International Experts attend Fiontar Conference on University Education in Irish
10 February 2003

Dr. Caoilfhionn Nic Phaidin (FIONTAR, DCU), Professor Michael Cronin (Dean of Humanities, DCU) and Elsie Reynolds (Trinity College, Carmarthen, Wales), at the FIONTAR Conference on university education in Irish

Miquel Strubell i Trueta (Open University of Catalonia), Dr. Kepa Korta (University of the Basque Country) and John Walsh (Fiontar, DCU), at the FIONTAR Conference on university education in Irish

More than 100 people attended an international conference at DCU about university education in Irish last weekend (7/8 February). The conference - University Education in Irish: Challenges and Perspectives - was organised by FIONTAR.

The keynote speaker, Miquel Strubell i Trueta of the Open University of Catalonia in Barcelona (uoc.edu) spoke about this digital university, where over 15,000 students study a range of on-line courses through the medium of Catalan. Strubell said that this model could be very useful for other lesser-used languages, such as Irish, whose communities are often geographically scattered.

In her presentation, the director of FIONTAR, Dr Caoilfhionn Nic Pháidín, spoke about the current state of the Gaeltacht, the Irish language, and university education in Irish. She analysed the various key questions related to the future development of the sector, especially the trends in higher education and current understandings of the importance of linguistic and cultural diversity.

"I'm delighted that so many people attended the conference, because it shows that there's a lot of interest in these questions", said John Walsh of FIONTAR who was conference co-ordinator. "The proceedings will be published shortly with the help of the European programme INTERREG, which will add to public knowledge of the issues".

Both speakers and participants suggested the increased use of new information technologies in order to develop Irish-medium university education, as is being done in Catalonia at present. FIONTAR received part-sponsorship from the Higher Education Authority to host the conference.

related links
Fiontar website