Aisling Nic Giolla Bhéin sits in a tiny child’s seat in one of the prefabricated units that make up Scoil an Droichid on the Ormeau Road in Belfast. She is leading the chorus of Na Trí Mhuicín – or Three Little Pigs in English – with some of her young charges.
The chorus is joyous, ending in peals of laughter in a school that hopes to finally have a permanent home on the other side of Ormeau Park in September, 2026 – 30 years, almost to the day, since the school began life.
“We’re at 181 pupils at the moment, so there is no room. The classrooms are tiny. Even the Portakabins are old, bar the nursery; that came new,” says Nic Ghiolla Bhéin.
The pressure is proof of the increasing success of Irish-language schools across Belfast. This success was on full display two weeks ago when then-president elect Catherine Connolly visited Oireachtas na Samhna in the city’s Waterfront Hall.
The five-day celebration of the language was held in Belfast for the first time in 20 years. Even though it was in Co Antrim, the event was opened by Irish Minister for the Gaeltacht, Dara Callear
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