Name:Sean de Paor Address:Kildare Dwelling:Detached house Here since:Birth
I grew up in Kildare, and went to school in the Academy. When we were looking for something to do, we set up an Ógras group, a branch of young Conradh na Gaeilge. I met my wife through Ógras - she was in the Gasra Parnell in Dublin. We met and got married and brought up our children through Irish. One of our daughters is an Irish teacher in a gaelscoil in Tallaght.
I'm the principal of the Gaelscoil Cill Dara. It was founded in 1995 by parents who wanted to start an Irish language school. We started with 34 pupils, and I was the teacher. It's grown every year since then. We have 366 children in the school now. It is situated in the Curragh, which separates the towns of Newbridge and Kildare. It's great to see an interest in Irish develop, because there wouldn't be a huge tradition of Irish language in the area.
We were originally based in Herbert Lodge, a former barracks in the middle of the Curragh. Then we moved to a building that was built by Sundai International as boarding school for the children of Japanese businessmen. The recession in Japan hit their plans, and so the project didn't last. By 2001, Sundai were scaling down their activities, and got in touch with us about renting their facilities. It's a very impressive building. There was no expense spared, the pine ceilings were imported from Japan, the roofs are flat, in the Japanese style, and the corridors are broad and bright. It's very well designed and there's a lot of light in the building.
Last year we celebrated our 10th birthday and released a CD, and John Spillane came and did a performance. Sean Og O hAilpin came up for that. You realise with O hAilpin and Spillane that Irish is becoming vibrant again; they're the new face of Irish in this country.
I feel proud to be part of the burgeoning Irish language community here, though in some ways it's a community that has grown up around the school, rather than an Irish language community. Parents shout encouragement in Irish at games, they're more willing to speak Irish. A lot of people have moved out from the city, and the school has become a focus for new friendships and new social circles. At certain masses and events, parents and grandparents come along, so it is very much at the centre of social life. The children benefit from parental involvement. There's a kind of pioneering attitude; it unites the parents and staff because we had to pull together to make it work. It's a different kind of community. It's not a neighbourhood, as such, but it's real all the same.
In conversation with Davin O'Dwyer