Latest news with #Gaeilge
Belfast Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
DUP accuses other parties of Irish language ‘carve-up' after Belfast Council spending agreement
The DUP has accused all non-unionist parties in Belfast Council of an Irish language 'carve-up' after it was agreed at City Hall this week the bulk of last year's underspend will go to a new Gaeilge strategy. At the July meeting of the full Belfast Council, held on Tuesday evening elected representatives agreed a Sinn Féin proposal on how to use the £2,940,000, underspend from last year's net expenditure budget.
Extra.ie
2 days ago
- Sport
- Extra.ie
Tributes paid to 'larger-than-life' Irishman killed in horror Bolivia crash
A young Irishman who died following a 4×4 crash in Bolivia has been remembered as someone who made everyone's lives 'that bit brighter'. Oisín Hoy, who was in his 30s, was killed last Friday when the vehicle he was travelling in overturned in the Potosí region of the South American country. Oisín belonged to a well-known GAA family in Clontarf, north Dublin, and was described as a talented player and a 'hugely positive person'. Young Irishman Oisín Hoy was killed when the SUV he was travelling in was involved in a collision. Pic: Instagram/Oisin Hoy The chair of Clontarf GAA Club, Brendan Doody, said: 'It was with a sense of deep shock that we in Clontarf GAA learned of the tragic and all-too-early death of Oisín Hoy, son of Kevin and Mary. 'The Hoys are a real club family: Kevin is currently vice-chair and Mary is an active committee member in the club, and Oisín's brother and sisters, Peter, Niamh and Caoimhe, have all played for Clontarf. 'Oisín was a longstanding member of the club…. He is remembered by all who played with him or coached him as a hugely positive person. He always presented with a smile and made a significant contribution to any team he played with.' Mr Doody added: 'Oisín, however, was more than a footballer. He was an inveterate traveller with a deep interest in other countries, cultures and, above all, in people. 'This interest in travelling took him to all arts and parts of the world in recent years, most recently to South America. It was there, in Bolivia, that the fatal car crash occurred. 'He will be greatly missed in the club as a player, but more importantly as a person who made everyone's day just that little bit brighter.' Independent TD Barry Heneghan. Pic: Sam Boal/Collins Photos Local Independent TD Barry Heneghan said he was sending his thoughts to Oisín's 'wonderful family', whom he described as 'true Clontarf legends'. He said: 'I have such lovely memories of swimming and speaking as Gaeilge with Oisín down on Dollyer [Dollymount]. He was a truly larger-than-life character. He left a mark on everyone he met.' Oisín was among a group of seven travelling in the Toyota Land Cruiser when the accident occurred shortly after 5 pm on Friday. He sustained an abdominal injury and was rushed to hospital, but died en route. Five of the other occupants of the car were injured. They included two Bolivians, two Germans and a Dutchman. A local police chief is citing speed as a potential reason for the tragedy. Colonel Wilson Flores claimed that one of the tourists had requested to drive the vehicle so they could record a video for social media when the accident unfolded. He said: 'Unfortunately, due to excessive speed, it lost control and the vehicle turned over, causing one death and five injuries.' The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs said it is providing consular assistance.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Údarás na Gaeltachta looking to develop AI for Irish language
State agency Údarás na Gaeltachta is looking to develop the capacity for AI technologies to communicate as Gaeilge, new documents have shown. The body, which is responsible for the development of Irish-speaking regions of the country, is appointing consultants to provide guidance to its AI development team and support discussions with leading AI companies to advocate for Irish language service development. Its main goal is to create speech-to-speech capacity in the Irish language for generative AI tools like ChatGPT, which would see people able to speak to an AI in Irish and have it respond in the same language. It comes after Údarás na Gaeltachta first went to tender late last year for technology providers, researchers, and stakeholders to give feedback on how the presence and usability of the Irish language could be enhanced on such AI models. '[We seek] professional consultancy services to support the development of Irish language capabilities in AI technologies,' it said. 