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Is anti-Irish racism still a problem? You can Bank on it

By discoversociety
March 06, 2019
2019 , Articles , DS66

Maureen McBride

In January 2019, American hip-hop singer Azealia Banks made headlines with a series of anti-Irish comments on social media following a row with Aer Lingus cabin crew on a flight from London to Dublin. Her initial comments, branding Irish women ‘ugly’, soon escalated into a rather bizarre anti-Irish rant which contained overt racializing language:

You lot are a bunch of prideful inbred leprechauns who have ZERO global influence and ZERO white privilege. The rest of the world’s white folk don’t want to associate with you lot at all and it’s because you are barbarians.

I’m happiest knowing the Irish are quarantined on an isle so they can continue to inbreed and keep their defective genes away from humanity.

Banks is no stranger to controversial statements. In 2016, she was dropped from her headline slot at a UK festival after making racist and homophobic remarks (again on social media) towards former One Direction singer Zain Malik. In this latest outburst, she once again faced accusations of racism, this time against Irish people. Engaging with various challenges to her comments, she responded to one online critic with ‘Don’t you all have a famine to go die in?’ a reference to the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1852, the tragic event in which one million people died of starvation and a further one million were displaced.

As undoubtedly offensive as these comments were, it is probably not the case that Banks holds deep-seated racially driven prejudice against Irish people. It could be that her outburst was simply another publicity seeking exercise during her tour of the UK and Ireland. Yet many people construed her comments as examples of anti-Irish racism and many termed it ‘hate speech’. Indeed, her statement about the Irish having ‘zero white privilege’ do actually demonstrate some insight into the complexity of racism which is so frequently constructed in binary, colour-coded terms. It was this comment in particular which sparked my attention on the incident, given my own personal and research interests in the question of anti-Irish racism. My research focuses specifically on Scotland, and I argue that the experiences of Irish Catholics illustrates why debates on what ‘counts’ as racism are often taking place on unhelpfully narrow terrain. This is particularly the case in Scotland, because it has contributed to a ‘no problem here’ narrative in which Scotland is presented as a nation free from racism, but these arguments also have wider resonance.

I recently completed my doctoral research on the phenomenon that is commonly referred to as ‘sectarianism’ in Scotland. Although the thesis was entitled ‘Rethinking Sectarianism’, the way in which the term is both conceptualised and popularly understood is so problematic that many would argue we should stop using it altogether. Part of the problem is that a ‘culture of equivalence’ tends to frame much of the political, media and public discourse, as well as the dominant academic work on the topic: ‘sectarianism’ is constructed as a problem of tensions between two ‘sides’ or ‘communities’: Protestants and Catholics. A history of unequal power relations in which the Irish Catholic minority experienced processes of racialisation, structural inequalities and overt discrimination tends to be overlooked or at best referred to as a ‘thing of the past’ with no reference to the legacy of inequality in contemporary society. I am from an Irish Catholic background and I grew up in Glasgow, so my personal and family experiences were undoubtedly a factor in drawing me towards this research. Yet growing up, I would never have considered my own experiences of anti-Irishness, or those of my ancestors, as a type of racism, nor indeed would most of my family of friends. I think that notions of what racism is are often very fixed. However, my research, which focused on the Irish Catholic experience in Scotland both historically and in the present day, brought me to the position that we should view sectarianism as a form of racism.

Yet historical research clearly demonstrates the presence of anti-Irish racism in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK, and in other places where Irish migrants settled, often in large numbers. Satnam Virdee’s book ‘’Racism, Class and the Racialized Outsider’ (2014) revealed that Irish Catholics were, alongside Jews, Asians and those of Caribbean and African descent, occupied the position of ‘other’ in the British nation. Similarly, Garner (2009) contends that through colonial relations with Britain, the Irish were racialized, despite there being little visible difference sin skin colour or other physical characteristics. The Irish were frequently depicted as an ‘inferior race’, demonised in the media, stereotyped as violent and backwards, and accused of bringing disease and spreading criminality (Curtis 1984). Some of the language recently used by Azealia Banks to describe Irish people was not dissimilar to how Irish people were portrayed during the 19 th and early 20 th centuries, including in elite narratives.

The context of Britain’s colonial relationship with Ireland is too often overlooked, and this is a crucial omission, particularly in Scotland. In ‘No Problem Here: Understanding Racism in Scotland’ (2018), myself and co-editors attempted to address this gap. Through paying attention to a specific aspect of Scotland’s imperial past, several chapters in the collection reflect on the fact that the Irish Catholics were a racialized group subject to similar process of negative stereotyping and discrimination as faced by newer migrants today. This is not only missing in much of the academic work on ‘sectarianism’ in Scotland, it is also marginalised in racism studies because of the predominance of colour-coded understandings of racism. Yet an understanding of how Irish Catholics were racialized historically and de-racialized over time, though in various ways still occupying and experiencing a sense of ‘outsider status’, reveals how racism and racialisation changes over time.

Gilroy (2004) emphasises ‘white Britain’s’ struggle with the legacy of the British Empire in relation to immigrant populations, regardless of whether the ‘immigrant’ in question may be second or third generation. In the case of Scotland, where the Irish represented the largest immigration movement, those from Irish Catholic backgrounds may still experience a sense of exclusion generations later. This is something that I address in the empirical study undertaken for my PhD, which included in-depth interviews with people from Irish Catholic backgrounds in Scotland. Several of my research participants experienced anti-Irish sentiment on a frequent basis, including the type of derogatory language that sparked this debate. Many of them were aware that Catholics (most of whom, in Scotland, come from Irish backgrounds) still lagged behind on a range of socio-economic indicators. Some felt strongly that the term ‘sectarianism’ was not sufficient in capturing or understanding their experiences, particularly when it was their perceived nationality , as opposed to their religion, that often made them targets for abuse.

Yet although a minority defined anti-Irishness as a form of racism, something that they had very much internalised, in many cases they were reflective of whether their experiences could ‘count’ as racism. This was particularly the case when making comparisons with how more ‘visible’ minorities endure prejudice. As well as this, some found that they faced resistance when attempting to explain their experiences as racism: that it is taken less seriously. Some of the reactions to the recent claims by Neil Lennon – the former Celtic and Hibernian manager – that he is a victim of anti-Irish racism, would support the suggestion that anti-Irish racism is simply taken less seriously. Moreover, the fact that Call it Out, a campaign group against anti-Irish racism, were forced to find an alternative venue for a public meeting because the Church of Scotland venue they had initially booked received threats if the event was to go ahead, strongly suggests that anti-Irish racism is a problem Scotland has yet to fully face up to.

In short, these examples point to the need to further open up debates about racism and Scotland and, more broadly, what counts as racism. Rather than viewing racism as a singular, static phenomenon, it is crucial to be alive to the multiple racisms that exist, in Scotland and elsewhere. Racism takes different forms in different places and contexts, and changes over time. Irish Catholics in Scotland historically experienced similar forms of racism that Polish people and travelling communities currently endure, and the legacy of historical inequalities and discrimination must also be more fully explored. Azealia Banks’ comment about ‘white privilege’ reveals an awareness that it has in fact never been equally shared, and a challenge for sociologists working in this area is to explore these complexities in more depth.

References Curtis, L. (1984) Nothing but the same old story: the roots of anti-Irish racism, London: Information on Ireland Davidson, N., Liinpää, M., McBride, M, Virdee, S. (2018) No Problem Here: Understanding Racism in Scotland Garner, S. (2009) ‘Ireland: from racism without “race” to racism without racists’. Radical History Review , 104, pp. 41–56 Gilroy, P. (2004) After Empire: Melancholia or Convivial Culture , London: Routledge Virdee, S. (2014) Racism, Class and the Racialized Outsider, London: Palgrave Macmillan

Maureen McBride is a sociologist currently working as a Research Associate on the Children’s Neighbourhoods Scotland project, based at the University of Glasgow. She completed her ESRC-funded PhD, entitled ‘Rethinking Sectarianism in Scotland’, at the University of Glasgow in 2018. Maureen co-edited and contributed to No Problem Here: Understanding Racism in Scotland, a book published by Luath Press in January 2018.

Image Credit: ‘Kill all Taigs’ slogan on the Glasgow HQ of Irish Republican group Cairde na hEireann Source: Cairde na hEirean

‘It’s endemic’: Prevalence of racism in Irish workplaces at record levels

EDENNA* HAD JUST turned up for work one morning when his manager beckoned to him for a chat.

Thinking it was one of the usual briefings before the start of a new project, he walked briskly into his office.

“I got there and he told me quite bluntly that I was smelling. It was so out of the blue. He said other workers had made complaints about me, so I needed to clean up myself.

“That was the first time someone had ever questioned my hygiene. I felt so disrespected but I was the only black person in that company and I knew what it was about.”

Noteworthy , the crowdfunded community-led investigative platform from The Journal, supports independent and impactful public interest journalism.

Edenna had just started working in a mid-level position at the medical device manufacturing company when it happened.

It was one of his first jobs in Ireland after moving from Nigeria to pursue a master’s degree in supply chain management at a university in Dublin.

He said that before this, he had no idea the level of discrimination that existed in his workplace, but quickly found out “from the first day” he joined the company, with one criticism after another from his manager.

Edenna is not alone.

Racism at work is on the rise, new figures from the Irish Network Against Racism (INAR) show.

Preliminary findings from their 2022 report found a record 69 cases were reported, up from 16 in 2021 . These figures, released to Noteworthy , related to discrimination in the workplace by colleagues or employers.

A further 30 cases reported involved racist abuse at work by a customer or service users, up from just one in 2021.

INAR releases a report annually in March with data compiled through an online reporting system, iReport .

“We have found out that the two categories of people who experience racism in the workplace and report it are black bus drivers and black taxi drivers but we believe there are many cases that go unreported.

“Part of the reason is that many people don’t know what their rights are,” said Dr Lucy Michael, sociologist and co-author of INAR’s annual report.

“You would think work environments are places where people are of their best behaviour but it’s not really true.”

