Young children the key to Irish language - Ó Cuív

Young children the key to Irish language revival - Ó Cuív


Anton McNulty

It was all child’s play for former Minister Éamon Ó Cuív on his recent visit to Achill where he officially opened the new naíonra and iarscoil and encouraged the community to continue to support the Irish language.
The official opening of Naíonra and Iarscoil Naomh Sheosaimh in Bunnacurry was Minister Ó Cuív’s final official engagement as a government minister and it was probably one of his most unusual engagements. With time on his hands, he accompanied the children in displaying his painting skills and also made a clay hand sculpture as a memento of the opening.
The naíonra was founded in Achill in 1989 but the new building which was completed in 2009 is their first permanent home. The naíonra currently has 30 children attending every day with 18 children attending the after-school service.
The service is run through the medium  of Irish and in his address Minister Ó Cuív said that children speaking Irish on a daily basis is the key to ensuring Irish has a future on the island.
“The reality is if you get children young enough you can teach them four languages simultaneously and they wouldn’t know the difference. They have no problem with languages and they absorb them like a sponge. I’ve always believed that the key to the revival of Irish has been in the naíonra because if you get children at a very young age and you speak two languages they will speak two languages back.
“Children know no barriers to languages and the more languages you speak to a child the better it is for a child. Every child in the Gaeltacht should be given the opportunity to speak Irish, it is no burden on the child, it is only a burden on the adults,” he said.
Minister Ó Cuív added that his children were brought up in an Irish speaking home but they had no difficultly expressing themselves in English. He said he believes that if a child has the ability to speak two languages from an early age they will find it easily to learn European languages when they are older.
When he was Minister for the Gaeltacht, Minister Ó Cuív provided €466,309 towards the naíonra with Cllr MicheΡl McNamara providing €100,000 under Mayo County Council’s social and economic fund and the remainder coming after years of fundraising.
Jacinta Ryder, Chairperson of the Naíonra committee said the new facility would ensure that the children would be taught and looked after in a safe and comfortable environment and it will be a great asset to the community. She said the building was a real community effort and thanked everyone who had helped in the fundraising and Comhlacht Forbartha Áitiuil Acla for their help and support.
“Without local support this facility would not be here today. The community of Achill is a strong community and this could not have been put into place without community spirit and help. I hope you are pleased with the new facility and I hope they are used for years to come,” she said.
Another committee member Grace Ann Lynch explained that with the children speaking Irish during the day, they go home with Irish phrases and this has reinvigorated their parents and grandparents’ interest in the language.
Before the building was built, the committee leased two separate rooms for the pre-school and after-school activities which will now be located under the one roof. The new building consists of a Naíonra room, an after-school room, a parent and toddler room, a meeting room, a kitchen/staff roof and it also has an outdoor play area. The building also caters for the community at large with Scoil Acla music classes taking place as well as a summer camp for children under 12.