like to maintain the 28 hours but the reduction in teacher numbers had put pressure on schools to maintain it. Most schools do provide the required 28 hours a week, and at least one-third of schools offer even more than that. The department is planning a detailed analysis of practice across schools of different types and sizes, to see where and why there is a deviation. It will consider whether a standard 28 hours is desirable, or whether there should be a relaxation of the rules by giving schools a certain flexibility in how they organise their time.
Challenges
A department spokesperson said that any such relaxation would not involve a reduction in the 22 hours a week for which teachers are contracted to be available. School timetables are worked out based on the number of pupils, the range of subjects on offer – and at different levels – and the number of teachers. The department has acknowledged that the challenges involved in meeting the needs of all pupils can vary, depending on the school size and the range of subjects it provides. A department spokesperson said its research would relate to the decisions schools make when deciding how to use the aggregate teaching hours available from the schools allocation. The educational benefits, advantages or trade-offs that might justify any deviation from a standard number of hours would be considered, the spokesperson said.
www.independent.ie
How Irish language belongs to all of us on this island
January 14, 2014
I have read many great articles in the Belfast Telegraph over the past several years, but none more interesting than the one of January 9 about the demand for Irish language classes among Protestant loyalists in east Belfast.
In the article, Linda Ervine states: “Irish is such a beautiful language.” I’m thrilled to hear her describe the ancient language of Ireland in such glowing terms and want to tell her “Go raibh mile maith agat” (A thousand thanks to you) for saying so. I know that my fellow Gaeilgeoiri (Irish speakers) on this side of the Atlantic enthusiastically approve of Linda’s efforts and those of her co-religionists to learn teanga na nGael (the language of the Gaels), because it is also part of their heritage.
In the ’80s and early ’90s, Belfast native the Rev Campbell Sheil made his own contribution to the teaching of Irish in the Bronx by making available to the Gaelic League the hall of the Woodlawn Presbyterian Church of which he was then pastor. During the seven years (1984-91) I taught weekly Irish lessons in that hall, I always had easy access to my classroom as the Rev Sheil gave me my own key to the place.
Another Protestant clergyman who also indicated his approval of Irish was Jonathan Swift, Dean of St Patrick’s Anglican Cathedral, Dublin (1713-45), by translating an Irish poem to English. In Swift’s time the Irish language belonged to the people in all parts of the Emerald Isle and it still does.
Sean Mac Curtain
New York
www.belfasttelegrapgh.co.uk
Anger over State’s treatment of Irish language
January 13, 2014
Public meeting hears of crisis in State provision of services for Irish speakers
A nationwide campaign to address the Government’s failure to provide ongoing support for the Irish language is due to be launched in the coming weeks. Over 200 people attended a public meeting in Dublin on Saturday organised by Conradh na Gaeilge in response to the resignation last month of an Commisineir Teanga Seán Ó Cuirreáin. The meeting heard that Mr Ó Cuirreáin resigned his position in protest at the failure by Government to implement legislation designed to improve services to the public through Irish. The Liberty Hall meeting saw speakers debate and suggest different forms of protest that might feature in the forthcoming campaign. The campaign will seek the implementation by Government of measures to ensure language rights and equality for Irish speakers.
The Government’s refusal to implement recommendations made by an Commisineir Teanga was roundly criticised at the meeting. Several speakers also said they were disappointed at the level of media coverage of Mr Ó Cuirreáin’s resignation from his ombudsman’s role. In contrast to the airtime allocated to the recent controversy surrounding the Limerick City of Culture project, the meeting heard that Mr Ó Cuirreáin’s resignation barely made the mainstream headlines.
“Sean Ó Cuirreáin’s resignation has really galvanised people – there is a real sense of crisis that needs to be addressed,” said Conradh na Gaeilge general secretary Julian de Spáinn. Speakers included Capt Aralt Mac Giolla Chainnigh founder of the Canada Gaeltacht who was visiting Ireland with former astronaut Chris Hadfield, Seán Mag Leannáin, former principle officer in the civil service and Caoimhín Ó hEaghra, director of An Foras Pátrúnachta. Mr Ó Cuirreáin announced his resignation at a sitting of the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions in December. He told the committee that he believed the language was being marginalised and that the State was quickly moving towards a situation where the use of English would become compulsory for citizens wishing to interact with public bodies.
