Pictured at the opening of the Cultúrlann in Derry last night, are Minister Caitríona Ruane, Martina Anderson MLA, dep First Minister Martin McGuinness and Gearóid Ó hEara — he to whom the credit goes for the new landmark £5m development.
I met quite a few old hands last night — more than a handful who would fall into the category of "old cranks" so beloved of the Irish language movement. The person I was looking out for but missed was artist Lockey Morris, who created a wooden wall plaque bearing Éamon Ó Cuív's name to mark the opening.
In his speech, Gerry Ó hEara thanked those non-speakers of Irish who had contributed so readily to the new Cultúrlann, singling out for special praise the Arts Council. His hope was that those who might be wary of working with the Irish language sector would understand from this partnership that, "yes, we are passionated about the Irish language but we are also passionate about the arts, about education, about economic development and about the built heritage".
Éamon O Cuív paid tribute to the rich physical heritage of Ireland — Giant's Causeway, Cliffs of Moher and Brú na Bóinne — but noted that all those together don't match the heritage which is the living Irish language.
He also urged parents to give their children the gift of the Irish language. I'm all for that, but in fact those who chose to speak Irish to their children and send them to Irish schools are also giving the Irish language community and movement the gift of their children and that's something for which we should be eternally grateful.
(Picture by our Derry stringer Charlie McMenamin who I met for the first time last night.)
18 comments:
The opening of the new Culturlann in Derry is a classical example of actions speaking louder than words.
Those who snipe from the sidelines regarding support, or lack of it, for the Irish language and culture could well take a leaf out of Gearoid O hEara's book.
What a wonderful achievement. Congratulations to all concerned.
Oíche mhaith a bhí ann agus bhí oraid bhreá tugtha ag an aire oideachais faoi ghaelscolaíocht sa bhaile fosta. Níl le déanamh aici anois ach sin a leanúint lena tacaíocht iomlán a thabhair do Bhunscoil na Daróige, scoil a bhfuair 15 páistí nua i mbliana de réir dealraimh ach nach bhfuil aitheantas aici fós. Níl suíochán folamh ar bith ag an scoil i Rang 1. De réir mar a thuigim, tá'n scoil lonnaithe i gceantar faoi mhíbhuntaiste le níos mó ná 50% i dteidil beiltí saora ach níl maoiniú fós ag an scoil. Tá naimhidí ag an scoil ach bhí an t-aire an-tacúil go dtí seo agus seo an t-am anois le teacht amach is seasamh taobh leis an phobal ansin agus bua na gaelscolaíochta a ligint do mhunitir Bhaile Mhig Rabhartaigh, Doire. Ádh mór ar an Chultúrlann nua.
£5m for a mass of concrete, not a penny yet for the independent gaelscoil in the town, which filled to capacity this year. invest in our children now!
Bhí mé féin i láthair ag an ócáid iontach seo... cé nach dtaitníonn scuaine cainteoirí is aoichainteoirí liom - bhí mé féin ag amharc ar na leabharthaí sa siopa leabhar fad agus a bhí an chaint ag dul ar aghaidh - thaitin an t-atmaisféar agus an comhluadar liom. Thug muid na páistí isteach inniu fá choinne Lá na bPáistí... forbairt fhíorthábhachtach i gcur chun cinn na Gaeilge anseo san iarthuaisceart agus tá muidne ar an tSrath Bán ag súil go mór le sult agus pléisiúr a bhaint as an chultúrlann úr. Maith sibh, a mhuintir Dhoire!
What about a "Chicken in every pot and a bunscoil/gaelscoil in every town" and then immediately follow the bunscoil/gaelscoil up with a "culturlann in every town?"
Think of all the jobs created over time.
Think of the economic engine you created.
Think of the prosperity and future created for our children.
