Dia daoibh a chairde, I hope you are all winding down now and starting to enjoy the festive season.
Tá nuacht agam / I have news. Subsequent to the recent CILA Annual General Meeting, the new Committee met on 11 December and the office holders for the new year were selected.
The office holders in the new Committee are as follows:
Mark Peirce Chair / Cathairleacht
Paul Collins Treasurer / Cisteoir
Martin Malley Secretary / Rúnaí
Carmel Brennan Ordinary Member / Gnáthbhall
John Curran Ordinary Member / Gnáthbhall
Anne Selvidge Ordinary Member / Gnáthbhall
I extend my thanks to all of those who attended the AGM, as well as to my fellow Committee members. In particular, I should express my deep gratitude to my predecessor, Anne Selvidge. Despite some very difficult personal circumstances, Anne soldiered on and guided some impressive improvements to CILA’s corporate governance, all the while presiding over the day to day functioning of this organisation.
The months immediately ahead of us promise to be quite busy, with Scoil Samhraidh 2026 in January, and the resumption of classes in February. As many of you will know, CILA’s new class structures will be implemented in 2026. The plan is that the current Meán Rang and Ard Rang Classes will be amalgamated, and a new class, tentatively labelled a ‘bridging class’ will be introduced. The purpose of this new class is to bridge the gap that has developed between the Bun Rang and the other classes.
Moving to the strategic level, something that has become increasingly obvious in the ten years since CILA was established is that the recruitment of Irish language teachers is becoming more and more difficult. I think this is happening all over Australia, but the problem is particularly severe here in Canberra. I believe this is largely due to long-term Irish migration trends over which we have no control. However, we do have the ability to enhance the skills of the teachers, and potential teachers that we do have. To this end I propose to liaise with the Irish language organisations in other states to develop a teacher training program for all of our teachers. Hopefully this will go some way toward easing the teacher shortage.
But that’s all in the athbhliain, the year to come. Right now we should all be putting our feet up and enjoying the festive season.
Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise Daoibh,