'The contractor will serve as a core member of Údarás na Gaeltachta's AI team, providing support in future strategy development and implementation.' The agency set out primary objectives for these consultants to focus on, which includes supporting the drafting of scope documentation for a platform delivering services in Irish. Speech-to-speech functionality in Irish It must also support the ongoing development of technical specifications for speech-to-speech functionality in Irish for generative AI products. Furthermore, it must also make efforts to maintain Irish language AI development a topic of industry discussion through the publication of its results, and establishing an authoritative source for ranking the Irish language capabilities of different AI systems. Údarás na Gaeltachta said: 'The contractor must support discussions with leading AI companies (including Anthropic, Mistral, and others) to advocate for Irish language service development. '[And support] developing a backlog of Irish language AI implementation opportunities.' It added that the contract, worth an estimated €40,000, would be valid for 18 months. Debate on the future of AI in Ireland has come to the fore in recent months, with an oireachtas committee established in this Dáil for the first time. Its remit is to make recommendations on Ireland's approach to the development, deployment, regulation, and ethical considerations of AI. Last week, it heard that software engineers, junior lawyers, and customer service roles will be among the first in Ireland to be affected by job losses to artificial intelligence. 'We cannot predict the exact pace, scale, or whether new jobs will replace those lost,' AI Advisory Council chairwoman Patricia Scanlon said. Údarás na Gaeltachta has been contacted for comment. Read More Government criticised for not doing more to roll out AI across civil service
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- General
- Irish Examiner
The Menu: Learning about food provenance — as Gaeilge
Daughter's departure to the Gaeltacht outside Dingle has transported me back through the decades to the late 1970s. However, while she is experiencing a rite of passage familiar to generations of Irish teenagers, summer camp as Gaeilge, my 'sentence' was of a different order. I had won a Gael Linn scholarship, six months total immersion, living with a Gaeltacht family, attending the local school, not a word of Béarla heard or spoken from morning 'til night. It would become a life-changing experience. It was also where, to my mother's ecstatic disbelief, an often sickly child through my early years, I began to eat properly for the first time in my life. Someone cadged a spin and late one cold Sunday night in early January, I was eventually handed over like contraband in Dingle's darkness, bundled into the back of my host family's van headed for An Riasc, near Ballyferriter, my new 'home'. Within days, I dreaded school as it became apparent my outsider status was immutably set in stone; just 11 years old, first time away from home, I began to miss my family. Bean an tí Cáit, a shrewd woman, saw me floundering. On Monday morning of the second week, she said she needed my help so I'd have to miss school. She kept me off for the entire week, having me muck in with chores she did twice as fast on her own. By Friday, she had made me feel like her third son. School never got better but I felt safe in my new home. I began to help, Ben, Cáit's husband, around the tiny farm, just 10 milking cows on 10 acres of land so poor, Ben had a side hustle, driving a truck. I began bringing the cattle to the milking parlour, hooking them up to the machine, except the aptly named Cantankerous who Ben milked by hand. Afterwards, I'd brush out cow dung and hose down the parlour. I began rising unprompted at 6am to bring the cattle in on my own for morning milking and would head to the creamery with Ben before school. A British study showed 90% of children alter their eating habits for the better when involved in growing/producing their own food. Each evening, this city boy reared on fridge-cold pasteurised, carried a jug of still warm raw milk across the yard to the house for our own consumption. Within weeks, I was supping all the way, eventually bringing along a separate cup. On Sundays after Mass, I would head up the lane to Bríd and Micilín, an ancient couple who seemed older than their famine-era cottage. Hooked up to the grid just five years previously, electricity powered a fridge chilling only milk and a solitary light bulb, rarely used. By the open hearth in semi-darkness, turf smoke stinging my eyes, I read about punk rock in the Sunday World, eating brown soda bread cooked in a bastible over the fire, smeared with raspberry jam, pot of tea always stewing nearby. One morning, bringing in the cattle, I noticed chalk white globes popping out from green grass. Mushrooms, the first I'd ever seen. The next day, I filled the straw sun hat I wore everywhere with fresh mushrooms which Cáit fried in butter with white pepper and salt for breakfast. We saved the hay by hand, slashing with scythes, neighbours pitching in, then moving on to their farms in turn. Early morning, we stashed glass lemonade bottles of milky, sugary tea in the ditch. Still scalding at lunchtime, it would slake thirsts like no ice-cold beer has ever done since, washing down sandwiches of batch loaf, butter and ham. Best of all were the duck