Ireland also fares poorly when compared to other European countries. Research by the European Union Agencies for Fundamental Rights found that when it comes to racist incidents in the workplace, Ireland ranked as one of the worst Europe-wide with a rate of 33%, compared to an average of 24%.

‘Degrading’ treatment by colleagues

Edenna’s workplace was one where people were certainly not on their best behaviour.

Although he has over 10 years’ experience in the manufacturing industry, he said he was constantly sneered at by his manager.

“Imagine someone telling you things like, ‘you claim to be an engineer but you can’t do this and you can’t do that.’ It’s degrading.

“He would say things to me that he never said to my white colleagues. He would berate me in front of them – just to humiliate me,” said Edenna.

His manager’s behaviour was “quite surprising”, he added, as “sometimes a few seconds after condemning me and appearing to be angry, he would turn to the other white staff and start cracking jokes”.

When he joined, the company refused to train Edenna which was against his contract.

“Initially I gave the company the benefit of the doubt and never thought it was racism. I would say, ‘it’s a new job, maybe I’m the one that needs to improve.’ So, I started spending more hours at work to learn and adapt but nothing changed.

“But when a new person who was Irish joined the company, I saw the level of support he got. It was then I concluded the manager didn’t like the colour of my skin. There were times where I made mistakes and it seemed like my competence was questioned but if a white person did the same, it was seen as ‘just a mistake’.”

A 2018 study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) revealed that black non-Irish were more than twice as likely to experience workplace discrimination.

“It’s endemic, it’s institutional,” Dr Ebun Joseph, a lecturer on Black Studies at University College Dublin told Noteworthy .

“It may not always be racist name calling. Often, what we see in the workplace is microaggressions, reprimanding people unfairly and silly behaviours.”

This was also found in a new report released this week by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC). It stated that “being exposed to microaggression on an everyday basis made some participants leave their workplace”.

Dr Joseph said that she gets calls from people every day in relation to discrimination at work.

“A case that comes to mind is a complaint made by a senior level staff member who was being micromanaged. How can you tell a staff [member] who has rose up to management level that they always have to send you an email before they send it to anybody else?”

‘The feeling of not being seen or celebrated’

Bella* is a case management worker in the social care sector who works with homeless people, disabled people and asylum seekers. She is the only person of colour working in a department of people who are mostly Europeans.

Bella says she has “seen things that has left her feeling excluded and belittled”.

“The organisation has a culture of celebrating staff who get promoted. So, we get cards signed for the staff, write lovely messages and have parties. When it was my turn, I got nothing. Absolutely nothing was done for me,” she said.

In her previous role as a project worker, Bella’s day-to-day job involved helping clients set up hospital appointments and referring them to organisations that provide support. She said she has faced discrimination from her clients.

“One day I was doing my job helping these people and one of them walked up to me and told me to go back to my country, that I’m taking their jobs. I was dumbfounded, I just didn’t know how to react,” she said.

“The ironic thing is, this person’s kids live in Canada. How would she feel if someone said the same to her kids?”

Bella said she filed an incident report but no action was taken.

Commenting on both Edenna’s and Bella’s allegations, a spokesperson for the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (Ibec) said:

“We cannot comment on individual member companies. Ibec is a strong supporter of equality in the workplace, and it is our practice to always advise and support employers in applying and adhering to equality and all other employment rights legislation in their organisations.”

‘Employers untouchable’

In Ireland, protection against discrimination on nine grounds, including race, is legislated for by two laws: the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015 for employment-related areas; and the Equal Status Acts 2000–2018 for the provision of goods and services, accommodation and access to education.

Claims of racial discrimination can be made to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) – the independent State agency responsible for industrial relations in Ireland.

A recent study by Free Legal Advice Centre (FLAC) and INAR shows a significant drop in the number of cases taken to the WRC since 2016, with fewer claims made under the Employment Equality Acts when compared to the Equal Status Acts.

Funded by the European Union, the ‘ Equal Access Project ’ examined access to justice for people subjected to discrimination on the basis of race or membership of the Traveller community. It explored the effectiveness of the current infrastructure available to victims to make complaints and to seek remedies.

The report found a massive lack of awareness of equality rights and mechanisms, delay in filing a claim, lack of legal representation, fear of losing one’s job and inability for victims to prove the case can be barriers to the system.

“We did a focus group recently with young black Irish people between 20 and 30 and only one of eight knew there were employment equality laws that protected them. That’s problematic,” said sociologist Dr Lucy Michael.

She said that employers can hinder WRC cases. “A claim of discrimination or harassment in the workplace by either employers or other staff members must be referred to the WRC within six months from the incident but an employer has to be notified first.

“So, the victim would need to ask the employer for certain information which will assist when referring the claim. Without fulfilling this requirement, no case can be looked into. But because some employers know this, they spend more than six months ‘investigating’ an incident and such delay can make a case fail.”

Cases can fail for a number of reasons, Dr Michael added. “There are also instances where victims who quit their jobs can’t afford the cost of legal representation. Others would rather not go to court because they are afraid they won’t get another job if a new employer finds they took their last employer to court.”

Dr Joseph agreed: “Employers are untouchable. Nobody questions them. Far too many people wouldn’t take the legal route because they want to protect their jobs.

“The support is just not there. Even the few ethnic minorities in senior positions who could help may want to protect themselves.”

When Edenna tried to report the prejudice he faced to a more superior staff, he got the cold shoulder.

“The Director of the company made me feel like I was the one causing trouble. It almost felt like ‘you only just started the job and you are complaining’,” he said. “People don’t realise how difficult it is to prove discrimination. With no support, you don’t have a chance.”

The burden of proof “should be on the employers and not the employees”, Dr Joseph said. “They should be the ones to prove they aren’t racists.”

She also advocates for whistleblowers protection. “Organisations have to put in place system to ensure racist victims are protected.”

‘For many, diversity is only a buzzword’

There is evidence to show that race plays a key factor in recruitment, promotion and labour market experiences in Ireland.

Dr Joseph’s research examining racial stratification in the Irish labour market revealed that skin colour, foreign sounding names, accents and nationality were among the main reasons people experience discrimination.

Another survey conducted by the African Professional Network of Ireland (APNI) found that half of black professionals working in Ireland believe their ethnicity has negatively impacted their career opportunities and career progression.

In the 2016 census , black Africans recorded the highest unemployment rates at over five times that of Western Europeans. For Nigerians, it is 43% and for Congolese, it’s 63% – the highest of any group.

Dr Joseph asked: “Are you saying these organisations can’t find black people to do even admin jobs?”

She did note that more organisations are showing interest in making their recruitment processes inclusive to all communities, but for many, diversity is only a buzzword, she added.

“A lot of companies do it just to have a good public image. It would be nice to see a more genuine effort to be diverse and inclusive which should be reflected in the core of a company’s daily practices.

“For instance, I have observed that many companies’ unconscious bias training is watered down and ineffective. You can’t just organise an hour-long training for your staff and that’s it for the next five years. How do expect people to become anti-racists just like that?”

For many people of ethnic minority backgrounds who get into employment, discrimination could come in the form of wage gap and poor working conditions.

“African nationals have a very low employment rate and when in work, they earn on average 14% less than Irish nationals, after accounting for background and job characteristics,” a recent ESRI report found .

According to the research, pay gaps exist because foreign workers are generally more likely to be found in lower quality jobs and less likely to work in professional or managerial professions – 33% compared to 44% of Irish nationals.

‘Tied to one job’

Bandama* moved from East Africa to Ireland in 2020 for what he describes as a better life.

He works in the agricultural sector and is on a General Employment Permit – which is issued by the State to attract third country nationals for occupations experiencing a labour or skills shortage.

Unlike the Critical Skills Employment Permit holders, Bandama says he is being denied certain rights.

“Currently, I don’t have freedom to change my employer, which means I am tied to one job for five years. I can’t bring my wife and son here either. If I do, they can’t work.”

Bandama, who describes his experience working on a farm as a nightmare, claims he is being exploited at work because of his visa status.

Our recent Hands on Deck investigation into exploitation of migrant workers in the Irish fishing sector also identified issues relating to work permits. The series can be read here .

“I signed up for 39 hours of work a week but they are making me do 60 hours without extra pay. My job entails lifting a lot of heavy equipment and I have to do that six days in a week and get a day off.

My European colleagues are not on these permits so can afford to leave the job at any time but I’m stuck,” said Bandama.

When Noteworthy put Bandama’s allegations to the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) – who represents the interest of all sectors of farming – it did not respond in time for publication.

In December, Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) reported that it has seen a huge increase in workers on General Employment Permits.

However, a bill which aims to modernise the employment permit system is currently before the Dáil.

When enacted it may give general work permit holders fairer conditions including the ability to change employer more easily.

Racism legislation in progress

In Ireland, racism is still not explicitly recognised as a crime. Currently, legislation to prevent and combat racist violence and crime is not as clear and effective as it could be, according to experts that Noteworthy spoke to.

However, the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022 aims to change that.

Ireland has the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989, but it has been widely considered ineffective, with only 50 prosecutions in the more than 30 years since it was enacted.

The new legislation will criminalise any intentional or reckless communication or behaviour that is likely to incite violence or hatred associated with certain “protected characteristics”.

The bill includes 10 protected characteristics including race, religion, gender and disability, with the penalty for offenders of up to five years’ imprisonment.

In addition, in 2021, Minister for Children, Equality, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, committed to the development of a far-reaching National Action Plan Against Racism (NAPAR) in line with European standards, following an interim report of an independent anti-racism committee.

Despite a commitment to publish NAPAR by 2022, the Government hasn’t followed through with the implementation.

A spokesperson for the Department of Equality told Noteworthy that “plans are on course to launch NAPAR” this month.

With the recent wave of anti-immigration protests and rise of the far-right, Dr Joseph welcomes new strategies that would tackle racism and prejudice in the State.

“Both the hate crime legislation and NAPAR are welcome in the present climate. My worry though is that will it be policed?

“Racism is more than 500 years old. Sometimes people underestimate the impact it can have on people. It’s one of the leading causes of death among black people.”

*Names have been changed

By Joseph Okoh for Noteworthy

Our RACISM AT WORK investigation was proposed and funded by readers of Noteworthy, the crowdfunded investigative journalism platform from The Journal.

