Cúrsa Cumarsáide do dhaltaí Idirbhliana
January 17, 2013
Cúrsa Ullmhúcháin don Bhéaltriail Ardteiste le Gael Linn
January 17, 2013
Find an Irish class to suit you with Gaelport.com
January 15, 2013
Have you made it your New Year’s Resolution to learn Irish or to brush up on your grammar?
There are Irish classes running all over the country at different levels from beginners to fluent speakers wishing to brush up on their written skills.
There are many options in Dublin for venues and levels. Gaelchultúr, Gael Linn and Conradh na Gaeilge provide weekly classes in the city centre and Áras Chrónáin provide weekly spoken classes in Clondalkin, Dublin 22.
Conradh na Gaeilge’s classes are not only limited to Dublin city, courses are available in Galway City, Mayo, Kildare, Limerick , Clare and even in Liverpool, UK, all starting between 22 and 24 January. Gaelchultúr’s classes are also spread across the country.
As well as running classes for adults, Conradh na Gaeilge also run a preparation course for the Leaving Cert Oral Exam. The course gives guidance to Leaving Cert students on the most effective ways to answer questions on the ‘Sraith Pictiúr’ section of the exam as well as brushing up on fluency. The course begins on 15 January and runs for 10 weeks.
For those applying for Hibernia College’s Higher Diploma in Primary Education, Gaelchultúr is providing a preparatory Irish course for the entrance exam. All emphasis is on spoken and listening skills and grammar is taught in the context in which it’s needed. The course runs for 7 weeks.
There are many opportunities to learn, practice and speak Irish in Belfast in 2013 in ‘An Droichead’ cultural centre, based in Belfast city and with Cumann Cultúrtha Mhic Reachtain based on the Antrim Road. As well as that, Máirín Hurndall, a lecturer with Queen’s University and radio presenter with Raidió Fáilte is running a Welsh class every Thursday at Cumann Chluain Ard, Belfast.
In the south of the country, Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne is running Irish Accuracy courses in February 2013 in west Kerry directed at teachers, editors or anyone who wishes to brush up on their accuracy in written Irish and in Cork city Gael-Taca are providing weekly classes in the Irish Language centre based in O’Sullivan’s Port and all over Cork.
All details on courses mentioned above and more can be found at www.gaelport.com/cursai. If you would like to register a course for free contact eolas@gaelport.com.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
Minister launches more patronage surveys
January 15, 2013
Residents of Kildare town awoke yesterday to hear the unexpected news that a new gaelscoil is to open in September 2013.
Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn TD said that the decision had been founded on a clear demand amongst locals for Irish language medium education.
Secretary General of Irish language patronage body An Foras Pátrúnachta, Caoimhín Ó hEaghra said that he was delighted with the decision to accept the evidence for a new gaelscoil.
The Minister made the announcement at the launch of a new series of surveys on school patronage in primary schools across the country. Parents in 38 areas will eligible to take part in the process.
However it is uncertain whether the Minister believes that any further announcements of school openings is to follow the surveys, due to the stable nature of the population in some of the more rural areas. Minister Quinn did hint that more negotiations might take place to divest current schools from the patronage of the Catholic Church, depending on the outcome of the surveys.
In spite of this, Irish language organisations have asked interested parents to show their support for Irish medium education.
“This is a great opportunity for parents who wish to promote Irish language education in their area, a move which could be established under the auspices of the Irish language patronage body, An Foras Pátrúnachta” said Secretary General, Caoimhín Ó hEagra.
This is the next step in the process since results of pilot studies in Arklow, Castlebar, Tramore, Trim and Whitehall were announced last December. The biggest outcome, according to the Minister was a clear demand for diversity of patronage in these areas.
However some groups have pointed out that the results of the surveys which were completed by 1,788 parents, were unrepresentative of the school population in those areas.
Speaking yesterday, Minister Quinn said that lessons had been learned from the initial pilot survey scheme. He confirmed that the process would take place over a longer period of time and that the Department would work to publicise the initiative in the various regions.
He has asked parents to take part in the process online on www.education.ie and fill in the surveys before Friday February 8th 2013.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
Tóstal na Gaeilge 2013 to be held in Dublin this February
January 15, 2013
“Beart de réir Briathair” which loosely translates as ‘practice as you preach’ is the theme of Tóstal na Gaeilge 2013, which will be held in Dublin city centre in a month’s time.
In the Hilton Hotel, Charlemont Place, Dublin 2, the Irish language community and friends of the language will come together on the 16th February 2013 to discuss the most pertinent issues facing the language. Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge have put together a comprehensive programme of events for the day from 09:30 – 17:00.