Mr Ó Cuirreáin told the committee that the Government’s failure to implement the legislation represents a “significant risk” to the language. While details of the upcoming campaign have not yet been finalised, Mr de Spáinn said a major demonstration is being considered and support could be sought from candidates in the European and local elections next May.
www.irishtimes.com
The forgotten language that shapes this country
January 13, 2014
There’s nothing like an irrefutable argument. Black is black, white is white.
And, whereas some arguments may not be irrefutable, such as where did original matter come from, they can be the basis of an intriguing intellectual debate. Post-Christmas, with all of the third-level colleges trying to snag as many new students as possible from the current Leaving Certificate crop, the media emphasis on careers and points will begin again. Just like the spring bulbs popping their heads from the ground I can predict that within two or three weeks the annual why learn Irish, not Chinese’ debate will also rear its ugly, well worn, head. This argument hasn’t really moved on in the last 40 or so years. Yes, English is the language of international trade. Yes, English is de facto our first language. Yes, having English is one of the factors that attracts international investment to Ireland from English speaking corporations.
So far, so yes. Equally, there’s nothing wrong with learning Chinese, Spanish or any of the other major world languages, as well as Irish. The two are not mutually exclusive. When the IDA itself, or its well-rehearsed inward investors, cite the reasons why their companies come to Ireland, the mantra is that we have a young, well-educated English speaking population with the right skills’ (and of course sotto voce there may be something, but not much, said about the tax regime). But all of the above is available across the water in Britain, as well as having easier access to world markets via a much better developed infrastructure and a much bigger domestic economy.
Still these major companies, fortunately for us, continue to choose Ireland as their preferred EMEA location. Why? What I have never heard or read is whether we in Ireland could have a secret X-factor – the nugget that tips hardnosed international corporate bosses to choose Ireland? When I pose that question the we’ I refer to is the entire Irish population that has gone through our full education cycle.
Why is it that we have produced, and continue to produce, so many creative individuals of world standing, right across the creative industries but primarily in written English? Could it be that we may have something special that other English speaking nations do not have? I’m not being silly, they all have brilliant creative individuals but, pro rata, we seem to box well above our weight, particularly in English language writing – four Nobel literature laureates to date and a raft of other world renowned authors. In business, creative thinking, also known as problem solving, is the new box making. The entire world can make boxes. The entire world can’t solve complex problems. Problem solvers command an economic premium. Problem solvers think differently.
I am no linguist, but I have read enough about the subject to know that language and the use of language is believed to have an effect on the way humans think and therefore approach and try to solve problems. It is also part of how we see the world. It’s often claimed that the Inuit have many words for snow, but as I understand it, this is not true. However, what is true is that they can use the word in many different ways. It’s a form of linguistic creativity. Similarly, how many ways can Irish people use expletives, at the beginning, the middle and at the end of any sentence and, most creatively, in the middle of a noun? As a people we are creative with all forms of language.
The unanswerable question is – where does this ability come from? Could it be that while the people moan and groan about having to learn Irish, something strange is brewing in their heads? That despite their belief that learning Irish is a waste of time’, they are in fact being given a unique benefit, a unique Irish way of thinking and looking at the world, which comes to them both through the way in which we learn to speak English which, as we know, is informed by the legacy of our Irish language heritage, as well as during those long useless’ Irish classes?
Clearly, we have something in our culture that makes us unique (most nations have something unique they can boast of). In our case, could that thing’ be so economically valuable (in the sense that it may be the secret sauce that tips the balance in our favour among the multinationals) that we should work far harder to encourage it and recognise it as a national economic asset? I watched Colonel Chris Hadfield, the Irish language tweeting Canadian astronaut, talking to Dara O’Briain, the highly creative Gaeilgeoir comedian and physicist, on a BBC TV programme during the week.
A young viewer asked what they should study to become an astronaut and Col Hadfield said the questioner should study something complex that pushed their boundaries, something that would help them with solving complex problems in the future. Now not everyone wants to be an astronaut, but applying this to the wider public, and in particular to those who, over the next couple of weeks, are thinking of their futures within our third-level colleges, instead of complaining about having to learn Irish maybe they should be demanding that schools teach them more Irish to give them a head start in their careers. This is one of those arguments to which there’s no yes or no’ answer, but it does pose a maybe’ question. Maybe the much derided Peig (a text book that, for the record, was removed from the Irish Leaving Cert syllabus in 1999) might ironically still turn out to be one of our most valuable national assets.
