STAIR TURAS - THE HISTORY OF TURAS By Stiofán Carson
'And I've heard that even some Protestants are starting to learn Irish now up in Belfast'
I heard this from my friend's mother when I was speaking to her over nine years ago. This is the first time I heard about Linda Ervine and her work in Turas. Linda’s story had a major impact on me as I had just started learning Irish and as a young Protestant (which my friend's mum found out ten seconds later) I have to say I felt a little nervous and indeed thought I was the first Protestant ever to learn Irish, but Linda Ervine’s story reassured me and gave me the confidence to continue learning Irish.
In this article, I want to give an insight into the history of Turas so far. I will explain how Turas started, the experience I had as a learner and the experience I now have as a member of staff. It's hard to believe that Turas has only been around for the last twelve years. Although Turas as a project started in 2012, its story starts a year before that when Linda was attending a 6-week Irish language taster course for a group of women from the Short Strand and the Newtownards Road.
This was the first time she had the opportunity to learn the language and it was there that she fell in love with it. After finishing this taster course, she and her friend attended an intensive course in An Droichead, the Irish language centre in South Belfast and after that, a one-year course. Although it was not too common for Protestants to learn Irish, that does not mean that no Protestants learnt Irish, as Linda discovered when a Protestant woman from east Belfast was teaching the class in An Droichead. Linda is married to Brian Ervine, David Ervine's brother who was leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 2002 until his death in 2007 and Brian himself was leader of the PUP when Linda started learning Irish. When the news got out that the wife of the PUP leader was learning Irish, Linda was asked to do an interview for a local newspaper. This gave Linda a platform to share her views about the Irish language for the first time. As part of the interview, Linda mentioned East Belfast Mission (where Linda was part of the women's group). Her interview had a big impact on other Protestants as following its publication, there were twenty phone calls from locals wanting to find out more about the Irish classes.
East Belfast Mission (EBM) asked An Droichead to provide a teacher for a 15-week Irish course to be taught in east Belfast and they asked Linda to facilitate the class. This small class continued past the initial 15 weeks with local people learning Irish. At that time, Linda was an English teacher in a local secondary school and her husband was still the leader of the PUP. Both of them had busy lives and in a way, this class was a relief from the stress and pressure present in Linda’s life at that time. Irish language organisations heard about the Irish class in east Belfast and in the end, Foras na Gaeilge, the organisation that promotes the Irish language in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, decided to appoint an Irish language development officer in east Belfast. Linda applied for the job, was appointed and started working as an Irish language development officer in September 2012. Linda had to attract people to Irish classes, organise the classes themselves, give talks about the history of Protestants and the Irish language throughout Northern Ireland and do hundreds of other tasks herself at the very beginning.
Fortunately, a teacher was appointed whose mark can still be felt in Turas, Maitiú Ó hEachaidh. Maitiú encouraged the first learners who came into the classes on the Newtownards Road, learners who are still learning and teaching in Turas right up until today. Bit by bit, the new Irish project in EBM was growing and developing. It was named Turas (meaning a journey in Irish and in Scots Gaelic) and in 2014, the Turas rooms were opened on the second floor of the Skainos Building. There was an office as well as a few classrooms to give the project a permanent space. These rooms were opened by Sam Evans, one of the founders of the PUP in east Belfast. Sam was learning Irish in An Droichead in South Belfast, and it was felt that it was appropriate that he would have the opportunity to start a new era of Irish language learning in the east of the city. In addition to the Irish classes, there were family classes and there was also a music group. Turas provided a tin whistle class, and a set dance class was also available. A music session called "Turn down the Lamp" was held every month and trips to the Gaeltacht took place every year to places including Donegal and Dún Chaoin. A few learners also got together and decided they would like to do something to support Turas. They formed a group called 'Cairde Turas'.