In the morning, Government policy relating to the Irish language will be discussed, with two separate panels of guest speakers focussing primarily on the latest policies introduced by the Government under the Gaeltacht Act 2012.
The first discussion session will centre on the topic of raising a family with Irish, and the challenges faced in passing the language from one generation to the next within the family.
Gormfhlaith Ní Thuairisg of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta will steer the discussion between guest speakers: Feargal Ó Cuilinn, Head of Comhluadar; Dr Briain Ó Curnáin, an expert in dialectology and the Irish language sociology at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies; Aoife Ní Shéagha, Lecturer in Language Planning at NUI Galway; and Sorcha Ní Chéilleachair, Chairperson of Tuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta – Conamara.
“An Ghaeltacht in 2013” will be the topic for discussion under the chairmanship of Rónán Mac an Iomaire, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, with speakers including: Seosamh Mac Donncha, NUI Galway, Stiofán Ó Cualáin, Údarás na Gaeltachta; Treasa Ní Mhainín, Eagraíocht na Scoileanna Gaeltachta; as well as a representative from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
After a break for lunch, two more sessions will follow which will discuss the effect of Government policy on the Irish language and state responsibility for the future of the language. These hot topics will be debated, under the watchful eye of Eimear Ní Chonaola, Nuacht TG4, by panels including elected public representatives and spokespersons for Government agencies.
The full programme of events for Tóstal na Gaeilge 2013 will be published on Gaelport.com and on social networks over the coming weeks under the hash tag #Tnag13.
Admission to Tóstal na Gaeilge will cost €15, and lunch will be provided. To attend, you must register in advance for the event by contacting Máire Ní Phuirséil, Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, 01 6794780 or maire@comhdhail.ie.
The Hilton Hotel is centrally located adjacent to the Charlemont Luas stop.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
Buntáiste Breise na Gaeilge Tour 2013
January 15, 2013
As part of our 2013 tour Gaeilge Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge are currently hosting a series of Irish language careers seminars for secondary school students all over Ireland.
In recent years Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge have organised over twenty such seminars with 6,453 students from 201 post-primary schools from all over the country having attended the seminars nationwide.
These seminars cater for students in fourth, fifth and sixth year in secondary schools across the country. These seminars cater for second level students all over Ireland. Guest speakers and well-known personalities will speak on the advantages which the Irish language has afforded them in their chosen careers.
On Wednesday, 27th February 2013 the seminar will cater for pupils in counties Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo when a seminar will be hosted in Ballina, Co. Mayo.
On Thursday 28th February a seminar will take place in The Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny where pupils from all over Donegal, Derry, Fermanagh and Tyrone are invited to attend and listen to a wonderful panel of guest speakers on the day.
Speakers include, from RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta broadcaster Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí, Caitlín Uí Chlochláin Irish language Officer with Donegal County Council, Donegal’s footballer Eamon McGee and Dermot Mc Laughlin, Project Director City of Culture 2013.
As part of the seminars, questions from the students are welcomed, which give rise to lively debate about such subjects as the future of the language, Gaeltacht status, Irish as a compulsory subject, Irish at third level, and the Government’s support for the language.
Here are some upcoming seminars which will take place in Autumn 2013:
Carrick-on-Shannon – Wednesday, 16th October 2013
Galway – Thursday, 17th October 2013
Silver Springs Moran Hotel, Cork City – Wednesday, 13th November 2013
The Malton Hotel, Killarney, Co. Kerry – Thursday, 14th November 2013
If your school would like to attend this seminar, please contact Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge: +353 1 679 4780 / e-mail eolas@gaelport.com for further information visit: www.gaelport.com/bbnag.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
WHY BILINGUALISM? Two Languages Are Better Than One
January 15, 2013
Short video on the benefits of bilingualism: Why Bilingualism?
New children’s books to be won from Gaelport.com
January 15, 2013
This week one lucky subscriber will win a children’s book titled ‘Sicín’, which is distributed by Comharchumann Forbartha an Leith-Triúigh, located in Kerry.
The author of this beautiful book Máiréad Mag Uidhir was born and raised in Limerick. She has spent her working life teaching in her native city, teaching Children with Special Needs in St Joseph’s Primary School in Lisnagry at first and then for thirty years in Scoil Íde, Corbally.
‘Sicín’ is a lovely little book for children. It contains a wonderful story about nestlings who are about to leave the nest for the first time. There are three nestlings in all: Mattie, Jenny and Tiny. The events in the story happen on a Special Day, the day that the little birds are about to fly for the first time and leave the nest. Tiny is the hero of the story. Everybody thinks that he is not brave enough to fly by himself but he confounds the lot of them!
