Junior Minister Tony Killeen has reminded Clare students and teachers that the deadline for applications for the Ireland Canada University Foundation’s Irish language awards is Friday March 5th next.
According to the Clare T.D.: “This excellent programme offers students and academics a wonderful opportunity to gain valuable teaching practice, to experience living in Canada and to use their Irish in a new and exciting environment. It will help to make the academic community in Canada more aware of the Irish language and its rich heritage as one of the oldest vernacular languages in Europe. It will place the language on a par with other European languages being taught abroad.”
Funded by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, the Foundation is providing Irish-language teaching assistantships and visiting lectureships at Canadian universities that offer courses in Irish. The third-level institutions involved are Concordia University in Montreal in Quebec and St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In addition, the Ireland Canada University Foundation is calling for applications for a Visiting Irish Language Professorship at the Department of Celtic Studies at the University of Toronto.
“Clare students and teachers have just over a fortnight to submit their application and make the most of this opportunity, so I strongly urge them to hurry and apply for these exchange scholarships for universities across Canada”, added Minister of State Killeen.
The Programme is funded from Ciste na Gaeilge (The Irish Language Fund), which is used to support Irish language organisations and Irish language projects. The goal of the fund is to promote the use of the Irish language.
Further information about the awards is available from www.icuf.ie or email [email protected].
-ENDS-
Notes to Editor:
– High-resolution images of Tony Killeen, Fianna Fail TD for Clare, and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, with special responsibility for Forestry, Fisheries and the Marine, may be downloaded from www.dunphyprimages.com
– For further information please contact Mark Dunphy of Dunphy PR at [email protected] or 086-8534900
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