Irish Language World Record Attempt, African Warriors TV stars and cross community support for POBAL’s Rights & Revelry – and there’s more to come!
Sunday 6th October will see POBAL, the Irish Language organisation attempt to break a World Record Attempt at the Longest Ever Irish Language Conversation.
Irish speakers from all over the world have been talking together for a full week, all hoping to set a new record at the final count-down after 1.00 pm (Máirtín Ó Muilleoir will lead the count-down)
The event is part of the week-long Rights & Revelry Irish language festival. Hosted in the Ulster Hall, Sunday’s event will run from 1.00pm to 5.00pm and will showcase the best of music and entertainment with workshops, song and music, storytelling, high-flying circus acts and arts.
Lord Mayor Ó Muilleoir said, ‘Rights and Revelry is a fantastic event which has brought the Irish language to centre stage in a positive, inclusive way. It is the biggest Irish language festival in Belfast and attracts Irish speakers and others from all over the country. It highlights the rights of Irish speakers and the need to normalise protections for the language so that everyone can enjoy this part of our shared heritage. Rights and Revelry is now in its fifth year and growing all the time. It is an incredible achievement that an organisation as innovative and pioneering as POBAL can deliver time and again.’
Once again this year, POBAL’s festival is being supported by Belfast Chamber of Commerce and Belfast City Management. Paul McMahon, President of Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce said, ‘This event is open to all and includes participating groups from across our community, in addition to international contributors. In previous years Cearta agus Ceiliúradh has succeeded in attracting people from all over the city, as well as from Newry, Armagh, Strabane, Maghera, Ballycastle and Dublin. Belfast Chamber of Trade & Commerce welcomes this event and believes that this festival offers an opportunity to city centre businesses, as it has the potential to grow into a key annual event in the City Centre bringing much needed additional footfall and consumer spending.’
Also joining the events that Sunday in the Ulster Hall, starting at 1 pm -5, is an ever-growing list of entertainment. It includes: TV talent stars, the Afrikan Warriors, spectacular acrobatics competitors on Britain’s Got Talent; Anne Martin and Anna Murray – renowned Gaelic musicians from Scotland; Fanzini Brothers – comedy entertainers, Belfast Circus – amazing aerial display, Armagh Rhymers – Armagh’s famous mummers, Celtic Storm dance extravaganza and juggler Johnny Phelan. As well as that incredible line-up, we will run a number of workshops: bilingual storytelling of Indian myths with Arts Ekta, digital music withWheel Works, dance with Tura Arutura, Bookbinding with Deirdre Nic Eanruig, and street theatresònaSonas with the Caife Gàidhlig. The day out at the Ulster Hall will also include exhibitions, school choirs, art, face painting, information and food stalls, a live broadcast with Raidió Fáilte and much much more.
Janet Muller, POBAL’s Chief Executive said, ‘In the Ulster Hall we will showcase the best of music and entertainment with workshops, song and music, storytelling, high-flying circus acts, arts and the best of Gaelic performers, including some of the best Irish language schools choirs in the country. Rights and Revelry will bring hundreds of people into the city centre and will be broadcast live on Raidió Fáilte. The event gives the Irish language community an opportunity to show their support for an Irish language act and to celebrate the achievements of the community.’
She continued, ‘We have new attractions for this weeklong festival for Irish speakers and those who want to find out more about the language. This year, POBAL is working with Linda Ervine and Irish language learners from East Belfast to organise some activities in this area. For the first time, we will be opening the festival with POBAL’s exhibition, ‘A Friend’s Eye’, covering 200 years of Irish language newspapers and a lecture by historian Mary Delargy in the East Belfast Skainos centre, on the Newtownards Road. The lecture will be on Monday 30th September ar 7.30 and the exhibition will be in the centre until 7th October. And POBAL will be making Irish and Scots Gaelic entertainment available from sònasSonas as part of Skainos’s Open Day on Saturday 5th October when people will have a chance to drop into the Caife Gaelach to get a taste of the two languages, learn a wee song or a rhyme as well as getting a cup of tea! Bringing the festival to an end this week will be a workshop in Gàidhlig song and ‘tweedwalking’ for local school children on Monday 7thOctober, facilitated by Anne Martin and Anna Murray.’
Andrew Irvine, Belfast City Centre Manager said, ‘This is now the fifth year of POBAL’s annual Irish language event, Rights and Revelry. During this time it has grown in scope and attendance, attracting some 1500 people came to Belfast specifically for the event. Tourists and visitors have an increasing awareness of the event, built up through Belfast Welcome Centre and tourist websites, with tourists from Italy, France, Australia and Canada having attended. Each year, POBAL produces bilingual publicity about the event in order to inform and attract wide and inclusive publicity. Belfast City Centre Management appreciate and support this work which is making a contribution to growing the cultural reputation of the city.’
This year’s project has received support from Belfast City Council Community Festivals Fund and Good Relations programme, as well as from Colmcille and from the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Foras na Gaeilge, The Arts Council and DSD. Janet Muller said, ‘Thanks to the support of our funders we will have the best of craic during the festival! Events and artists are really building up and we know we will have still more to come before the day! The Ulster Hall is a great venue for us to highlight the vibrancy of the Irish speaking community in all its range of activities. The need for the Irish language Act is rooted in the fantastic work of Irish speakers all over the country, and particularly in the North – the only place on these islands where there is not already extensive protection under law for the primary indigenous language. In October, it will be seven years since the British government gave its commitment at St Andrews that it would enact the Irish Language Act, something which it has so far failed to do. Rights and Revelry puts the Irish Language Act centre stage once more, and gives Irish speakers, supporters and those who want to learn more a chance to access information and have a fantastic time enjoying the Irish language arts!’
Pictured are Paul McMahon, Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce President and Andrew Irvine, Belfast City Centre Manager who welcome the event to the city, alongside 16 year old Cuisle Nic Liam, pupil at St Dominics and Janet Muller, CEO POBAL. www.pobal.org
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