Please support our work by submitting an idea , helping to fund a project or setting up a monthly contribution to our investigative fund HERE>>

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Statement on eliminating racial discrimination in all its forms in Ireland

Today marks the 20 th anniversary of the Race Equality Directive, under which EU Member States, including Ireland, committed to implementing a legal framework to eliminate racial and ethnic discrimination in policy and practice.

Yet, in 2020, young people in Ireland, people of different ethnicities and backgrounds, including Travellers and Roma, people of African descent, migrants and refugees, continue to bear testimony with their own shocking examples of racism and racial discrimination.

The Black Lives Matter movement has shone an uncomfortable light onto this unspoken reality in Ireland. While we have become a more diverse society, we have not always been, and still struggle to be, tolerant of difference.

Ireland’s treatment of Travellers, in particular, has been a dark shadow on our democracy for generations. Travellers have been – and continue to be – subjected to endemic racism, at street level and from the organs of the State. If the invidious impact of racism on the individual and on a community could ever be doubted, one only has to consider the effects of discrimination on generations of Irish travellers, in their political representation, employment, education, health and life expectancy.

What is important now is that we face racism and racial discrimination in our own communities, and in our own society. That we do not seek to down-play it or ignore it. And that we respond with the proper actions necessary to address structural racism in our society.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission reported in December 2019 in Geneva on Ireland’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Commission has, following consultation and input from around the country, outlined over 150 individual recommendations we consider necessary to show leadership by the State itself in tackling racism and building a more inclusive society.

Leadership starts with taking positive steps to change policies, practices and behaviour that discriminate in favour of some over others. The Commission has made recommendations for policy change across our health, social care, employment, justice, education, housing, political and immigration systems.

Since 2014, through the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty, the law obliges public bodies to have regard to the need to eliminate racial discrimination; promote equality of opportunity and treatment; and protect the human rights of both staff and those who use their services. This positive legal Duty also requires that, in planning their work, public bodies assess the equality and human rights issues relevant to their function and purpose; take actions to address these issues; and report on progress made.

Eliminating racial discrimination; promoting equality of opportunity and treatment for people of different ethnic backgrounds; and protecting the human rights of people who use, and who work in, our public services, should be at the core of how the State carries out its business.

State leadership also requires greater urgency in addressing longstanding inadequacies in its approach to the serious problem of hate crime and hate speech in Ireland, by ensuring an effective response in the criminal law. The State should also develop a comprehensive regulatory framework to combat hate speech online with compliance enforced by an independent statutory body, backed up by effective and proportionate sanctions.

The current pandemic has tested the bonds of community and solidarity in Ireland, and has shown that they are strong. We can harness this pride in who we are as a society, to challenge voices who try to sow division and grow hatred.

Racism is not the problem of those who are trolled online with images and invective. It is not the problem of those abused on the street in the crudest terms while others watch on passively. It is our problem, collectively and individually, to address, challenge and stamp out.

We cannot continue to view racism in Ireland as a patchwork of individual isolated incidents of bad behaviour. Rather, we need to recognise racism as a structural problem across our whole society which results, in many instances, in actual racial discrimination in employment, and the provision of services,

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission will continue to work to fulfil our statutory mandate in the area of promoting intercultural understanding, and our strategic priority of combatting racism.

For further information, please contact:

Brian Dawson, IHREC Communications Manager,

01 8589601 / (087) 0697095

[email protected]

Editor’s Note

Read the full Commission report on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Ireland provided to the UN in October 2019
See the series of short fact sheets with our focused recommendations

Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is an independent public body, appointed by the President and directly accountable to the Oireachtas. The Commission has a statutory remit set out under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act (2014) to protect and promote human rights and equality in Ireland, and build a culture of respect for human rights, equality and intercultural understanding in the State.

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is Ireland’s national human rights institution and is recognised as such by the United Nations. The Commission is also Ireland’s national equality body for the purpose of a range of EU anti-discrimination measures.

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Whiteness and the Racialization of Irish Identity in Celtic Tiger Children’s Fiction

Published: august 25, 2016, author: clíona ó gallchoir (university college cork).

This essay examines a small selection of novels for young readers published between 1993 and 2004 which deal in a variety of ways with themes of race and migration in Ireland. Padraic Whyte has drawn attention to “the manner in which children’s texts engage with complex cultural discourses in contemporary Ireland and the significant contribution that children’s novels and films can make to broader debates concerning Irish identity at the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first century.” [1] The novels under discussion here, John Quinn’s Duck and Swan (1993), Mark O’Sullivan’s White Lies (1997), and Patrick Devaney’s Tribal Scars (2004), appeared during a critical period in Ireland, the earliest having been published immediately prior to the economic boom of the Celtic Tiger. The term “Celtic Tiger” was coined in 1994 by the economist Kevin Gardiner, and that year marked the beginning of a period of unprecedented economic growth and social change in Ireland. [2] While the social and economic changes of the period were accompanied by a marked liberalization of attitudes and significant legal reforms such as the introduction of divorce and the decriminalization of homosexuality, it has been argued that this period also saw a new racialization of Irish identity and a conscious affirmation of the “whiteness” of that identity. [3] My discussion of these novels is therefore focused on the extent to which they engage with or reflect on this process of racialization, and the extent to which they could be said to challenge the identification between Irishness and whiteness.

One of the changes that characterized the Celtic Tiger period was rapid population growth, amplified in part by inward migration. [4] This was a phenomenon new to post-independence Ireland, a state characterized up to this point by a steady outward flow of emigrants. Migrants were made up in part of returning Irish emigrants, but also to a considerable extent of foreign nationals drawn by growing employment opportunities. A feature of this period was also a significant increase in the number of people applying for asylum and refugee status in Ireland. The number of people who sought asylum in Ireland in 1992 was 39, and 10 years later, the number peaked at 11,634. [5] The vast majority of those seeking asylum were from Africa, from countries including Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the presence in Ireland of a small but highly visible number of people of color triggered an escalation of racist discourse in which issues of color, race, and legal status were frequently confused and conflated. [6] Hostile and misinformed media and public discussion of the asylum issue led firstly to the introduction of a system of “direct provision” for asylum seekers that cut them off from the wider community and forced them into a highly restrictive and institutionalized existence. [7] This hostile discourse also ultimately culminated in the decision to amend Article 2 of the constitution which guaranteed citizenship to anyone born in Ireland. [8] In 2004, a majority of the electorate supported the amendment, which restricted Irish citizenship to those born in Ireland who had one parent who either was or was entitled to be an Irish citizen. [9] The decision to make such a fundamental change to the basis of Irish citizenship was taken in the context of the granting of residency to thousands of asylum seekers who had Irish-born children. As Eithne Luibhéid has pointed out, the fact that more applications for residency were granted on this basis rather than on the grounds of refugee status could be read in terms of a highly restrictive interpretation of the Geneva Convention on the part of Irish officials. [10] Popularly, however, the idea of childbirth as a “backdoor” to residency for “illegal” migrants (invariably assumed to be from Nigeria) dominated public discussion and was the major factor driving the decision by the government to amend the constitution in order to restrict access to citizenship in Ireland. [11]

2004 also witnessed a massive enlargement of the European Union. On May 1 st of that year, ten countries, including three former Soviet republics—Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia—and four former satellites of the USSR—Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia—became members of the EU. Ireland, still experiencing strong economic growth and expansion, was the only western European state aside from Sweden to impose no restrictions on the freedom of movement of citizens from the new member states, including access to social welfare. 2004 thus marked a decisive shift in Ireland’s self-definition and self-image. Defined against the image of the black asylum seeker or “bogus migrant,” Irish citizenship was affirmed as implicitly white, while the open-door policy to migrant workers from Eastern Europe confirmed Ireland’s booming economy and its welcome to newcomers whose color did not threaten national integrity. This is, according to Steven Garner, typical of what he calls the “racial state:” one that “profess[es] multiculturalism and official equality discourses while introducing new racialized shifts in the access to rights and resources.” [12]

It is in this context of increasing racialization in Ireland that I wish to locate my discussion of fiction for young readers that addresses race in a contemporary setting. The three novels discussed in this essay belong to a small group of texts focused on race and migration that I have identified in this period. In addition to the texts by Quinn, O’Sullivan and Devaney, this period also saw the publication of Eoin Colfer’s Benny and Omar (1998), Siobhán Parkinson’s The Love Bean (2002) and Vincent O’Donnell’s Out of the Flames (2002). All six texts are authored by members of the white majority population in Ireland and as such are necessarily limited in their ability to challenge what has been called the “pervasive whiteness” of children’s literature, but the novels by Quinn, O’Sullivan and Devaney offer a more searching and complex engagement with issues of race than is evident in the works of their contemporaries. [13] Benny and Omar deals with the more historically familiar Irish experience of emigration, and its representation of the friendship of Benny and his new Tunisian friend, Omar, explores the meanings ascribed to race from the perspective of the white Irish child protagonist. Parkinson’s The Love Bean and O’Donnell’s Out of the Flames both address the experience of African asylum seekers in Ireland and depict protests against asylum-seeker accommodation. Both texts explicitly challenge racist attitudes and thus seek to counter the hostile media discourse around asylum seekers described above, at a point at which it was reaching a climax. In broad terms, the texts by Colfer, Parkinson and O’Donnell can be understood in terms of the response to increased immigration and racial diversity that John Stephens describes in the case of Australian children’s literature in the 1970s and 80s. Surveying the texts for young readers that addressed immigration in these decades, he notes that all were written by members of the majority “Anglo-Saxon-Celtic” population and were also focalized by characters from the majority community; as such, he says they “construc[t] migrant minorities as narrative objects and the alien ‘Other’ to whom the representatives of the dominant group extend understanding.” [14]

In contrast, Duck and Swan , White Lies , and Tribal Scars are not primarily concerned with attitudes toward racial minorities; instead, I argue, they display an awareness of race as a shifting rather than a stable category. As we have seen, the period 1994-2004 witnessed a significant increase in the public articulation and attempted justification of racist attitudes in Ireland, together with an explicit and, as Garner and Lentin and McVeigh argue, newly racialized limitation on the concept of Irish citizenship. There is therefore more at stake than simply providing a corrective to racist attitudes. In the period in question, the potential for a racially inclusive construction of Irish identity was briefly articulated and, it would seem, quickly extinguished. In this context, it is highly significant that these three texts feature a mixed-race central protagonist: in each case, the central character has one African and one Irish parent, and was either born in Ireland or brought up in Ireland from infancy. [15] These texts are thus not primarily concerned with the “Irish” response (sympathetic or otherwise) to “outsiders;” instead, they offer a more profound reflection on the processes of racialization that emerged in the Celtic Tiger period, during which whiteness became an explicitly asserted aspect of Irishness, just at the point when Ireland’s population became more racially diverse than ever. Kimberley Reynolds, arguing for the radical potential of children’s literature, acknowledges that it is “undeniably implicated in cultural integration,” but that “it is also about developing individual potential suited to a future in which societies could be different in some significant ways.” [16] These three novels, published at a time of unprecedented social change in Ireland, illustrate some of the ways in which children’s literature can contribute to the imagination of different futures.