This is a lovely little herostory for children in the age group 4 – 8. It’s a simple, humorous, well-written story about overcoming all the odds and there is an important lesson contained therein: everyone can be a hero if he/she is brave enough.
The book is beautifully illustrated with some beautiful coloured illustrations by Mary and Emma Gilleece. This book would be very suitable in class for primary schoolchildren in the age group 4 – 8.
This week’s question:
Name the author of the book ‘Sicín’ ?
• Éilís Ni Dhuibhne
• Ríona Ní Congáil
• Máiréad Mag Uidhir
• Anna Heussaff
Please forward answers along with yours school’s name and contact details to the following email address: duais@comhdhail.ie and have the words “Comórtas Gaelport” as the subject of your mail.
The closing date for receipt of entries is 12 noon 24th January 2013.
We are grateful to Comharchumann Forbartha an Leith Triúigh Teoranta who kindly supplied the prize for this competition.
Congratulations to Padaí Ó Mianáin from Derry who won some wonderful CDs in our last edition.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
Comhrá Gaeilge do mhicléinn i gCeatharlach
January 15, 2013
Campaign for small schools to continue
January 15, 2013
Education campaigners in Donegal say department policies continue to threaten small schools, particularly minority faith and language schools, and said their protests will continue this year.
“There has been widespread debate about the consequences of last year’s budget with regard to small schools, and the result of the pupil-teacher ratio cuts in these schools,” said Father John Joe Duffy, Ballybofey curate and campaigner for small schools.
Father Duffy said the results of last year’s measures will be felt over the coming years, and fully realised in 2016-2017. He said the decision by Education Minister, Ruairi Quinn, TD, to reverse cuts last year to urban schools in the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (Deis) scheme but not to reverse the cuts for rural Deis schools, “clearly demonstrate a government who do not seem to understand that rural Ireland is suffering from social, educational and financial disadvantage, and the legacy of deprivation in rural towns and villages”.
Small Donegal schools have been particularly hard hit by government proposals to increase the number of pupils a national school must enrol to maintain staffing levels. The new staffing scheme takes effect over three years, with required enrolment increasing each year.
The past year has been “one of anxiety and worry and stress about the future of our schools,” schools campaigner and Church of Ireland Rev. John Deane said. “We’re worried about the pupil-teacher ratio being increased. We’re worried about the capitation moneys we get from the government that are being cut as well, and those two put together are very worrying for us.”
Church of Ireland schools are at the heart of local community and parish life, but the distances between them would make amalgamation impossible, Rev. Deane said. He used the Wood School in Ardara as an example, noting that the nearest minority-faith school to the north is in Dunfanaghy; the nearest to the south is in Dunkineely.
“It’s guaranteed in our constitution that minorities will be protected and looked after, but to me that is not happening at the moment,” Rev. Deane said. He said minority-faith schools have received significant capital investments but said there are a number of schools “coming very, very near the cut-off point” in terms of enrolment.
Rev. Deane added that minority-faith schools have also received great support from the Catholic community, and also credited the work of Father Duffy. “Don’t get me wrong,” Rev. Deane said. “We have the best of community relations here but we would like to be able to hold on to our own ethos and culture that we have in our small schools.”
Rev. Deane and Father Duffy were among Donegal’s most prominent campaigners for small schools last year, working together to highlight the impact of department decisions on small rural schools. “The most damning indictment of the government’s policy of severe cuts in pupil-teacher ratios was the severe consequence this had on Protestant and linguistic-minority schools,” Father Duffy said. He said the cuts will continue to have a much more severe effect “on the very future and survival of the schools”.
Though Father Duffy said he accepted Minister Quinn had not intended to disproportionately affect those schools, he said, “His actions, in many cases, will result in the closure of Protestant and minority linguistic schools”.
Father Duffy said Budget 2013 missed an opportunity “to show that we are a truly pluralistic society, that we are a truly inclusive country and that we are a democracy in which there is a place for minorities. “I believe now is the time for this government to show all the people on the island of Ireland, north and south, that we give equal rights and equal opportunities to all our children in our country, where class, creed and language ought to be treated equally,” he said.
Father Duffy and Rev. Deane addressed a protest against education cuts held in March of 2012 that drew up to 2,500 people to Letterkenny. They said the campaign will continue this year. “We’re looking to reinvigorate the protest we had,” Rev. Deane said. He said they have lobbied Donegal’s Oireachtas members, though results have been disappointing. “We’ve been promised nothing and we’ve certainly got nothing, to be honest with you,” he said.
Father Duffy said he had also been disappointed by the lack of political engagement and leadership on the issue in Donegal and nationally. “The issues are very much alive and require political leadership in order to solve them,” he said. “Therefore our campaign continues.”
www.donegaldemocrat.ie