Conall O’Morain presents The Sunday Business Show on Today FM every Sunday at 10am
www.businesspost.ie
Gaelscoil students to get new accommodation by September
January 10, 2014
Students at Gaelscoil Eadan Doire will begin the next school year in new school accommodation, the Offaly Independent can reveal.
After a long wait work began last Monday on new school buildings for both Gaelscoil Eadan Doire and Scoil Bhride.
Speaking to the Offaly Independent today (Thursday), a spokesperson for the Department of Education said work on the new Gaelscoil building is expected to be “substantially completed” nine months from the contract date.
Kildare-based company Sammon Contracting Ltd were offially awarded the contract to build Gaelscoil Eadan Doire’s new school on December 18 last, along with a new school building for Scoil Bhride.
In a statement this week Gaelscoil Eadan Doire looked forward to the move. “The entire school community has greatly received the news that the construction of their new school building is to commence immediately,” the statement said. “It is an eight month build and will be ready in time for the school to relocate there for September 1, 2014.”
Gaelscoil Eadan Doire first opened its doors in September 2008 with 21 students. Over the past five and a half years the school community has worked hard to establish a school at Edenderry Business Park that now has 109 children enrolled from junior infants to sixth class. It’s set to hold an open night next Thursday, January 16 from 6pm until 8pm, where parents can talk to teachers and view plans for the new school building.
Scoil Bhride will have to wait a while longer to move meanwhile. According to the Department of Education its new school will take some 13 months from the contract awarding date to complete. Principal Kevin Duffy told the Offaly Independent recently he expects the school’s 400 plus students will be able to move to the new accommodation next Christmas.
New buildings for both Scoil Bhride and Gaelscoil Eadan Doire have been in the pipeline for some time now. Both new builds were given planning permission in 2012, and quick build projects taking 26 weeks were due to be completed by the beginning of last September. However last May it was confirmed quick build projects would not be going ahead after tenders received were in excess of the norm for similar school projects.
www.offalyindependent.ie
Gaoth Dobhair brothers kicked out of Glasgow taxi for speaking Irish
January 10, 2014
A Glasgow private hire driver is under investigation for allegedly refusing to allow two West Donegal brothers to speak Irish in his car.
Joe (21) and Antoin de Blárach (20) from Gaoth Dobhair were sharing a taxi with their first cousin Kathleen McAleer (21) and a friend at 2am on Monday, December 16, in Glasgow when the taxi driver told them to stop speaking Irish.
The man, who has not been named, has been accused of offloading the passengers at the side of the road after they objected to his demand that they stop speaking in Irish. Enforcement officers from Glasgow City Council are now looking in to a formal complaint against the driver, who works for Hampden Cabs.
Antoin, a student at St Patrick’s College in Dublin, whose family has very strong family connections to Glasgow, said he was shocked when the incident occurred.
He said: “We have been going to Glasgow for years as our granny and a lot of our relations are still there. We were out with friends and family in the West End on this night”.
“It was a bit strange, to be honest, when we were sitting in the back of the taxi chatting away and the driver turned around and said ‘stop speaking about me’.
“I replied to him that I was not speaking to him, but my brother and he said ‘You can’t speak Irish in here, you’re speaking about me. So I said if he felt so strongly about it, we would get out of the taxi, so he stopped the car and told us to get out.”
Although shocked over the incident Antoin and his brother thought that was the end of it, but their uncle, Pat McAleer, was naturally very annoyed over it and contacted local authorities. Antoin said: “What upset me a bit after was that if this had happened to any other religion or race in Glasgow, there would have been uproar about it. That’s why I was also very annoyed at the comment a spokesman for Hampden cabs made in the Evening Times.”
Reporting on the incident, The Evening Times in Glasgow asked Hampden cabs to comment on the complaint. Initially the company’s Paul Muir insisted the incident related to what he called drunken passengers who had been at a city concert the previous day who had allegedly intimidated an elderly driver and been asked to leave the car.
However, after being told Mr McAleer was reporting an incident a day before the concert, he said he would not comment. But before doing so he said ‘I couldn’t imagine four people coming over from Donegal and going to a party in Britain and not being drunk’. He then laughed.
