The biggest training weekend for Irish-Language Societies and Irish Officers from third level institutions across the country is being organised by Conradh na Gaeilge, Glór na nGael and the Union of Students in Ireland in association with Comhluadar and Seachtain na Gaeilge for the fifth year running from 14 - 15 October 2011.
According to Aodhán Ó Deá, Student Coordinator in charge of organising this year's training: "There is always a huge demand for places on our training session as it's a fantastic opportunity for Irish Officers and members of the Irish Societies' committees from around the country to come together to promote the language. Not only do we provide top-quality training by people with years of experience working in the Irish-language sector, but the weekend also gives participants the chance to get to know students from other colleges and gives them the skills to promote Irish in third level institutions throughout the country together."
Representatives from the Irish Societies of the different institutions will be welcomed with an ice-breaker and information session in Trinity College, Dublin 2, at 6.00pm on Friday afternoon, 14 October 2011, where students will have the chance to meet one another and share inspiration and ideas, before a special guest speaker talks to them about the role of Irish as a language for everyone in Ireland. Students will have the chance to partake in a Raidió Rí-Rá workshop as part of the chartstation's AGM at 7.30pm that night, before heading to Club Chonradh na Gaeilge on Harcourt Street for a night of entertainment with a Raidió Rí-Rá DJ, refreshments, music and plenty of fun as Gaeilge.
With everything from fundraising and planning society events, to services through Irish and language rights on campus and in the European Union up for discussion, students will learn all there is to know about university life as Gaeilge as part of the upskilling and empowering workshops in Conradh na Gaeilge's headoffices at 6 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2, from 11.00am - 1.00pm on Saturday morning, 15 October 2011. Informative "speed-sessions" will be held after lunch from 2.00 - 3.00pm on Saturday also, and guest speakers with first-hand experience of Irish-language affairs will give the students advice on language transmission, organising the week-long Irish-language festival Seachtain na Gaeilge on campus, taking part in Glór na nGael's competition for third level societies, and how to get involved in Conradh na Gaeilge's national campaigns. The training will close with a feedback session and a general discussion on plans to promote Irish in colleges in the year ahead.
"80 students from over 20 different colleges, universities and ITs came together for the training weekend last year," says Ó Deá, "and the benefit of the training was evident in the extent to which the Irish Societies worked together throughout the year. We hope to build on that success with our 2011 training and to encourage more events such as the Student Night at the massive Irish festival An tOireachtas in the future."
Lunch will be provided free of charge for all participants and there a limited number of accommodation spaces available for students coming from outside Dublin, but these must be pre-booked by contacting Aodhán Ó Deá at
MORE INFORMATION:
Aodhán Ó Deá
Student Coordinator, Conradh na Gaeilge
Peadar de Blúit
Irish-Language Officer, Union of Students in Ireland
+353 (0)85 1443832 /
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Aontas Phobal na Gaeilge (APG) is an alliance of Irish-language organisations working to promote Irish across Ireland and the world through more strategic language-planning. Aontas Phobal na Gaeilge consists of Comhaltas Uladh, Comhluadar, Conradh na Gaeilge, Glór na nGael and Seachtain na Gaeilge, organisations dealing with different aspects of the promotion of Irish in the community that came together to form a working alliance that would ensure a better provision of services and more value for money.
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) is the sole national representative body for students in Ireland. Founded in 1959, USI now represents more than 250,000 students in over forty colleges across Ireland. www.usi.ie
Conradh na Gaeilge is the democratic forum for the Irish-speaking community. There are over 200 branches of Conradh na Gaeilge working to promote the language. Since its foundation in 1893, members of the Conradh have been actively promoting Irish in every aspect of life in Ireland and especially its use in their own areas. Conraitheoirí are at the forefront of campaigns to secure and strengthen the rights of the Irish language community. It is also possible to register as an individual member of the Conradh. Conradh na Gaeilge runs Irish courses in Dublin, Galway and other locations across Ireland. www.cnag.ie/courses
Glór na nGael's vision is to develop people's ability and awareness of the language, so as they will be able to use it in every area of life, through a range of competitions between communities with partners local groups across the country in the promotion of the Irish language. Every year Glór na nGael award more than €150,000 worth of prizes to committees from around the country through the concept of a public competition, and Glór na nGael's evaluation process is the equivalent of a language-planning framework, the only language-planning system operating in Ireland. www.glornangael.ie
Comhluadar was founded in 1993 to support parents who want to speak Irish with their children. Comhluadar works on an all-island basis as the primary organisation promoting the transmission of the Irish language from generation to generation and are a united voice in supporting the rights of families to public services in Irish. Parents and children are invited to a wide range of sociable and educational events organised by Comhluadar every month. www.comhluadar.ie
Raidió Rí-Rá is a chart-station for young people playing all the latest music from the charts and broadcasting completely through the medium of Irish. You can listen to Raidió Rí-Rá all year round online at www.rrr.ie, on all Nokia phones, on the iPhone with the latest application available from www.rrr.ie/iphone/ and live on FM during the month of March. Listeners can get the latest celeb and sports' news, listen to the all the hottest hits, vote for their favourite songs, check out Top 40 Oifigiúil na hÉireann and download past programmes from the website. www.rrr.ie
