To mark European Day of Languages on the 26th of September 2024, the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels participated in two events.
On 25th September, in partnership with the Brussels’ offices of Monaco, Wales, Scotland, Isle of Man, the Basque Country, the Channel Islands and Norway, Dr Caoimhín Ó Dónaill, Senior Lecturer in Irish at Ulster University, participated in an event focused on work being done to encourage regeneration through digitisation and use of the creative arts. This dynamic event consisted of an academic exchange in the afternoon, and an evening presentation from each of the nine speakers. The audience heard about a range of initiatives including Dr Ó Dónaill’s Clilstore project, which provides a comprehensive online language resource.
On 3rd October, Conal Gillespie, who was the first cultural professional working in Ulster-Scots sector in the 1990s, participated in a panel discussion on the impact of different levels of pre-knowledge of a minority language amongst children in school settings. Hosted by the Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino Representation Office in Brussels, different European regions and other stakeholders explored from the political, scientific, and teaching practice point of view how to overcome challenges facing minority languages.
Mr Gillespie gave a presentation on the history of Ulster-Scots, its role in Northern Irish society today, and the challenges it faces. A native speaker, he spoke of how increased resourcing of wider Ulster-Scots culture has contributed to an increase in cultural self-awareness in the Ulster-Scots community. The ability to give young people opportunities to speak to each other in Ulster-Scots was identified as a crucial intervention that can be made at pre-school age.