Antoin said: “Irish people, especially Donegal natives, normally always get a great welcome in Glasgow, it definitely wouldn’t put me off going there, but I certainly won’t be calling Hampden cabs again. They get a lot of Irish custom, so it’s a shame that they treated us that way.”
A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “A complaint regarding an alleged racist incident has been received and will be investigated in the appropriate manner by the council’s taxi enforcement team.”
www.donegalnews.com
Glasgow cabbie’s rage at brothers’ cupla focail
January 10, 2014
A student teacher who was forced to get out of a Glasgow taxi for speaking Irish says he had assured the driver he wasn’t talking about him.
Anthony Blair (20) and his brother Joe (22) were in the Scottish city visiting their grandmother when a cabbie ordered them to stop speaking Irish.
Glasgow council are now investigating the taxi company after a race discrimination complaint by a cousin – Kathleen McAleer – who was also in the cab at the time.
“I was sitting with my back to the driver, in the back of the taxi, and I was just chatting to Joe,” said Anthony, a student at St Patrick’s College in Dublin and a native Irish speaker from Gweedore, Co Donegal.
“It’s just natural for us to chat in Irish. I asked the driver what he thought the fare would be and he told me and I turned around again to talk to Joe in Irish.
“The driver then said ‘ you can’t speak that language in my taxi’ and I was a bit stunned and I asked him ‘why?’
ABUSE
“He said we were talking about him and I assured him that we weren’t but he told us if we didn’t stop speaking Irish we should get out and that we were in Britain now and should be speaking English. So he stopped the car and told us to get out. “I believe he just didn’t want us speaking Irish and was nothing to do with us supposedly talking about him.”
Cousin Kathleen McAleer (21), who is from Glasgow, challenged the driver. “I told the driver he couldn’t behave like that and he said if you are in Britain you should speak English,” said the mental health nurse. “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”
Irish language enthusiast Dáithí Ó Sé hit out at the taxi driver. “Maybe he’s speaking a foreign language himself. They have their own language in Scotland (Gaelic) and he’s speaking English so I wonder did he ever think of it like that,” said the RTE presenter.
Hampden Cabs refused to comment but a spokesman had told the Glasgow Evening Times that a driver had been recently subjected to sectarian abuse on the night of a Pogues concert in the city.
But both Blair brothers weren’t even in Glasgow that night.
Said Anthony: “We were already home. This incident happened on a Sunday night and we flew home on the Monday. The incident referred to by the cab company happened on the Tuesday evening and we were back in Donegal by then.”
www.herald.ie
Growing appetite among Protestant, unionist and loyalist people to learn Irish language, says wife of former PUP leader
January 10, 2014
Demand for language ‘soaring’ in east Belfast.
Linda Irvine, wife of former PUP leader Brian Ervine, pictured in east Belfast as she helps bring the Irish Language to the community
East Belfast is not known as a heartland of the Irish language. But that hasn’t stopped demand for classes in the native teanga (language) soaring. The appetite for Irish has increased to such an extent that the East Belfast Mission (EBM) has given a floor in the Skainos Centre to the Turas (Journey) project.
From one six-week taster class three years ago, EBM is now offering eight Irish language classes per week.
This evening at 6.30pm the new Irish language floor in the Skainos Centre on the Newtownards Road will be officially opened. It comprises of three rooms – a classroom, a library and an office.
The thriving Irish language classes EBM offers are connecting the loyalist community with a language that very few grew up with, learned at home or at school.
Linda Ervine, the wife of former PUP leader Brian Ervine, is the EBM Irish language development officer. She said there is a growing appetite among Protestant, unionist and loyalist people to learn it. “I’m very much a learner. It’s hard but I love it. Irish is such a beautiful language, we are steeped in it in east Belfast. We are surrounded by it,” she said. “All our place names, surnames… the list goes on.”
Linda explained to the Belfast Telegraph where her passion for the Irish language began. “I was part of the EBM’s cross-community women’s group and through an art group I signed up for a taster course at An Droichead (The Bridge) on the Ormeau Road,” she said.
“EBM was soon inundated with requests for Irish language courses. I was approached to facilitate the class. It wasn’t widely publicised, but 20 people signed up. “Since then we have grown, and next week we are starting two new outreach classes in Dundonald High School.”