Equally as significant as the projection of a different future in Ireland is the reflection on the legacy of the past. As I will outline, these texts locate their reflections on race in a wider Irish historical and social context, challenging the simplistic but widely-aired claim that race was a wholly novel and indeed “alien” concept in the Irish context, a problem effectively foisted on Irish society by migrants themselves. [17] In all three novels the representation of race is interwoven with tropes that recall both the distant and recent Irish past, thus embedding the issue of race in a multilayered context, rather than associating understandings of and responses to race solely with the period of increased inward migration that began in the mid-1990s. In Duck and Swan and Tribal Scars , the Big House, a powerfully ambivalent symbol in Irish culture and history, is invoked in such a way as to position the racialized protagonists in relation to existing narratives of otherness, tradition, and dispossession. And in all three novels, the issue of racialized otherness is aligned with the extraordinarily punitive treatment in post-independence Ireland of women who became pregnant outside of marriage, and with the policing of women and female sexuality more generally.

Definitions of belonging, of insiders and outsiders, have very long historical roots in Ireland and arise chiefly from the historical distinctions between settler and native, colonizer and colonized. The Big House functioned as an architectural and spatial symbol of the ideological constructions that underpinned the power relations of the quasi-colonial system that prevailed in Ireland, but its meanings are not limited to the assertion of dominance by a minority elite. Describing the Big House in symbolic terms as “the crucible in which two civilizations failed to melt and yet became inseparably bound together,” Guy Fehlman registers the notes of loss and regret that can accrue around these reminders of the violence and division of the Irish past. [18] Vera Kreilkamp observes acutely that a number of significant social and cultural changes in the late twentieth century, including “revisionist interpretations of the Anglo-Irish landowning class, together with the persistent nostalgia that characterizes modern consumer societies,” contributed to a shift in the perception of the Big House and its inhabitants, whereby “the nationalist’s alien colonizer [was transformed] into a complex Chekhovian figure—Ireland’s new dispossessed.” [19] A further layer was added to the cultural meanings of the Big House when, during the economic boom, these symbols of “alien” power were bought and redeveloped by the wealthiest of Ireland’s business and financial elites, either as private residences or as exclusive resort hotels. [20] In the words of Fintan O’Toole, the acquisition of the houses of the former ascendancy by men such as Michael Smurfitt and Tony Ryan was greeted in some quarters as an achievement, the arrival of “our own gentry.” [21] Echoes of these various resonances can be found in Duck and Swan and Tribal Scars , as well as evidence of the significant changes that reshaped the meaning of the Big House in the Celtic Tiger period.

The character of Martin Oduki (“Duck”) in Duck and Swan is consistently represented as inhabiting a position of extreme marginality. He appears first, described as “a dark bundle,” [22] hiding under the seat of a bus, which is taking a group of schoolchildren home to their Galway village after a trip to Dublin. Duck, the child of a white Irish mother and a Nigerian father, has run away from a care home, in which he was placed following episodes of shoplifting and truanting, and also because of his mother’s drug addiction and inability to care for him. The contrasts between Duck and his new-found friend, Emer, are thus set up partly as contrasts between the rural and the urban, between the troubled modernity of the city and the seemingly cohesive and tranquil nature of Irish rural life. It is also evident, however, that these contrasts are racialized, in a way that is not fully addressed or explored. This implicit racialization is troubling because of the role that Emer assumes as protector, benefactor, and teacher in relation to Duck. Not only does she help him to hide, she brings him food and, discovering he is unable to read, starts to teach him, using books she read as a much younger child. She also acts as a mediator between Duck and other characters in the community, encouraging him to come to the local school.

The children’s differing relations to space and movement are also interesting to consider. Children’s movements are highly regulated by adults, a fact which is very clear in the account of the trip to Dublin, during which the teacher constantly shepherds, monitors, and reprimands the children. [23] Emer is at first an obedient participant in this activity, but she chooses to defy the demands for compliance when she takes on the job of helping Duck, telling lies to explain her absences and concealing where she is going—transgressions of which, as an ordinarily well-behaved child, she is acutely aware. Duck’s difference from Emer is starkly evident in his refusal to stay where he has been told to stay (the care home) and in his hidden and unsanctioned presence on the bus. Duck’s marginal status is thus reflected in his much more circumscribed relationship to space: he is effectively confined to the space of the care home and is therefore a transgressive presence in any other space. This marginality is underlined when he hides in an unused private chapel on the grounds of a Big House, the demesne of Dunrickard House.

The house, grounds, and chapel are deserted and semi-dilapidated, and it is only in this abandoned, unoccupied space that Duck can find even temporary refuge. The racialized nature of Duck’s social marginality is ultimately acknowledged when Emer reflects on the fact that he is unlikely to stay hidden for long: “He couldn’t stay on the run forever. Especially not someone who was—black.” [24] The color that marks Duck as not belonging is also foregrounded when he is spotted by other children, who tell their teacher the following day that they’ve seen “a blackie,” [25] which gave them “a terrible fright.” [26] The idea of Duck being “frightening” is of course on one level an indication of a crude racism, but it also links him to the eerie space to which he has fled as a refuge—the chapel is, for instance, home to a number of funeral vaults that make Emer distinctly uneasy. Duck’s simultaneously marginalized and threatening presence is thus linked to the former inhabitants of the Big House, now represented only by means of the unsettling vaults in the chapel. The local inhabitants avoid and seemingly ignore the demesne of Dunrickard House, but once Duck has been sighted in the grounds, it is clear that his presence will not be tolerated. He is woken in the chapel by the sound of a hurling ball repeatedly thudding against the door. Observing the “arrogant saunter” [27] of the boy who is apparently engaging in practice and hearing the “mocking tone in his whistle,” [28] Duck realizes he has been discovered and that he must leave. His next place of refuge is, highly symbolically, a thatched cottage owned by the Flynns, a childless older couple. The Flynns’ home is on one level “the cabin” that stands in opposition to the Big House, symbolizing the divisions of the Irish past and the seemingly stark and unbridgeable nature of those divisions. The Flynns’ cottage is also representative of an idea of tradition; in an area known locally as “the island” because it is cut off by floods during the winter, it is “cut off” in other ways too, a hold-over from what seems at first to be an idealized vision of Ireland’s past. The apparent idealization of traditional ways of life is however radically disrupted when Nan Flynn reveals to Duck her experience of institutionalization as an unmarried mother in an Ireland dominated by the ideology of the Catholic church. As noted above, the theme of the policing of female sexuality is one that links Duck and Swan with White Lies and Tribal Scars , and will be fully discussed in the second half of this essay.

The eerie, dilapidated and deserted demesne of Dunrickard House is in stark contrast to Cherryfield Estate, the Big House at the center of the plot of Tribal Scars . Aidan, the central teenage protagonist, is the child of a white Irish mother who met her child’s African father while he was studying medicine in Dublin. Aidan’s mother Jakki is from a highly privileged upper middle-class family, and when she finds herself ostracized by her family because of the “disgrace” of her mixed-race child and then loses contact with the boy’s father, she decides that her son “would be more Irish than anybody,” [29] and she uses Irish as the first language of their home and changes his name from Adesima to Aidan. When the novel opens, she has reluctantly agreed to live in the grounds of Cherryfield Estate, recently bought by her father, Senator Tadhg Higgins, a Haughey-esque figure known satirically by locals as “the Squire.” The estate is at the center of local controversy, as Higgins intends to develop it as a golf course and holiday village, against the opposition of people such as the idealistic and nationalist teacher Tom Keating, and ultimately Jakki Higgins, who is an occasional writer and photographer for Gael Glas ( Green Gael ), a fictional magazine whose title captures an alliance between nationalist and left-wing and environmental concerns. This is represented in the novel as the opposition to the self-serving and self-interested maneuvers of Higgins and local councilor Mick Neary, and as a set of values opposed to those of the “Celtic Tiger,” a term used explicitly and negatively in the text.

The estate is in a constant state of construction and destruction throughout the narrative—scaffolding surrounds the house, which is being restored, while bulldozers and chainsaws destroy the landscape; its outer walls are partially demolished by a group of ecowarriors in order to gain access to the land and occupy it as a means of preventing further development. This unsettled, threatened, and precarious location acts as a spatial metaphor for Aidan’s unsettled identity. Having thought of himself simply as Irish, he is taken aback to hear himself described by an African schoolmate, a recent immigrant, as “Black like me.” [30] Having not known who his grandfather was, he is then shocked to discover that he is the “direct descendent” of Senator Higgins, a powerful member of the Irish establishment. The novel uses the estate and its history to posit different forms of legitimacy and ownership in Ireland. It refers to the Anglo-Irish origins of the estate and the passing of one power in Ireland, and it suggests that Higgins, representative of the current Irish establishment, although legally in possession of the estate, lacks legitimacy. Aidan and his mother are granted the residence rights by Higgins, but Aidan subverts this by firstly stealing from the Big House and then by asserting a different kind of legitimate presence, in his concern and love for the natural environment around him. Significantly, an otherwise model pupil, he “mitches” from school in order to explore the animal and plant life in the estate, and also joins forces with the illegal occupation by the ecowarriors. At the novel’s conclusion, Jakki Higgins and Tom Keating, disillusioned by the developments in Celtic Tiger Ireland, determine to leave Ireland for Africa. Aidan, however, establishes independence from both his mother and his grandfather and foresees a future in Ireland.