eggs I'd collect from a woman a mile away on the road to Trá an Fhíona. Rich, viscous yokes of coppery yellow, I'd have two, boiled, in a sitting. Instead of going home as expected at the end of June, my mother forked out, buying me another month in my rural paradise. For the first time in my life, I was beginning to see the bottom of a plate and every night I dreamed in Irish. FOOD FARE Taste Waterford's City Select Taste Tour is a three-hour lunchtime walking tour of Ireland's oldest city, with five food stops, including blaa sampling and a coffee cupping tasting session, at Trade coffee shop, all the while learning about Waterford's serious food and beverage history from tour guide Pamela Flanagan. Fab food writer Blanca Valencia, with a serious history when it comes to combining food and art, presents a French gastronomy tour (July 3 at 5pm) for the National Gallery of Ireland July as part of Thursday Lates French Evening. Exploring French gastronomy as seen through the eyes of French and Irish artists, significant works highlight themes such as the pivotal role of French cafés in art, the importance of the meal and harvest scenes celebrating rural life, as well as Brittany's culinary and artisanal traditions in the works of Irish painters. The gallery café will serve up French and Irish artisanal products in homage. TODAY'S SPECIAL Garlic on sale at Dripsey Castle The magnificently refurbished Dripsey Castle Estate, a medieval castle, Georgian Mansion and vacation rental on 110 acres, 25 mins outside of Cork City, is growing wonderful chemical-free produce which I've been very much enjoying of late, including excellent carrots, onions and beets... a reminder of how well we grow root veg in Ireland. Garlic is especially good, biting astringency and potent flavours. But where do I get this fine fare, says you? Other than a few independent outlets around, not very easily, the point being that you need to seek out similar growers in your own area and support them as much as you can, as part of a great national rebuilding project to revive our ravaged horticulture sector. Details of Irish food events and new Irish food products can be emailed to Read More The Menu: Get your teeth into making the most of meat
Irish Independent
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Wexford libraries to host new Irish language children's story project
Titled 'Éist', the story project will invite children from six to 12 years of age to take part in bilingual workshops in libraries across Wexford throughout July and August while offering access to a cosy pop-up installation of children's audio stories. The project is funded by Wexford County Council through the Creative Ireland programme. In the first 'Cúpla Focal' Irish/English workshops in July, children in Gorey, Enniscorthy and Wexford Town libraries will be guided by writer Alison Ní Mháirtín in activities to unearth their favourite Irish words. Following these workshops, Alison will write a new audio story featuring the favourite focail that will be recorded with actor Miriam Needham and produced by Rose Producing for broadcast across the airwaves. Then in August, there will be a series of 'Scéalta & Sound' listening party workshops – in Bunclody, New Ross and Wexford Town libraries – where the young participants can embark on their own sonic adventure while getting the chance to listen to the new story. Alison said: 'I'm really excited to find out what the children's favourite words are as Gaeilge and collaborate with them all on this new audio story and workshop series across libraries in Wexford. I love tents and it will be great to have the warm festival feeling of summer without having to go to a muddy field.' In each of the participating libraries there will be an audio installation running for a number of weeks. Young listeners will be invited to get cosy in one of the specially set-up audio tents and enjoy one of the following bilingual and monolingual stories: Fiachra and the Biscuit Tin Garden (Alison Ní Mháirtín); Lara ar Strae (Miriam Needham); Caoimhe agus na Caoga Caoirigh Craicáilte (Fionn Foley); Hug Me With Your Words (Brigid O'Dea); Duisíonn na hIoraí Rua (Lewis Kenny); Gig Nua (Diane Crotty); Niamh's Nuacht (Hilary Bowen-Walsh) and Arwa and the Egotistical Limpet (Brigid O'Dea). While suitable for all children, the tents have proven particularly popular in the past with autistic children at similar installations produced by Rose Producing at other venues. Booking for the workshops is through Wexford Library Service's website For further information on the workshops and for accessibility information, please contact alisonnimhairtin@ Éist workshops are taking place on the following dates and times: Wednesday, July 2 at 11am – Gorey Library Saturday, July 5 at 11am – Enniscorthy Library Saturday, July 12 at 11am – Wexford Town Library Scéalta and Sound listening party workshops: Tuesday, August 19 at 11.30 – Bunclody Library Wednesday, August 20 at 11am – New Ross Library Saturday, August 23 at 11am – Wexford Town Library
