Is le gach duine an Ghaeilge - Irish is for Everyone

Is le gach duine an Ghaeilge - Irish is for Everyone

On Thursday, 8th November 2018 at 19:30 in Naas Town Hall, local community group, Sult na Sollán, will host Linda Ervine and Colin Ó Floinn.

Is le gach duine an Ghaeilge - Irish is for Everyone

On Thursday, 8th November 2018 at 19:30 in Naas Town Hall, local community group, Sult na Sollán, will host Linda Ervine and Colin Ó Floinn, two people who learned Irish as adults and for whom it has become an integral part of their daily lives.

Everyone is welcome to come along on Thursday to hear the two very different stories from our two guest speakers. The evening will be predominantly through English so be assured that if you have little or no Irish, you can still fully enjoy the stories that inspired others to learn one of the world's oldest languages.

In the turbulent recent history of Northern Ireland, the Irish language has been accused of being politicised and polarising. What would inspire somebody from a Protestant, Unionist background to learn Irish and then become one of the language's greatest advocates?

When the *Turas Irish language centre in East Belfast officially opened in January 2012, it was called a miracle. Up until recently no one could have conceived of the idea that people would be learning Irish on the Newtownards Road. So far this year, 230 people have registered for our 15 Irish classes each week.

Turas has made a breakthrough in what must be considered a less than promising environment, by stressing that the Irish language belongs to everyone. An ethos which is now being embraced by the most unlikely of candidates, from ex RUC men to loyalist paramilitaries.

Linda Ervine will tell the story of Turas, its creation and development, the positives and negatives of being the first ever Irish language development officer in a loyalist working class area.  She will describe the barriers that they have faced; the criticism from individuals within the Unionist community, lack of support and misunderstanding of the purpose and ethos of their work.  However, despite the challenges, she will show how the Turas project has changed mind sets and softened hearts, eroding long held negative attitudes and providing a new context for the Irish language as a language of healing and reconciliation.

*Turas is the Irish word for journey

Why would somebody from a different country want to learn Irish? Listen to Colin's journey with the Irish language and how it has become an integral part of who he is and the work he now does.

Dr. Colin Flynn (Coilin O Floinn) – Colin is a native of New York. He is of Irish descent and he learned Irish as an adult.

Colin is an applied linguist with a particular interest in bilingualism in adults and children, and in instructed second language acquisition as an avenue to bilingual competence. He has conducted research on motivation, cultural awareness, metalinguistic knowledge and attitudes towards target language varieties.

This free event is sponsored by Conradh na Gaeilge’s Bliain na Gaeilge 2018 fund.

Sult na Sollán is a Sallins - based community group, founded in 2009 in Sallins to promote the Irish language and traditional Irish music and culture. Sult na Sollán host a traditional music session and a spoken word singing/poetry session each month and run Irish conversational classes for adults. They also host a weekly "bricfeasta as Gaeilge" ciorcal comhrá for Irish speakers on Saturday mornings in Naas and occasionally run PopUp Gaeltacht events, Irish language tours and bilingual Irish cultural workshop family events. Sult na Sollán organise two festivals each year - Seachtain na Gaeilge (March) and Féile na Sollán (October).

Further Information, please contact Siobhain Grogan or Daithí de Faoite

Siobhain : 0857192011  siobhain@sultnasollan.ie

Daithí : 0872249756  daithi@sultnasollan.ie

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