Far from assuming a monolithic and normative Irish identity against which black characters are positioned as “other,” Tribal Scars explores race alongside the class and ideological divides in contemporary Ireland. In the text, “race” is not a static marker of difference, but a shifting discourse, one that inflects and is inflected by other key discourses in Irish society, such as class, colonial history, tradition, and progress. Aidan’s discovery of his powerful white grandfather does not determine his future path, and the novel also reminds us that perceptions of race and belonging are far from fixed—as his African classmate reminds him, in the context of increasing inward migration from places like Nigeria, Aidan becomes more “black” in the eyes of some in the community.

As we have seen, Jakki Higgins’s relationship with an African man was the trigger for the breach with her parents and particularly her estrangement from her father and ultimately from the class and social position she had previously occupied. This points to the theme that links Tribal Scars , Duck and Swan , and White Lies : the extraordinary measures taken to control female sexuality in the service of a particular construction of Irish national identity in the post-independence Irish state. Gerardine Meaney has argued that “the extent to which issues of reproduction and sexuality dominated public debate and anxieties around modernization […] are in the Irish case […] powerfully linked to residual anxieties around race and Ireland’s postcolonial position as a white European nation.” [31] The connection between race and gender that Meaney highlights is expressed in a variety of ways in the three texts.

In Duck and Swan , Duck’s racialized identity is represented at first in the context of a troubled urban modernity. His lone mother neglects him, has “lots of boyfriends” [32] and ultimately starts using and dealing drugs, which leads to his institutionalization in a care home where the staff range from being verbally abusive to sexually predatory. Duck’s “blackness” is thus aligned at the outset with the “anxieties around modernization” that Meaney describes, anxieties that include unregulated female sexuality that is portrayed as immoral and damaging. This configuration is, however, radically overthrown when Duck meets Nan Flynn. Her reaction to him is one of immediate identification: “You’re a home child, aren’t you? […] You come from a home, an institution. I can see it in your eyes.” [33] Nan’s identification with Duck is based on her own experiences of institutionalization in a Magdalene Laundry: “It was a home for bad girls like me. […] In everyone else’s eyes I was [bad]. I was an outsider like yourself.” [34] The reference to the Magdalene Laundry system in this text is noteworthy not least because of its very early date: it predates the late 1990s investigation and reportage of the abuses women suffered in the laundries that eventually lead to a commission of inquiry and the publication of its report in 2013. Nan’s empathetic response to Duck implicitly challenges the narrow and exclusive definition of Irish identity that, as Meaney has argued, relied on rigid codes of gender and sexuality as a means of upholding a “white European” Irishness.

The identification that Nan feels with Duck and her sense of what they have in common as “home children” provides a basis from which Duck can begin to feel a sense of belonging. It is in the Flynns’ home that a process of integration begins, symbolized by Duck’s discovery of a talent for hurling and his key role in helping the Tubberfin club team win their first title since 1949. The refuge found in the Flynns’ thatched cottage is, however, as Duck himself denominates it using a phrase learned from a fairy tale, a “house of straw.” He is still officially on the run from the care home and he remains a fugitive and a marginal figure. He is persuaded to return to Dublin following an appeal from his mother, who is dying from AIDS, a consequence of her drug use. The novel concludes with Emer’s return from Dublin with her younger brother following a trip to the Zoo and the ambiguous suggestion to the reader that Duck has, once again, stowed away in order to return to Tubberfin. In spite of his Irish birth and upbringing, therefore, Duck’s mixed racial heritage, his blackness, clearly positions him as not fully belonging. His membership of the winning hurling team suggests the possibility of an inclusive Irish identity that is not defined by whiteness, but this possibility is never fully realized in the text and ultimately Duck’s racialized otherness leaves him outside the structures of belonging, of community and family life.

The central character in White Lies , Nance, occupies a very different position to the neglected and disadvantaged Duck. Nance describes herself as “the perfect daughter of a perfect family. […] A nice detached house in a good part of town. […] Tom and May never wasted time on anything that wasn’t useful. And I played my own part to perfection.” [35] Nance is the mixed-race adopted daughter of Tom and May, a couple who fit the stereotype of middle-class, Irish liberals. Of a piece with that identity is the fact that they met in Kenya as volunteer teachers—and it was while in Kenya that they adopted Nance, the child of a mixed-race couple killed in a car crash. In spite of her privileged social position, as “the only colored person in a town of seven thousand,” [36] Nance is at times unavoidably reminded of how “different” she is, as she is forced to listen to casually racist remarks and jokes about “white boy saves black girl” in the film The Bodyguard . [37] She experiences a crisis of identity when she finds a photograph of Tom and May standing in a group with another couple, a black man and white woman, who is holding a brown-skinned baby. Convinced that she is the baby and the unidentified woman is her mother, she determines to find her, and also to find out why May concealed her birth mother’s identity. The revelation that comes in the closing pages is that May herself is Nance’s birth mother. When she returned to Ireland from Kenya with Tom, she simply pretended that they had adopted a mixed-race orphan.

May claims unconvincingly that her deception is not borne out of shame that she had a child outside of marriage or that the child’s father was black; she offers instead the explanation that she has been protecting Nance from the knowledge that her father became a violent drug addict who attacked her stepfather, Tom, and then was killed in a car accident caused by his own recklessness. This is presented to Nance as the source of the shame from which May sought to protect her. The issues of violence and addiction are, she claims, what caused her to make the “sacrifice” [38] of denying that she was Nance’s natural mother: “I was afraid of what people would think of me, of what my mother would have thought of me if she’d ever known.” It need hardly be pointed out that May’s fear of “what people would think” resonates powerfully with the discourse of shame and concealment that persisted around nonmarital pregnancies in Ireland as late as the 1990s, while the convoluted and melodramatic story she tells strains the reader’s credulity.

Earlier in the text, Nance reflects on “what a strange threesome we made, posing as the ideal family. Tom, the prefect caricature of the red-headed, brown-eyed Irishman, his Mediterranean wife; his daughter, darker still.” [39] This strangeness is made acceptable through the fiction of the adoption, but the truth paradoxically has the potential to undermine the family, even when the truth is that Nance is biologically related to her mother. This clearly reveals the identification between Irishness and whiteness: Nance is somehow more acceptable when it is imagined that she is not biologically related to her white mother, but instead the beneficiary of (white) Irish benevolence, expressed both in terms of Irish development work in Africa and also in the adoption of an “orphan.” Tom and May’s identity as middle-class Irish people is bolstered and reinforced by the “adoption” of Nance and, conversely, this identity is threatened by the truth of May’s prior relationship with Nance’s father, Chris Mburu. The paradox that May is perceived as a “better” mother in the narrative in which the fact that she has actually given birth to Nance is concealed is illuminated by Meaney’s argument regarding the conflation of the Virgin Mother and Mother Ireland in the service of “Irish (racial) purity.” [40] Meaney argues that this function “could only be performed if the maternal body was idealized out of existence” [41] —in precisely the same way that May is an “ideal” mother to Nance as long as the unacceptable facts of Nance’s conception and birth are concealed.

In its depiction of a secret that is brought to light, the novel of course suggests that the fiction of racial purity that May created, her own unwillingness to admit the mixed nature of her family, is wrong, and that the truth must be acknowledged. And, equally obviously, the fact of her having had a child outside of marriage must similarly be acknowledged. The damaging nature of concealment and lies is underlined by other secrets that are revealed: Nance’s school friend Seanie Ryan tells her that he is gay, and prepares to tell his parents, and Nance learns from her mother’s old friend Heather Kelly that she is in a relationship with a former priest she met while in Africa.

At the same time, however, the weirdly inverted fairy tale or family romance structure of the novel gives a very instructive insight into the difficulty with which Nance’s blackness can be imaginatively incorporated into an Irish family. The photo that Nance finds triggers a preoccupation with her “true” parents and creates tension in her relationships with Tom and May. In Freud’s theory, the development of the family romance is a neurotic response to a normal developmental process in which the individual establishes independence from her family of origin. The neurotic, dissatisfied with or “slighted” by her parents, fantasizes that she is adopted, and creates a fantasy family-of-origin that is inevitably superior to the actual family. [42] For Nance, however, raised as an adopted child, the preoccupation with her origins is far from neurotic. Her dissatisfaction with her parents is rooted in their failure to provide her with answers to legitimate questions and her conviction that they have hidden vital information from her. On the cusp of adulthood, she decides to take matters into her own hands and undertakes a journey, together with her friend Seánie, in order to find out the truth for herself. [43] The connection between the idea of obscured origins and the journey away from the family home is also found in the structure of many traditional fairytales in which “the hero of the tale is so often portrayed as a stepchild, a child whose paternity or maternity is in a sense not firmly established.” [44] Fairy tales of this type conclude with the hero being restored to his or her rightful place, and this is also, in a sense, what transpires for Nance. The “secret” that has been concealed is, however, that Nance is in fact her mother’s child: her racial heritage has resulted in her being symbolically cast out from her home and family, and she must be “reinstated” into the family she has always known but which now must be radically reconfigured.

As we have seen, concealed origins are also central to Tribal Scars , in which Aidan is shocked to learn of his relationship to his grandfather, the powerful Senator Higgins. The two novels are, however, quite different in that Devaney appears to articulate an emphatic rejection of the equation between whiteness and Irishness. This is accompanied in the novel by a rejection of the highly conservative attitudes to sexuality and reproduction that we see reflected—although not uncritically—in both Duck and Swan and White Lies . Jakki Higgins does not conceal her pregnancy and lives as a single mother. She also actively decides to keep any information about her son’s Irish family background from him and brings him up with an effectively invented identity, central to which is the Irish language as well as left-wing environmental politics. He is thus “more Irish than any of them,” but not by virtue of belonging to or identifying with his family inheritance. The character of Aidan thus represents the need in twenty-first-century Ireland not only to move beyond race-based definitions of national belonging, but also to challenge the patriarchal family unit as the basis of Irish society.

