A Gaeltacht college has said there is a “big demand” for places on its courses after a two year hiatus because of the pandemic.
For many Irish teenagers a trip to the Gaeltacht for a few weeks of learning Gaeilge and making new friends is a right of passage they never forget.
The arrival of COVID-19 in Ireland put an end to all that and, despite high hopes that the vaccine would mean business as usual in 2021, officials cancelled courses again out of an abundance of caution.
For the team at Coláiste na Rinne in Waterford, it has been a frustrating time and they are enthused at the prospect of welcoming daltaí back to the college:
“We have had big demand for what we have advertised,” bainisteoir Liam Suipéil told Newstalk Breakfast.
“It’s great to have an influx of students coming in on 4th June.”
Coláiste na Rinne was founded in 1905 and has been hosting Irish students ever since. Thousands of daltaí have passed through its doors over the years - including big names such as Garret FitzGerald.
For people in the parish of the An Rinn, the arrival of the students is as sure a sign of summer as the sight of a swallow and locals too are eager for a return to normality:
“For a community, when you have an influx of, as we would have here, about a thousand students each year, that has a knock on effect outside,” Mr Suipéil continued.
“It also provides a situation where there’s a new vitality each summer when you can hear young people toing and froing from various different things.
“There’s also the economic factors, there’s employment and there’s also an awareness of what Gaeltacht people are about and all of those things we would see as being positive towards the language.
“Because it’s all about developing the grá for the language.”
The community of An Rinn in Waterford is excited about the return of Gaeltacht summer courses.
The sector was worth around €50million a year to Gaeltacht regions pre-pandemic.
I met with some of the Mná Tí and those working at Coláiste na Rinne for @NTBreakfast. pic.twitter.com/fIISCKo3VQ— Josh Crosbie (@JoshCrosbie3) May 30, 2022
Fir agus Mná Tí
Key to the success of summer courses are the host families who take in students year after year, helping them with their Irish and providing support for those who miss home.
Many Gaeltachtaí are economically deprived and the money from hosting students makes a huge difference to many families.
But still, even if money is a factor, fir and mná tí enjoy hosting them as well:
“Tough going but it was worth it,” bean an tí Máire said of her three decades hosting students.
“I must say I’ve enjoyed it. If you wouldn’t enjoy it, you wouldn’t do it.”
“You really have to open up your house to children and say to them, ‘This is your home now for the next three weeks and make the most of it.’
“And sometimes some of them might find it difficult to settle in but at the end of it then they’re lonely going away. They really make great friends.”
Main image: An Ghaeltacht sign. Achill Island, County Mayo, Connaught, Ireland.