This group is independent of Turas but supports the work they carry out. Cairde Turas organises trips to the Gaeltacht, manages the volunteers within Turas and also raises money to support the work of Turas. It was clear at this point that Turas was more than just Irish classes. A new Irish community was growing within east Belfast. Life in Turas changed in 2015 when Maitiú left. He and his wife went on to the United States of America, where they still live today. The gap left was fortunately soon filled as Dr Gordon McCoy was appointed as education officer. Gordon, a Protestant who learned Irish in the 90s greatly contributed to every aspect of the work carried out in Turas by giving the Irish speaking community within east Belfast an insight into their Gaelic heritage and history. Gordon did a lot of research into the Gaelic heritage of east Belfast and came across the story of Con Ó Néill, the last Gaelic Lord in this area. He shone a light on that story and indeed on the Gaelic history of east Belfast. He published a book detailing this history and put together bus tours so that members of the public would have the opportunity to find out about this valuable history and visit the historic sites in east Belfast. It was at this point that I began to play a part in the Turas story.
I started attending classes in 2016. I can't tell you how nervous I was when I made my first phone call to Turas, and it was Linda Ervine who answered! I was just as nervous when I went to the first class. I was taken aback by how friendly everyone in the class was but that wasn't what surprised me the most. This was the first place I heard people speaking Irish when doing something as normal as drinking a cup of tea. It was magical to me. I kept coming back to the classes and events offered in Turas over the years and in September 2019, I attended an event that in my opinion is a highlight of the Turas story so far. It was the opening of our library and the social space as well as the new office in Turas. This new space gave our community of learners an opportunity to come together both to practice Irish and to use it outside of the confines of a classroom. As well as the opening of the new rooms, scholarships were awarded to learners so that they could achieve a degree or diploma at the University of Ulster or in Queen’s University Belfast. Five scholarships were awarded that day, and these people went on to work as mentors in Turas or to teach in Turas and elsewhere in Belfast, meaning our learners are supporting the next generation of Irish learners. There are now around 500 learners attending classes with four fluent Irish speakers working full time in the office as well as a number of wonderful teachers and volunteers who do everything under the sun to support and help the Turas staff and learners. There is a vibrant community here in east Belfast learning and speaking Irish.
But when you think of a community, there is one thing that is needed more than anything else, and that is a school! There were discussions held about establishing a school in 2018 and a committee was formed at that point. The Naíscoil was ready to start in September 2021. The children were ready, teachers were available, and the school committee thought that Naíscoil na Seolta (a name that refers to the shipbuilding heritage in east Belfast) would be located in a disused portacabin at the back of Braniel Primary School. If you ask anyone about the Naíscoil and Braniel you will likely get the same answer. 'Is that where that trouble was? Unfortunately, they are right. One person started a campaign to ban the use of the portacabin by the Naíscoil. Turas tried to talk to this person, and we had a meeting (I myself was present) with the person involved. It was clear within three minutes of the meeting that he would not be happy if the Naíscoil moved in. There was talk that there would be a protest and we could not take that chance as we would be putting the children of our Naíscoil and the children of Braniel Primary School at risk. Fortunately, this did not put an end to Scoil na Seolta and thanks to local churches, the Naíscoil was opened in the autumn of 2021 in the local Christian Fellowship Church and the Naíscoil moved into Garnerville Presbyterian Church in 2022, where it is currently located. I was teaching a beginner’s class in Turas last year when I found out about a job that was coming up. At that time, I had a good job at the Queen’s University Belfast as a researcher in epidemiology, but I was passionate for the Irish language, and I enjoyed the class I taught each week so much. I was in two minds whether to apply or not as I was driving into Turas to teach my class. While I was in the traffic jam, I said to myself, 'I have an opportunity to positively influence people who are learning Irish in east Belfast and attract people towards the Irish language.
Most importantly, I have an opportunity to do all this in a Protestant and Unionist area. I will never get this opportunity again.' I had made up my mind at that point and started working with Turas in July 2023. We have just finished another academic year and had a celebration last week attended by over 200 of our learners. We hope that over 500 will attend the classes next year from complete beginners to advanced learners. There will be about 30 children attending the Naíscoil and we will have a Bunscoil the following year. No one thought that this amount of progress would be possible when Turas started a little over ten years ago and personally speaking, I can't wait to see where it will be in another ten years’ time!