I think this 'cultúrlann in every town' is a nice concept, but I'm not sure if it's well thought out. It all depends on the stage of development of Irish in each town... and some towns might be more strategic in others in terms of cultúrlanns. I don't think my own town of Strabane has the linguistic critical mass yet to sustain a cultúrlann... the handful of Gaels would be burnt out trying to build it, pay for it, maintain it etc, and then knackered and sickened looking at each other as they were the only ones visiting it. Much better for us to (a) develop our naíscoil and Gaelscoil (b) develop youth activities (c) use the fantastic facilities we have in this area and bring the Irish language into them eg Alley Theatre, which we have done. We now have the luxury of travelling to Derry and going to our own 'NorthWest' Cultúrlann... and I believe this is the right time for the Cultúrlann in Derry... well done folks!
I agree with Sean, A Cultúrlann in every town is a great idea, but only if there are enough Gaeil to keep it Irish speaking.
I would rather go to B&Q and buy a shed, put a fridge and two stools in it and put it in the back garden as long as Irish had the upper hand than the fanciest Cultúrlann if it was effectively English speaking.
This new Culturlann in Derry is already being referred to within the Derry Irish speaking community as being a 'white elephant.'
I wonder why?
Reading in the local Derry newspapers it was reported that Martin McGuinness threw in £500,000 of public money towards this £5m Culturlann development.
Two years ago Mr. McGuinness refused to come up with just £40,000 of public money to keep our Meanscoil open.
Several teachers were sacked as a result and an Irish medium education at secondary level denied to all the families in Derry City and surrounds.
Aontáím leis an tuairim thuasluaite gur mhaith an rud é cultúrlann bheidh in achan cheantair, ach an mbeidh go leor cainteoirí a húsáid? An mbeidh Gaeilge líofa ag na hoibrithe uilig? Chun cinntiú go mbeidh go leor gaeilgeoirí ann ba cheart infheistiú sa ghaeloideachas. Beatha teanga í a labhairt agus is soiléir go bhfuil an Gaeloideachas ar an dóigh is éifeachtaí chun pobal Gaeilge a chruthú.
Maoinigh an Ghaelscoil nua i nDoire, tabhair arais Méanscoil Dhoire agus tacaigh le teaghlaigh ar mhaith leo gaeloideachas go dara léibhéal fud fad na tíre.
"This new Culturlann in Derry is already being referred to within the Derry Irish speaking community as being a 'white elephant.'
I wonder why?"
Bréag.
Creidimse go bhfuil gá le meánscoil i nDoire agus go bhfuil gá leis an Chultúrlann seo chomh maith.
Sean Mor,
We are all grateful for your support for a new Meanscoil!
I am sure you remember one of the famous lines from that legendary Irish writer, William Shakepeare:
"There is something rotten in Denmark."
Actually, auld Liam mispoke.
He was in reality thinking about the Bogside long before its creation.
We have a horse and cart scenario here.
Some of the people in the Bogside decided to kill off our horse out of spite, vindictiveness, and Stalinist control.
We are left with a cart -- but now no horse.
The Bogsiders led by the dFM, after a decade long campaign, killed off the Meanscoil.
The Bogsiders wanted to first "hijack" the Meanscoil and move it to a "secure" location naturally under the control of the Shinners (similar to what they did to the current gaelscoil in the Bog orginally located in the Creggan, a socially deprived community in desperate need of the gaelscoil), but this time round could not get away with it, so they then killed off the Meansoil.
If you also look at Colaiste Speirinni in Cookstown, we find the dFM once again leading the charge to kill off Colaiste Speirinni in which he again succeeded in doing just last month.
We have a Shakespearian tragedy.
It is time to resurrect both Meanscoil Dhoire and Colaiste Speirinni from the ashes just like the Phoenix and send the dFM on his merry way to some other land, but not ours.