It is tempting to frame a discussion of Duck and Swan , White Lies , and Tribal Scars in terms of rapid social change and liberalization in terms of both race and gender. The construction of the black Irish child “progresses” from the institutionalized child of a drug-addicted single mother to the middle-class adopted child, to the confident and successful Aidan; attitudes towards sexuality and reproduction undergo similar shifts. There is, however, a very real danger in charting attitudes towards race in terms of this narrative of progress: convinced of the benefits of social liberalization, middle-class liberals run the risk of assuming that groups such as racial minorities are beneficiaries—but this is in fact far from the truth. As we have seen, the year in which Tribal Scars was published, 2004, was also the year of the Citizenship Referendum, which, according to Lentin and McVeigh, “was a crucial point in turning Ireland from a racial state to a racist state in which citizens are differentiated from non-citizens.” [45] Lentin and McVeigh point out that the 1990s and early 2000s were years in “a whole new constellation of Black Irish or minority ethnic Irish communities” developed and that “not accidentally, therefore, Irishness became consciously equated with whiteness precisely as it became manifestly inappropriate to make the equation.” [46]

Since 2004, it is a highly significant fact that no works for young readers that deal with race or with migrant communities have appeared in Ireland, with the exception of the “Bridges” series of four picture books published by O’Brien Press. [47] As black Irish communities grow in numbers, the goal of creating a truly inclusive state has apparently been abandoned. Factors in this phenomenon include the introduction of the direct provision system for asylum seekers, which successfully rendered them largely invisible; the Citizenship Referendum, which, as has been observed, endorsed the construction of Ireland as “white” and thus (apparently) obviated the need to challenge racialized constructions of identity; and the financial collapse, which has created a climate of opinion in which “looking after our own” has gained legitimacy as a response to any protests about racism or the human rights of refugees. Budget-cuts in 2008, for instance, led to the winding down of the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Integration, and there is currently no government anti-racism program in Ireland, no official monitoring of racist incidents, and no hate crime legislation. [48] In this context, hostility to migrants and racism is unquestionably growing. In 2010, twenty percent of respondents to a survey said they were not in favor of immigrants “from different ethnic backgrounds or from poorer non-European countries” coming to Ireland. [49] The direct provision system, introduced as a “temporary measure” in 2000, now houses nearly 4,300 people, of whom 1,600 are children, and a similar number who have lived in the system for over five years; it has been widely condemned by human rights organizations. [50] A report published in March 2015 confirmed the widespread experience of racist abuse by racial and ethnic minorities, with people of “black African” origin facing the most racism. [51]

The texts discussed in this essay indicate that authors of novels for young readers in the Celtic Tiger period engaged critically with race and its relation to Irish identity, and offered at least a partial challenge to the prevailing phenomenon of racialization and the installation of whiteness as a key marker of Irishness. The optimistic and radical conclusion of Tribal Scars is however in stark contrast to the racialized redefinition of Irish citizenship in 2004. The relative silence in the field of Irish children’s literature on the subject of race since 2004 is moreover arguably suggestive of a lack of faith in a truly inclusive Ireland. This is certainly a moment in which children’s literature could fulfill its radical potential and help us to imagine “a future in which societies could be different in some significant ways,” not least by representing the experience of Irish children of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, and challenging the privileging of white perspectives. [52]

[1] Pádraic Whyte, Irish Childhoods: Children’s Fiction and Irish History (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2011), xii.

[2] For a critical discussion of the Celtic Tiger phenomenon, see Colin Coulter, “The End of Irish History?” in The End of Irish History? Critical Reflections on the Celtic Tiger , ed. Colin Coulter and Steve Coleman (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003).

[3] See Ronit Lentin and Robbie McVeigh, eds., After Optimism? Ireland, Racism and Globalization (Dublin: Metro Eireann Publications, 2006), and Steve Garner, “Ireland: From Racism without “Race” to Racism without Racists,” Radical History Review 104 (2009), 41-56.

[4] According to the Census figures on the Central Statistics Office website, the population grew from 3,626,087 in 1996 to 4,239,848 in 2006; see “Population 1841-2011,” An Phríoh-Oifig Staidrimh/Central Statistics Office, http://www.cso.ie/multiquicktables/quickTables.aspx?id=cna13 . 2007 saw the peak of immigration, with 151,100 migrants arriving in Ireland in that year. This compares with a figure of 30,100 immigrants in the year 1994; see “Annual Population Change by Component and Year,” An Phríoh-Oifig Staidrimh/Central Statistics Office, http://www.cso.ie/multiquicktables/quickTables.aspx?id=pea15 . For a summary of demographic changes over the period 2002-2011, see An Phríoh-Oifig Staidrimh/Central Statistics Office, Profile 6: Migration and Diversity (Dublin: Stationary Office, 2012), http://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/census/documents/census2011profile6/Profile_6_Migration_and_Diversity_entire_doc.pdf .

[5] Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, “Table 1,” Annual Report—2013 , 54, http://www.orac.ie/website/orac/oracwebsite.nsf/page/AJNR-9LED5Q1029825-en/$File/Office%20of%20the%20Refugee%20Applications%20Commissioner%20-%20Annual%20Report%202013.pdf .

[6] See Steve Loyal, “Welcome to the Celtic Tiger: Racism, Immigration and the State,” in Coulter and Coleman, The End of Irish History? , 74-94; Steve Garner, Racism in the Irish Experience (London: Pluto Press, 2004), 156-7; and Amanda Haynes, Eoin Devereux, and Michael Breen, “Public Exercises in Othering: Irish Print Media Coverage of Asylum Seekers and Refugees,” in Facing the Other: Interdisciplinary Essays on Race, Gender and Social Justice in Ireland , ed. Borbála Faragó and Moynagh Sullivan (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2008).

[7] See Loyal, “Welcome to the Celtic Tiger,” 78-9.

[8] See Lentin and McVeigh, particularly 36-57.

[9] See “Irish Citizenship: Referendum on the Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the Constitution Bill 2004 (Irish Citizenship),” Referendum Commission, http://www.refcom.ie/en/past-referendums/irish-citizenship/ .

[10] Eithne Luibhéid, Pregnant on Arrival: Making the Illegal Immigrant (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minneapolis Press, 2013), 72-3. See also Ronit Lentin, “From Racial State to Racist State: Ireland on the Eve of the Citizenship Referendum” Variant 20, http://www.variant.org.uk/20texts/raciststate.html .

[11] See Luibhéid, Pregnant on Arrival , 42-53.

[12] Garner, “Ireland,” 47.

[13] Brynn F. Welch, “The Pervasive Whiteness of Children’s Literature: Collective Harms and Consumer Obligations,” Social Theory 42.2 (2016). In addition to the concern about the paucity of representations of ethnic and racial minorities in children’s literature, the representation of minority populations by white authors has been the focus of controversy since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, and there is now a heightened awareness of the issue of cultural appropriation. In the case of children’s literature, texts which have been the focus of some criticism include Ezra Jack Keats’s The Snowy Day (1962) and, in a Canadian context, W. P. Kinsella’s Dance Me Outside (1977).

[14] John Stephens, “Advocating Multiculturalism: Migrants in Australian Children’s Literature after 1972,” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 15.4 (1990), 181. See also Sharyn Pearce, “Messages from the Inside? Multiculturalism in Contemporary Australian Children’s Literature,” The Lion and the Unicorn 27 (2003).

[15] Although it is largely focused on attitudes to African asylum seekers, Out of the Flames also features a mixed-race protagonist: Maria is both an asylum seeker and a potential Irish citizen; her father is African and her mother, murdered by terrorists in a fictional African country, is Irish.

[16] Kimberley Reynolds, Radical Children’s Literature: Future Visions and Aesthetic Transformations in Juvenile Fictions (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), 1, 2.

[17] See Lentin and McVeigh, 5; see also Maureen Reddy, “Talking the Talk: Codes of Racialization,” in Faragó and Sullivan, Facing the Other , 220-231.

[18] Guy Fehlman, “An Historical Survey,” in The Big House in Ireland: Reality and Representation , ed. Jacqueline Genet (Dingle: Brandon Books, 1991), 18.

[19] Vera Kreilkamp, The Anglo-Irish Novel and the Big House (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1998), 10.

[20] See Terence Dooley, The Decline of the Big House in Ireland (Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 2001), 278-9.

[21] Fintan O’Toole, Ship of Fools: How Stupidity and Corruption Sank the Celtic Tiger (London: Faber & Faber, 2010), in particular chapter four, “Our Own Gentry.” See also his discussion of Paddy Kelly’s feeling of “historic triumph” in redeveloping Castletown Estate, Co. Kildare: 98.

[22] John Quinn, Duck and Swan (Dublin: Poolbeg, 1993), 7.

[23] See Chris Jenks, Childhood (London: Routledge, 1996), 75-6.

[24] Quinn, Duck and Swan , 27.

[25] Ibid., 41.

[26] Ibid., 42.

[27] Ibid., 45.

[28] Ibid., 46.

[29] Patrick Devaney, Tribal Scars (Dublin: Mentor Books, 2004), 20.

[30] Ibid., 82.

[31] Gerardine Meaney, Gender, Ireland and Cultural Change: Race, Sex and Nation (New York: Routledge, 2010), 6.

[32] Quinn, Duck and Swan , 23.

[33] Ibid., 50.

[34] Ibid., 53.

[35] Mark O’Sullivan, White Lies , 2 nd ed. (Dublin: Little Island, 2010), 36-7.

[36] Ibid., 3.

[37] Ibid., 5.

[38] Ibid., 188.

[39] Ibid., 54.

[40] Meaney, Gender, Ireland and Cultural Change , 7. See also Lúibhéid’s discussion of “how childbearing in Ireland [became] a site for constructing cultural, ethnic, and racial distinctions:” Pregnant on Arrival , pp. 34-5.

[42] See “Family Romances,” in The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IX (1906-1908): Jensen’s “Gradiva” and Other Works, i-vi , ed. James Strachey (London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psychoanalysis, 1959). Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing, http://www.pep-web.org/document.php?id=se.009.0000a .

