Support Mary’s Gift “Back to Scoil” Raffle

IAUC National Board member and founder of Mary’s Gift Irish Language Foundation, Mike Breen, has just launched a “Back to Scoil” raffle to raise money for Irish immersion schools in northeastern Ireland. For more information on the raffle or how you can help, please visit the Mary’s Gift website or contact Mike.  Raffle drawing occurs on November 1st.

From the Mary’s Gift website:

Irish is the original language of the island of Ireland, and one of the oldest living languages in Europe. For centuries during Ireland’s colonial past, the use of Irish was prohibited and often violently suppressed. By the mid-1800’s, the language appeared to be at the point of extinction, but a vigorous restoration movement begun at that time staved off its total demise.

Restoration of Irish as a living, modern language has gained tremendous momentum during the past forty years. In 1971, a small, pioneering community of Irish speakers in Belfast, without government funding and independent of both the educational and church authorities, founded the first Irish-medium school: Bunscoil Phobal Feirste (pictured holding the original sign for the school are current pupils Orla and Séamus, grandchildren of its founder Séamus Mac Seáin). From that valiant beginning, today the educational opportunities have grown to include 44 nursery schools (naíscoileanna), 33 primary schools (bunscoileanna), and a secondary school (méanscoil) in the cities of Belfast, Armagh, and Derry. Currently, instruction in Irish is one of the fastest growing fields of education in Ireland.

Despite recent progress in garnering support from the government, Irish-medium schools in northeastern Ireland are in particular need of support. The children who desire to learn Irish there are among those who will benefit the most from Irish-immersion education, including a reconnection with their ancient nation, the forging of cultural kinship and a shared heritage, and the extraordinary advantages of growing up bilingual. Not surprisingly, the demand for Irish language education is steadily growing, with ever-increasing numbers of communities seeking this opportunity for their children and for their future.