West of the Bann, speaking in very general terms, I think there needs to be a meánscoil in Derry as well as a cultúrlann. As a Strabanian, I don't get involved in disputes outside my own jurisdiction! Especially when it involves Irish speakers... there's few enough of us about, without half of us sticking knives in the other half. As far as dFM and Sinn Féin goes, to me they are just another party like the rest now... so I have moved beyond being disappointed by them... my expectations have been well lowered.
There's a pattern emerging now for Gaelscoil pupils in Strabane to go on to Coláiste Ailigh in Letterkenny when the decision is made to continue with Irish medium education. We are very lucky in that respect. And there is something to be said for an Irish-based curriculum as well, rather than the predominantly British one on this side of the border.
tá mise i ndhiaidh a bheith san ospidéal ar feadh tamaill agus bhí mé as teagbhail leis a' tsaol mhór ach thuig mise gur tugadh aitheantas do Ghaelscoil na Daróige.An bhfuil mé contráilte?
A Shéamuis a chara, tá súil agam go bhfuil biseach ort agus go bhfuil tú arais ar do shean léim arís. Is mór an gá agus an tábhacht atá le do thuairim. De réir mar a thuigim féin é tá na huimhreacha ag Gaelscoil na Daróige i mbliana chun maoiniú a bhaint amach ach níl scéal ar bith ón roinn maidir le maoiniú a thabhairt go fóill. Tá pobal láidir taobh thiar den scoil agus iad ag dúil le, agus ag éileamh dea-scéil.
a dhuine uasail gan ainm
Má tá na huimhreacha acu, tá aitheantas acu sin mo léamh ar an scéal agus leis an fhírinne a dhéanamh níor cheart go mbainfí an taitheantas den scoil roimhe seo de thairbhe go raibh sí gann ar chúpla páiste.Tá a fhios agam gur tugadh aitheantas do Ghaelscoil amháin roimhe seo nach raibh líon na bpáistí ag an íosmhéid a mhí de dhíth.Bainfeadh úsáid as an mhír i gComhaontú Aoine an Chéasta a deir go bhfuil dualgas ar an roinn oideachais an Ghaelscolaíocht a éascadh le haitheantas a thabhairt don scoil sin agus níl uimhreacha luaite sa Chomhaontú.Is léir go raibh Sinn Féin níos radacaigh an tam sin na tá siad anois nó Aire Shinn Féineach a thug aitheantas don scoil sin. Ní raibh agam ach scéal scéil go bhfuair sí aitheantas ach chuirfeadh sé iontas orm mura bhfáighfidh sí é.
Séamus,
If you want to solve anything involving the language, you must first get rid of the dFM's creations, Comhairle and Foras.
The dFM created these pigeon entities with the specific purpose of destroying the independent, non-funded gaelscoileanna, thereby destroying the language itself over time. He brought in stool pigeons to head both organisations. We have seen the catastrophic results. This is no longer a conspiracy theory.
Comhairle has done everything possible under the guidance of the dFM and his surrogates and working hand-in-hand with the Catholic Church and Foras to shut down Meanscoil Dhoire and working additionally with Integrated Education to deny funding to Gaelscoil na Daróige.
This is the identical-type situation with Colaiste Speirin in Cookstown which shut down last month to the dismay of all its parents. Colaiste Speirin's educational results were excellent. It was a threat to the established order.
There is a devious political agenda at work here. The dFM wants to replicate North Korea in an Irish context with himself the 'supreme dear leader' answerable to no one. The dFM believes socially deprived communities should be kept on their knees, permanently. He believes paedophile institutions should control all education, and it must be English-only, not Irish. Parents should have no say about the education or fate of their children.
The dFM does not believe in courage or creative thought. Such thought would topple the Sinn Fein leadership and control.
As you well know, there are three types of people in this world: the builders, the destroyers, and the sideline-watchers.
The dFM and his people are destroyers of all initiative, creativity, and courage. The Irish language represents the last vestige of those virtues.
The dFM has replaced the overlord parish priest mentality of yesteryear with himself.
We cannot move forward with such destroyers in charge.
Post a Comment