Humans of an Dream Dearg: Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin

My name is Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin, i spend the majority of my life speaking Irish and I’m raising my children through the medium of Irish.

When I was growing up, I heard very little Irish outside the school gates. My children have a completely different experience with the language and they have a wide variety of activities to choose from that are available through the medium of Irish. However, it was the Irish language community themselves that created this infrastructure.

The meánscoil wasn’t funded or recognized when I was growing up and we often had to take to the streets to fight the case for our basic rights.

More than 20 years later, my children are still taking to the streets demanding their basic rights as citizens.

They do not want any special privileges, but a life through Irish and it is the state that is the main obstacle in delivering that basic right, despite the promises they made before my children were even born!

Too much time has been wasted, now is the time for action- Acht Anois! #RedTodayAndEveryday