Concerning the Other, the snowmen and other stories

Olivier Cornet, Gail Ritchie, Irene Fitzgerald and Eoin Mac Lochlainn at the opening of Concerning the Other at QSS, Belfast

We had a lovely warm welcome in Belfast last Thursday for the official opening of Concerning the Other at QSS (the Queen Street Studios & Gallery).

After all the dire warnings of “snowmageddon” we had decided that it would have been foolish to travel north in the snow – so we postponed our expedition for a week and busied ourselves building snowmen in Dublin and watching them melt slowly in the rain.

But we finally got there and everything worked out well, thanks to the wonderful support of our new friends at QSS.

Collaborative image from the Concerning the Other project

Now, as you know, we’re still in Irish language week: Seachtain na Gaeilge. This special week started on the 1st of March – but it grew and grew and now lasts for 17 days (!) because of its popularity. So I was delighted to be interviewed (in Irish) for Meon Eile when I was up in Belfast.

Meon Eile is an Irish language online platform which features videos and stories about current affairs, sport and cultural events in Ulster and further afield (Well worth a visit – see the link below). Tá an comhrá ag cainteoirí Gaeilge ar líne ag fás is ag forbairt i gcónaí agus tá Meon Eile ag cur go mór leis an chomhrá seo. Is togra de chuid Below the Radar atá ann, a fhaigheann maoiniú ó Chiste Craoltóireachta Gaeilge de chuid Scáileáin Thuaisceart Éireann. Bhí an-áthas orm gur chuir siad scairt orm agus beidh an t-agallamh le feiscint go luath anseo.

The word “meon” means attitude or perspective or consciousness – I like it – I’m hoping that people can see that there’s more than one way to skin a cat (although I’m also hoping that people will refrain and desist from skinning our feline neighbours in the future).

outside the Stag’s Head pub, Dame Court, Dublin

But I digress… yes, in Dublin too, the Irish language is growing stronger every month. You’ve heard about the Pop-up Gaeltachts ? – Once a month, a pub is chosen and great crowds of people meet up there for the craic and the comhrá (conversation). The photo above shows the Dame Court area last March. It’ll be bigger again this week and it’s not just Dublin, of course – it happens in all the cities… Bígí linn! 

https://www.facebook.com/popupgaeltacht/

http://www.oliviercornetgallery.com/

https://www.meoneile.ie/

https://www.facebook.com/ConcerningtheOther/