[43] Pádraic Whyte discusses White Lies largely in terms of its treatment of “characters who learn to become active agents in their own lives;” see “Young Adult Fiction and Youth Culture,” in Irish Children’s Literature and Culture: New Perspectives on Contemporary Writing , ed. Valerie Coghlan and Keith O’Sullivan (London: Routledge, 2011), 74.

[44] Maria Tatar, “From Rags to Riches: Fairy Tales and the Family Romance,” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 7.2 (1982), 32.

[45] Lentin and McVeigh, 55.

[46] Ibid., 37.

[47] “Bridges,” O’Brien Children’s Books, http://www.obrien.ie/childrens/bridges .

[48] In the absence of official anti-racist policies and monitoring of racism, the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) Ireland operates a reporting facility, publishes quarterly reports, and campaigns for the introduction of hate crime legislation. http://enarireland.org/

[49] Judith Crosbie, “The Growth of Intolerance,” Irish Times , June 29, 2013, http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/the-growth-of-intolerance-1.1446566.

[50] Carl O’Brien, Sinéad O’Shea, Bryan O’Brien, and Paul Scott, “Lives in Limbo,” Irish Times , http://www.irishtimes.com/news/lives-in-limbo . See also Corona Joyce and Emma Quinn, The Organization of Reception Facilities for Asylum Seekers in Ireland (Dublin: European Migration Network/ESRI, 2014), http://emn.ie/files/p_20140207073735p_20140206023602The%20Organisation%20of%20Reception%20Facilities%20for%20Asylum%20Seekers%20pdf.pdf .

[51] Kitty Holland, “‘Black Africans’ face the most racist abuse in Ireland, says report,” Irish Times, March 20, 2015, http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/black-africans-face-most-racist-abuse-in-ireland-says-report-1.2146079

[52] Reynolds, Radical Children’s Literature , 2.

Irish-Americans tempted to condemn today’s protests should remember their history

As we witness America’s explosive response to the killing of one more black man crying for his life, it is strange to realize that people right next to us seem to be looking at events through very different lenses. Some pour grace upon the protester, some upon the state. Some question tactics: Why don’t they do X? Wouldn’t Y have been more productive? Would Martin Luther King have done that?

With little acknowledgment of our place within society, we make these pronouncements. As an American from an Irish-Catholic background, I have all sorts of opinions on how we should respond to this moment. (And God help me, we must respond.) But it is just a little too rich for me to tell a man how to react to a system that is crushing him but has worked out mostly fine for me. Indeed, it is designed to do just that.

It wasn’t always so. Not so long ago, through no fault of our own, the Irish-Catholic citizen was very much on the wrong side of the American system. When it finally crushed us, we responded with what is thought to be the largest and most destructive civil disturbance in U.S. history. And it was a response that stills me to sickened silence whenever I am tempted to opine on the appropriate way to respond to today’s outrages.

It is just a little too rich for me to tell a man how to react to a system that is crushing him but has worked out mostly fine for me. Indeed, it is designed to do just that.

It was 1863, in New York City during the Civil War, when Irish-Americans were stirred by the enormity and shock of seeing Irish name after Irish name published in the casualty lists coming back from the battles. Inflamed and brokenhearted over the deaths of their young men, they took to the streets of Lower Manhattan.

The logic of angry crowds quickly finds a life of its own. A new draft lottery had been announced, and black New Yorkers, not considered citizens, were exempt. While wealthier young men would be allowed to buy their way out of the draft, it was the working-class, white urban poor who were to fill the rosters of the Union Army. And it was they who would continue to fill the graves.

A web of long-unspoken grievances and dark alliances was exposed, and rather than directing their fury at the well-heeled masters of their community’s tragic fates or perhaps at the privileged young men who bought their way out of a conscription that was a one-way ticket to eternity for so many Irish-Americans, the protesters instead targeted black neighborhoods and institutions. Not only were black New Yorkers already rivals for the “muscle jobs” available to the Irish-American community, but the city had been a big beneficiary of the cotton trade and so support for the Union cause was mixed.

The war was, at least in the tragic logic of that moment, understood to be a war to benefit the black population, paid for in Irish-American blood.

Irish mobs attacked black individuals in the street, and the Colored Orphan Asylum at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue was burned to the ground.

Over five hot days and humid nights in July, rioters destroyed Protestant churches, police stations, boarding houses and businesses catering to black sailors, and the homes of black families. Irish mobs attacked black individuals in the street, and the Colored Orphan Asylum at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue was burned to the ground.

By the riot’s second day, the destruction was so vast that President Abraham Lincoln was forced to recall troops from the front to help protect the city, restore peace and guard New York’s vulnerable weapons arsenal. A full five regiments eventually arrived from Gettysburg, and several thousand troops would remain garrisoned in New York City through the end of the summer.

While most of the approximately 120 killed (that number is unreliable, and some accounts have placed that figure much higher, even over 1,200) during the riots were the rioters themselves, among the dead were four New York City police officers. Rioters killed one on the spot, and three others sustained injuries and died later. Police Superintendent John A. Kennedy, recognized by the crowd despite his civilian garb, was badly beaten. Despite firefighters (including one entire company) being leaders in the rioting crowds, when their colleagues responded to burning buildings, their fire wagons were overturned and their horses killed. Telegraph wires were cut to keep police officers from calling for reinforcements. Approximately 50 buildings were burned to the ground. A large group of rioters set an armory on fire, only to have it collapse and kill many of them as they tried to seize the contents.

Black men strung up and lynched by Irish-Americans in New York, in the midst of the Civil War. It turns the stomach to acknowledge, but the truth is unavoidable. Catholics did this.

White women with black husbands were an additional target, as well as prostitutes who were believed to consort with black clients. Black laborers were set upon viciously and mercilessly in broad daylight. Before order was restored, 11 black men had been hanged in the street.

Black men strung up and lynched by Irish-Americans in New York, in the midst of the Civil War. It turns the stomach to acknowledge, but the truth is unavoidable. Catholics did this: Their justifiable anguish at their loss somehow turned into most hateful evil in the cauldron of mob psychology.

Even if an accurate accounting of fatalities and injuries was knowable, it would not fully plumb the measure of death and destruction. With the Army of the Potomac now needed to help police in the North while defending the nation from the South, the ultimate outcome of the Civil War was delayed and its historic carnage carried on that much longer. Some historians looked at the riot and its aftermath as one of the Confederacy’s most decisive victories. Demographics altered as black families fled the city, most resettling in Brooklyn, and it took generations for Manhattan’s African-American population to recover.

If we do not enter this moment with the perspective that history can provide, that tragedy of 160 years ago will be perpetuated, even as our churches open and we return to sacramental life.

This may sound like a lecture, but I am not a teacher. At one point, however, I was a deep-diving student of Irish and Irish-American history. And what I learned was that I, along with my fellow Irish-Americans and my fellow Irish Catholics, am heir to a glorious history that has gifted the world so much, but I am also heir to the burden of horrific, almost unthinkable legacies, and the New York draft riots stand out among the most ghastly. To be sure, there were individual acts of heroism—men and women who kept their heads over those terrible days and nights and opposed the murderous tide. (Varying contemporary reports told of the superintendent and head matron of the Colored Orphan Asylum—joined in some accounts by a small band of rescuers led by an Irish-American figure named Paddy McCafferty— leading the orphanage’s hundreds of children to safety just in time , as the arriving fire company fought both the mob and the flames.) But the mania that swept through the throng owned the day, and by the time the week was over, the reckoning had begun, a reckoning that in some ways is still going on today.

As another cauldron, heated by complex social forces both new and old, has turned the justifiable rage of some protesters into something far more destructive, it is tempting for today’s Irish-Catholic and all white Americans to judge and dismiss the protestors before them, or to stop distinguishing between those lost to the thrall and those who continue to exercise blessed restraint. But it is more than just a handful of history readers who will flinch at any tone of moral superiority we hear. It is history itself. And the power of history is such that even its flinch can be a great and terrible thing. At some level, I would love to feel morally above the pictures of destruction on my screen. But not only do I know I would have to abandon all pretense of honesty to put myself in that place, I would be turning away from the urgency of this moment—one I am called into, as all Americans are called.

That is the burden of history. We see pictures of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marching defiantly but peaceably and see a few white faces in his processions, perhaps clergy or other religious. Many Irish-American Catholics might strain to see our own features in those faces and be quick to claim that legacy. But none of us can honestly connect ourselves to those brave marchers without accepting that we are also connected to the thousands upon thousands of Irish-Americans who went to Mass one Sunday, returned the next Sunday, and in between watched the burning of an orphanage and the hanging of innocent men left to die in the street—the sacrament still within them, crying out to ears that would not hear.

It is an American tragedy—one that would be, frankly, terrific to forget. But history challenges us to see ourselves in both the struggle and the sins of this moment—the sins of the system and the sins of the street. If we do not enter this moment with the perspective that history can provide, the racism that fueled the fires of hatred 160 years ago will burn on in a system that continues to oppress and kill our black brothers and sisters today, even as our churches open and we return to sacramental life.

And that would be unthinkable.

Edward Hoyt is a writer living in Baltimore. He has written for Catholic Relief Services, The Baltimore Sun, The Catholic Review and The BARk magazine, among other outlets.

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When America Despised the Irish: The 19th Century’s Refugee Crisis

By: Christopher Klein

Updated: June 1, 2023 | Original: March 16, 2017

Our Nation's Past. New York, New York: This is a reproduction of "The Famished", a 50" x 36" oil on canvas by John Falter, one of six paintings depicting events in American history that he has been commissioned to do by 3M Company. The painting is of a scene at Grosse Isle, Canada, on the St. Lawrence River during the Irish immigration to the U.S. Fearful that a tide of Irish immigrants might engulf them, Americans insisted that some immigrants be diverted to Canada.

The refugees seeking haven in America were poor and disease-ridden. They threatened to take jobs away from Americans and strain welfare budgets. They practiced an alien religion and pledged allegiance to a foreign leader. They were bringing with them crime. They were accused of being rapists.

