Transition-year students will this evening perform their own piece of theatre on the evils of child labour to an audience in Mountshannon, Co Clare, which will include UN representatives. The transition-year project, SCREAM, is part of a wider scheme to involve young people in the global campaign to eliminate child labour. SCREAM, or Supporting Children's Rights through Education, the Arts and the Media, will be viewed by Ms Maria-Gabriella Lay and Mr Geir Myrstad, senior programme officers with the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour.
Project activities during the week included visits to national schools by the Scariff community college students and a round-table discussion on child labour in the past in east Clare, chaired by the community college's former principal, Mr John Kelly.
"We wanted to link what used to happen in Ireland during the years of the Famine and in the 19th century with the hiring fairs and the current situation in the developing countries around the world," Mr Nick Grisewood, project co-ordinator, said.
He was commissioned by the UN's International Labour Office to write the series of education modules as part of the pilot-test programme. In a message of support, Ms Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated the project was an illustration of the innovative role young people can play in the campaign. "The right to participate is a key principle of the Convention on the Rights of the Child", she said.
In the same town next weekend, the Iniscealtra Festival of Arts will feature the story of Clareman Johnny Patterson, who wrote The Hat my Father Wore, subsequently altered to become the loyalist anthem, The Sash my Father Wore.
A new play by Paul Brennan, The Rambler from Clare, adapted from research carried out by Harry Bradshaw of the Irish Traditional Music Archive, commemorates the life of Patterson, a popular 19thcentury circus performer from Feakle. He composed such songs as The Garden Where the Praties Grow, Goodbye Johnny dear and The Stone Outside Dan Murphy's Door. "It is a community festival. It is using community talent with a professional approach," Mr Kevin Chesser, one of the organisers, said.
Other activities will include painting and photography exhibitions, readings, and recitals by musicians Paddy Glackin and Robbie Hannon.
In Co Limerick, the Kilmallock arts festival will be officially opened by journalist Nell McCafferty on Thursday.
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Readers who want to contact Eibhir Mulqueen can leave messages for him by phoning 01-6707711, ext 6544. emulqueen@irish-times.ie