The PUP’s Sam Evans will be among those sharing their Irish language journey tonight at Skainos from 6.30pm. A mural by Mark Ervine, Linda’s nephew, and son of late PUP leader David, will also be unveiled.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Loyalists line up to learn cúpla focail at language classes in heart of east Belfast
January 10, 2014
An Irish language centre has opened its doors, offering a sincere fáilte romhaibh to the people in loyalist east Belfast.
It is on the Newtownards Road. That is Bóthar Nua na hArda.
In response to keen local demand, the Turas (journey) project offers conversation-style language classes to young and old, says development officer Linda Ervine, sister-in-law of the late David Ervine.
A former UVF prisoner, he was a significant voice at the peace talks which led to the Belfast Agreement of 1998 and leader of the loyalist Progressive Unionist Party (PUP).
“People ring me on a weekly, even daily basis,” said Ms Ervine. “All we are doing is opening the door.” A former English teacher at the local Ashfield school for girls, Ms Ervine developed her love of the language which grew alongside her interest in what she calls the “hidden history” of her part of Belfast.
“I tell people Irish is all around us – it’s in our placenames, it’s everywhere,” she said. “There’s a Gaelic language here, in Scotland, in Wales and in Cornwall. It’s not just an Irish thing, it’s British as well.”
Three years ago, an Irish class began on the strongly loyalist Newtownards Road where the fada and fáinne are rarely seen. About 20 people turned up, and now there are eight classes at various levels. Provision has expanded into one of the local schools.
Housed in the Skainos centre, a community facility linked to the East Belfast Mission church, Turas offers classroom facilities, offices and a social space.
Mural
A large indoor mural depicts the twin cranes of Harland and Wolff casting their shadows over a map of the working class streets below. “The mural was painted by David’s son Mark, my nephew. There is no peace line on the map, no politics. There is no agenda.”
That’s a reference to the inclusion of the republican enclave of Short Strand and the main electoral base of local Sinn Féin councillor Niall Ó Donghaille, who attended the opening ceremony along with party colleague, bilingual Belfast Lord Mayor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir.
The opening honours went to Sam Evans, a founder member of the PUP, in the presence of unionists of all varieties and the Alliance Party. Some 120 learners have signed up for the free courses which are supported by Foras na Gaeilge and the Stormont Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure.
www.irishtimes.com
Singing astronaut Chris Hadfield to become Irish tourism ambassador
January 10, 2014
Astronaut Chris Hadfield – famous for singing David Bowie’s Space Oddity in space – has become an “ambassador” for Irish tourism. The former International Space Station commander put Ireland on the map with the first-ever tweet from space ‘as Gaeilge’ last year.
He arrives in Ireland today for the Laya Healthcare Pendulum Summit and the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.
Tourism Ireland is hoping that he will help put Ireland on the map again as a top destination for holidays.
The organisation has enlisted his help to showcase some of our top visitor attractions and experiences over the coming five days.
From tomorrow , he and his wife Helene will visit Croke Park and the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. He will also visit Donegal – where he will learn ‘cúpla focal’ from some local schoolchildren – and the Inishowen Peninsula. In Northern Ireland, he will visit Armagh, Cushendall and the Glens of Antrim, as well as Titanic Belfast.
Tourism Ireland will create three short films of Hadfield’s five-day visit – featuring different themes like Gaelic games, our spectacular scenery and major visitor attractions. These films will then be shared by Tourism Ireland to around two million Facebook fans and Twitter followers worldwide. Chris Hadfield will also tweet to his more than one million followers about his experiences here.
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar, said Mr Hadfield’s visit will be great for Irish tourism. “Having seen Ireland from space, it’s great to be able to give Chris Hadfield a closer look at what Ireland has to offer on the ground.”
“His enthusiasm and energy make him a great ambassador for Irish tourism, and should help to persuade many more to come and see Ireland close-up in 2014. I’m really delighted he has agreed to help us out.”
Niall Gibbons, Tourism Ireland’s CEO, said the astronaut has shown “tremendous generosity” towards Ireland. “We are delighted to welcome Chris Hadfield to Ireland. I would like to personally thank him for his tremendous generosity in agreeing to help us promote the island of Ireland around the world.”
“Of course, he already began promoting Ireland last year, with the dramatic photos he tweeted from the International Space Station to his huge Twitter fanbase.”
“Chris is an enormously popular, global figure and I am confident that our films of his visit to Ireland will be seen and shared by millions of potential holidaymakers around the world – inspiring them to come and sample the destination for themselves.”
www.independent.ie
