May 4th: Congressional Briefing on Irish Language Equality & the Peace Process

Please join us for an important event in Washington, DC to highlight the need for rights-based protection for Irish language speakers in the North of Ireland. This is a non-partisan event sponsored by the IAUC, AOH, INA, Irish American Republicans, Irish American Democrats, and the Brehon Law Society.

Congressional Briefing on Irish Language Equality & the Irish Peace Process

Rayburn House Office Building, Room B-340 Washington, DC

The Irish language is at the center of the contemporary struggle for equality in the north of Ireland and is an issue of primary importance to the Irish peace process yet to be resolved. Irish speakers are penalized under policies like the obsolete 1737 Administration of Justice (Ireland) Act, which prohibits the use of Irish in the court system. In addition, we believe that the lack of government funding and support is choking economic renewal and investment opportunities related to the Irish language, particulary in marginalized communities. We believes that the Irish Language Act will create an opportunity for the growth of the language and for the provision of services to current speakers.

On May 4th we will host an educational panel discussion featuring Janet Muller, Chief Executive of POBAL; Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, Managing Director, Belfast Media Group and Publisher, Irish Echo; Micheál Duibh, Development Officer of Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta (the Council for Irish Medium Education); and Domhnall Ó Cathain of the Brehon Law Society. Please join us for this opportunity to educate the Congressional community and provide suggestions on how Congress can support American and Irish interest in this important equality issue.

Janet Muller is the Chief Executive of POBAL, the non-governmental umbrella organisation for the Irish speaking community in the north of Ireland. She is responsible for the organisation’s strategic direction in relation to advocacy work and community development. She has spearheaded the initiative to establish an Irish Language Act for the north and been active in work around the Bill of Rights NI and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. She has overseen the drafting of POBAL’s monitoring and research reports on the first nine years of implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. She has researched legislative and planning initiatives nationally and internationally as well as studying and promoting models of good practice. She has a PhD from the University of Ulster and will shortly publish her first book, on conflict resolution and language policy in planning. She has been invited as an expert by the Council of Europe to conferences in different parts of Europe regarding language legislation. She is a member of the Committee of Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, the north’s premier Irish language Arts Centre, and a member of the Board of Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta (The Council for Irish Medium Education).

Máirtín Ó Muilleoir is the managing director of the Belfast Media Group which publishes community newspapers in Ireland and the US, most notably the Andersonstown News in Belfast and the Irish Echo in America. A graduate of QUB, he is a former Sinn Féin councillor and longstanding Irish language advocate. He developed the first training facility for young Irish speakers, the award-winning An Nasc building, which opened in West Belfast in 2001. He has also developed new headquarters for the Belfast Media Group, Teach Basil, a 10,000-square foot £1.25m building which opened in 2000 and includes press offices and a print hall. Latterly, he developed the Aisling Business Park in West Belfast, 10,000 square feet of industrial units which are occupied by, among other businesses, a daycare centre. He is heading the group behind the public artpiece Aisling an Phobail, the largest-ever public artwork in West Belfast which will celebrate the Irish language and welcome visitors to the Gaeltacht Quarter. The work, by Irish American artist Brian O’Doherty is part of a £225,000 project due for completion by the summer of 2010. Dr. Micheál Ó Duibh is currently employed by Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta (the Council for Irish Medium Education) as Development Officer. His main job responsibilities lie in the strategic development of IM post-primary provision, IM ethos, IM trustees and IM governorship. Previous to this post he spent 3 years as Senior Development Officer with Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta. Dr. Ó Duibh is the Chairperson of POBAL and is also a Board Director and the Policy and Planning Officer on the Board of Directors of GAELSCOILEANNA TEO, an Irish-medium representative Body based in Dublin. He graduated from the University of Ulster, Coleraine with a Doctorate in Philosophy. Micheál first started to work in the Irish-medium sector as an Irish Language Development Officer with Pobal an Chaistil in Ballycastle, which is the founding organisation of the IM primary and pre-school in Ballycastle. After working 2 years and achieving grant-aided status for Bunscoil an Chaistil he changed employment and went to work with Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta as a Development Officer. After 3 years as a Development Officer he was promoted to Senior Development Officer, a post which entailed responsibility, amongst other duties, for the strategic development of the IME sector. Previous to working in the IME sector he has taught as a part-time lecturer in both University of Ulster and University College Galway. Micheál’s working life so far has been spent working with the promotion and development of the Irish Language and Irish-medium Education. Dr. Ó Duibh is a native of Armagh and has a keen interest in Hurling and Gaelic football. Domhnall O’Cathain is Secretary and Publicity Director of the Brehon Law Society, New York. He is associated with the law firm of Lesnevich & Marzano-Lesnevich, LLC.

Domhnall was born and raised in Ballincollig, Co. Cork. He was raised in a bilingual household, where Irish and English were spoken. All of his schooling through age 18 was done in Irish. His family has a long tradition of advocacy for the Irish language. Most notably, his mother, Blanaid Ui Chathain, is a published author and expert on Irish poetry and the Irish language in the former Irish speaking districts of west Co. Cork. Her grandfather, Peadar O hAnnrachain, devoted his life to the preservation and growth of the Irish language.

Domhnall continues this tradition with the Brehon Law Society. The Brehon Law Society is a staunch supporter of all efforts to continue the growth of the Irish language.

Domhnall has lived in the USA since 2002. His parents and two sisters continue to live in Ireland. Domhnall and his wife, Francesca O’Cathain, a native of New Jersey, live in Jersey City. They are expecting their first child this summer.