ETBI Journal of Education - Vol 2:2 November 2020 (Irish-medium Education)

ETBI Journal of Education November 2020
How things change!
Seán Ó Broin University College Cork
In this short essay I will tell a story and outline
the ways in which principals can plan and found
Irish-medium units in urban areas. Neither the
local residents nor the staff themselves had any
experience of Irish-medium education, and this
movement was a gradual one, and the path was
not without twists and turns. In preparation for
the project, the plan was discussed with many
organisations, schools, and institutes, as well as
the local residents and the school community.
More than a year was spent preparing, and now
there are around 40 students in the unit.
To the northeast of Cork city there is a lively
area called Knocknaheeny. It would be no great
exaggeration to say that the area once had quite a
few issues; unemployment, poverty and the social
issues that go along with such problems. Anyone
would be proud to see the huge improvement that
has come about in the area in the last ten years,
and the effects of this improvement can be seen
in the housing and landscape. The community
school, named after Terence McSwinney, the lord
mayor of Cork who died on hunger strike around
this time a hundred years ago, is a central part of
the community and of this revitalisation.
The school has DEIS status, and educators
understand only too well that external problems
will often follow students in through the door,
so the staff must be highly equipped to deal with
THE PUBLIC CLEARLY
UNDERSTANDS THAT A HIGH
LEVEL OF EDUCATION CAN
BE ACHIEVED WHILE USING
IRISH AS THE MEDIUM OF
COMMUNICATION.
such challenges. On top of this, the school was
considered to have a bad reputation when these
problems were first highlighted in the area. This
wasn’t true, but there was a danger that this
negative reputation and bad name would worsen
and would result in people avoiding the area.
School authorities are often too busy to take the
time or have the opportunity to stand back and
properly contemplate what is happening around
them. When problems make their way into the
school, the normal response is to spend each day
attempting to douse the flames. It is worthwhile,
however, to spend time contemplating how
these problems can be improved or avoided.
That is to say, bad behaviour and bad manners
must be recognised as exceptions, and it must
be acknowledged that the majority of the school
population are well-mannered and are interested
in making progress in life. We know that children
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