A 59-year-old driver who once viewed Irish as the language of the enemy has become the new star of an animation promoting Irish language classes in the loyalist heartland of east Belfast.
Dad-of-two Ivor Reid admits that growing up in the city, he would never have imagined that he would end up learning Irish with the East Belfast Mission’s Turas project, which is funded by the Community Relations Council (CRC) Core Funding Scheme.
“I felt the Irish language didn’t belong to me or to my community. It was the usual story - it was something to stay away from,” he says.
It was only when he was driving a group of Irish language learners led by Irish Language Development Officer Linda Ervine on a visit to the north west that he began to feel intrigued.
“I realized that some of the people who were going to the classes weren’t my idea of what an Irish speaker was - I had this idea that they all wore balaclavas - and it intrigued me a bit,” he says.
“I thought, these people are ok - they’re from the same community I’m from. They asked me so many times to come along to the classes that I had to go - it was getting embarrassing.
“So, curiosity got the better of me and I went along - it was pure fun. After a few times of going, all the nonsense that I had in my head went away, and I thought this is alright.”
Now, five years on from embarking on that first Irish language class, Ivor has become the star of a new animated video produced by EnterYes profiling the diversity of the people who choose to learn the language.
He talks about how he got involved and how it opened up a ‘magical world’ where he discovered the meaning behind the placenames, he had known all his life, such as Knocknagoney, meaning Hill of the Rabbits, and Carryduff, meaning Black Hugh’s Quarter.
“I never would have believed I’d be speaking Irish. I’m walking about the streets now and I understand what some of the place names mean,” Ivor says.
“All of a sudden it opens your eyes and ears to things and you are curious to find these things out. It’s a bit of fun and a bit of company.”
Ivor’s Story is being launched on social media to coincide with the festival of Seachtain na Gaeilge and is the follow-up to Gail's Story last year, which focused on how learning Irish led one woman to embark on a new educational journey.
Linda Ervine says the Community Relations Council funded Turas project has been running for almost 10 years now and the video series tells the stories of why some of the hundreds of Irish learners in east Belfast embarked on their journeys.
At the early stages, she says, the flag protests were taking place and many of those attending classes were concerned about their friends and neighbours knowing they were learning Irish, but that has changed as more people have got involved.
“We were interested in hearing people’s own stories about why they got involved with Irish and what they got out of it,” Linda says.
“So, we started to record those stories and made some of them into an animation, which is a very simple way of telling those stories.
“The whole point of the series is to give a voice to the learners - there are hundreds of them, and they all have their own stories.
“There are 101 reasons for coming to the language and this shows what people get out of it.”
One of the forthcoming stories, she says, is about Chris, a gay Protestant woman, who describes coming to the Irish language as feeling like coming home, similarly to how she felt when she became involved in the gay community.
“That really fascinated and interested me, that people have a myriad of stories, and this challenges the idea that speaking Irish is all about politics and has a certain agenda,” Linda says.
The Community Relations Council’s Core Funding Scheme provides support for organisations which are considered of strategic importance in promoting community relations work across Northern Ireland and supporting the Executive’s commitment to continuing the journey towards a more united and shared society.
To view the animation and follow Ivor’s story visit East Belfast Mission’s social channels Facebook - @EastBelfastMission / Instagram - @eastbelfastmission / Twitter -@ebelfastmission and use hashtags #IvorsStory #UlsterGaelic #IrishLanguage #ItsYoursToo.
Find out more about East Belfast Mission’s Turas project here: www.ebm.org.uk/turas/
Further Information
Media Contact:
Russell Lever
ASG & Partners
Mobs: 077 8828 8901
Email: russell@asgandpartners.com