Northerners take a ‘turas’ west to learn Irish
A group of visitors from the Protestant enclave of Newtownards in East Belfast will go home with a bit more of a West Kerry ‘ blas’ after spending a week learning Irish in Brú na Gráige, near Ballyferriter.
It’s the second year in a row that the ‘ Turas’ group from the East Belfast Mission have visited West Kerry, where they have been overwhelmed by the welcome they have received.
Turas is a Newtownards-based organisation that provides free Irish language to some 200, mostly Protestant students of all ages, ranging from absolute beginners up to upper intermediate level. They also provide classes in Irish dancing singing and folklore and see the Irish language as a way of bridging the gap between the northern Protestant and Catholic communities.
Chairman of the Brú na Gráige Trust, An tAthair Tomás Ó Murchú, first invited the Turas group to spend a week free of charge in the Brú na Gráige institution for Irish language speakers near Ballyferriter, after hearing a radio interview in which Linda Ervine took issue with DUP leader Arlene Foster’s view that there was little interest in the Irish language north of the Border.
He re-issued the invitation this year and last Wednesday welcomed the Turas group on their return visit, commenting that “their interest and determination to learn the Irish language is an inspiration to all who live on the island of Ireland”.