These undesirables were Irish.

WATCH: America: Promised Land on HISTORY Vault

A Famine Forces an Unprecedented Migration.

Fragment of The Irish Famine Memorial in Boston.

Fleeing a shipwreck of an island, nearly 2 million refugees from Ireland crossed the Atlantic to the United States in the dismal wake of the Great Hunger. Beginning in 1845, the fortunes of the Irish began to sag along with the withering leaves of the country’s potato plants. Beneath the auld sod, festering potatoes bled a putrid red-brown mucus as a virulent pathogen scorched Ireland’s staple crop and rendered it inedible.

While the potato blight struck across Europe, no corner of the continent was as dependent on tubers for survival as Ireland, which was mired in extreme poverty as a result of centuries of British rule. Packed with nutrition and easy to grow, potatoes were the only practical crop that could flourish on the minuscule plots doled out by wealthy British Protestant landowners. The Irish consumed 7 million tons of potatoes each year. They ate potatoes for dinner. They ate them for lunch. They even ate them for breakfast. According to Irish Famine Facts by John Keating, the average adult working male in Ireland consumed a staggering 14 pounds of potatoes per day, while the average adult Irish woman ate 11.2 pounds.

Through seven terrible years of famine, Ireland’s poetic landscape authored tales of the macabre. Barefoot mothers with clothes dripping from their bodies clutched dead infants in their arms as they begged for food. Wild dogs searching for food fed on human corpses. The country’s legendary 40 shades of green stained the lips of the starving who fed on tufts of grass in a futile attempt for survival. Desperate farmers sprinkled their crops with holy water, and hollow figures with eyes as empty as their stomach scraped Ireland’s stubbled fields with calloused hands searching for one, just one, healthy potato. Typhus, dysentery, tuberculosis and cholera tore through the countryside as horses maintained a constant march carting spent bodies to mass graves.

British Neglect Exacerbates the Irish Plight

Illustration depicting a funeral at Skibbereen, County Cork, during The Great Famine

More than just the pestilence was responsible for the Great Hunger. A political system ruled by London and an economic system dominated by British absentee landlords were co-conspirators. For centuries British laws had deprived Ireland’s Catholics of their rights to worship, vote, speak their language and own land, horses and guns. Now, with a famine raging, the Irish were denied food. Under armed guard, food convoys continued to export wheat, oats and barley to England while Ireland starved.

British lawmakers were such adherents to laissez-faire capitalism that they were reluctant to provide government aid, lest it interfere with the natural course of free markets to solve the humanitarian crisis. “Great Britain cannot continue to throw her hard-won millions into the bottomless pit of Celtic pauperism,” sneered the Illustrated London News in March 1849. Charles E. Trevelyan, the British civil servant in charge of the apathetic relief efforts, even viewed the famine as a divine solution to Hibernian overpopulation as he declared, “The judgement of God sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson, that calamity must not be too much mitigated.”

Ireland’s population was nearly halved by the time the potato blight abated in 1852. While approximately 1 million perished, another 2 million abandoned the land that had abandoned them in the largest-single population movement of the 19th century. Most of the exiles—nearly a quarter of the Irish nation—washed up on the shores of the United States. They knew little about America except one thing: It had to be better than the hell that was searing Ireland.

READ MORE: When Irish-Americans Attacked Canada—With the White House's Blessing

A Mass Exodus Begins

Illustration of a famine-era "coffin ship" carrying passengers

A flotilla of 5,000 boats transported the pitiable castaways from the wasteland. Most of the refugees boarded minimally converted cargo ships—some had been used in the past to transport slaves from Africa—and the hungry, sick passengers, many of whom spent their last pennies for transit, were treated little better than freight on a 3,000-mile journey that lasted at least four weeks.

Herded like livestock in dark, cramped quarters, the Irish passengers lacked sufficient food and clean water. They choked on fetid air. They were showered by excrement and vomit. Each adult was apportioned just 18 inches of bed space—children half that. Disease and death clung to the rancid vessels like barnacles, and nearly a quarter of the 85,000 passengers who sailed to North America aboard the aptly nicknamed “coffin ships” in 1847 never reached their destinations. Their bodies were wrapped in cloths, weighed down with stones and tossed overboard to sleep forever on the bed of the ocean floor.

Although most certainly tired and poor, the Irish did not arrive in America yearning to breathe free; they merely hungered to eat. Largely destitute, many exiles could progress no farther than within walking distance of the city docks where they disembarked. While some had spent all of their meager savings to pay for passage across the Atlantic, others had their voyages funded by British landlords who found it a cheaper solution to dispatch their tenants to another continent, rather than pay for their charity at home.

And in the opinion of many Americans, those British landlords were not sending their best people. These people were not like the industrious, Protestant Scotch-Irish immigrants who came to America in large numbers during the colonial era, fought in the Continental Army and tamed the frontier. These people were not only poor, unskilled refugees huddled in rickety tenements. Even worse, they were Catholic.

The influx heightens religious tensions.

Thomas Nast cartoon depicting violent Irish mobs attacking police officers

Conflict between Protestants and Catholics in the United States had already broken out in violence before the first potato plant wilted in Ireland. Anti-Catholic, anti-Irish mobs in Philadelphia destroyed houses and torched churches in the deadly Bible Riots of 1844. New York Archbishop John Hughes responded by building a wall of his own around Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in order to protect it from the native-born population, and he stationed musket-wielding members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians to guard the city’s churches. Wild conspiracy theories took root that women were held against their will in Catholic convents and that priests systematically raped nuns and then strangled any children born as a result of their union.

The maltreatment of newcomers to the United States was, of course, hardly a cross for the Irish to bear on their own. However, while the number of German immigrants entering the United States nearly matched that of the Irish during the 1850s, the Irish were particularly vilified by the country’s Anglo-Saxon Protestants whose ancestors had explicitly made their exodus across the ocean to find a refuge from papism and ensure their worship was cleansed of any remaining Catholic vestiges. Feelings toward the Vatican had softened little in the two centuries following the sailing of the Mayflower . The country’s oldest citizens could still personally remember when America was an English colony and papal effigies were burned in city streets during annual Guy Fawkes Day celebrations.

Certainly, many Protestants reacted with Christian charity to the refugees. It was a Boston Brahman—Captain Robert Bennet Forbes—who spearheaded America’s first major foreign disaster relief effort by delivering food and supplies to Ireland aboard a government warship during “Black ’47.” In the new Irish exiles, however, many Protestants saw a papal plot at work. According to “Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia,” some Protestants feared the pope and his army would land in the United States, overthrow the government and establish a new Vatican in Cincinnati. They believed the Irish would impose the Catholic canon as the law of the land.

With immigration controls left primarily to the states and cities, the Irish poured through a porous border. In Boston, a city of a little more than 100,000 people saw 37,000 Irish arrive in the matter of a few years. Naturally, it was difficult to integrate the newcomers in such sheer numbers. The Irish in Boston were for a long time “fated to remain a massive lump in the community, undigested, undigestible,” according to historian Oscar Handlin, author of “Boston’s Immigrants, 1790-1880: A Study in Acculturation.”

The Irish filled the most menial and dangerous jobs, often at low pay. They cut canals. They dug trenches for water and sewer pipes. They laid rail lines. They cleaned houses. They slaved in textile mills. They worked as stevedores, stable workers and blacksmiths. Not only did working-class Americans see the cheaper laborers taking their jobs, some of the Irish refugees even took up arms against their new homeland during the Mexican-American War . Drawn in part by higher wages and a common faith with the Mexicans, some members of the St. Patrick’s Battalion had deserted the U.S. Army after encountering ill-treatment by their bigoted commanders and fought with the enemy. After their capture, 50 members of the “San Patricios” were executed by the U.S. Army for their treasonous decisions.

A nativist backlash begins.

Millard Fillmore, America's 13th president, courted the votes of nativist Yankees fearful of the changes brought by Irish refugees, and he blamed 'foreign Catholics' for his defeat in the 1844 New York gubernatorial election.

The discrimination faced by the famine refugees was not subtle or insidious. It was right there in black and white, in newspaper classified advertisement s that blared “No Irish Need Apply.” The image of the simian Irishman, imported from Victorian England, was given new life by the pens of illustrators such as Thomas Nast that dripped with prejudice as they sketched Celtic ape-men with sloping foreheads and monstrous appearances.

In 1849, a clandestine fraternal society of native-born Protestant men called the Order of the Star Spangled Banner formed in New York. Bound by sacred oaths and secret passwords, its members wanted a return to the America they once knew, a land of “Temperance, Liberty and Protestantism.” Similar secret societies with menacing names like the Black Snakes and Rough and Readies sprouted across the country.

Within a few years, these societies coalesced around the anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant American Party, whose members were called the “Know-Nothings” because they claimed to “know nothing” when questioned about their politics. Party members vowed to elect only native-born citizens—but only if they weren’t Roman Catholic. “Know-Nothings believed that Protestantism defined American society. From this flowed their fundamental belief that Catholicism was incompatible with basic American values,” writes Jay P. Dolan in The Irish Americans: A History .

Buoyed by the war-cry “Americans must rule America!”, the Know-Nothings elected eight governors, more than 100 congressmen and mayors of cities including Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago in the mid-1850s. They found their greatest success in Massachusetts where in 1854 the American Party captured all state offices, the entire State Senate and all but a handful of seats in the House chamber. According to Dolan, once in power in Massachusetts the Know-Nothings mandated the reading of the King James Bible in public schools, disbanded Irish militia units while confiscating their weapons and deported nearly 300 poor Irish back to Liverpool because they were a drain on the public treasury. They also barred naturalized citizens from voting unless they had spent 21 years in the United States.

Millard Fillmore , the former president most notable for being un-notable, ran on the American Party’s 1856 presidential ticket. Throughout his political career, the 13th president had persistently courted the votes of nativist Yankees fearful of the changes brought by the Great Hunger refugees, and he blamed “foreign Catholics” for his defeat in the 1844 New York gubernatorial election. Although Fillmore finished third behind Democrat James Buchanan and Republican John C. Fremont, who had to swat down rumors that he was both a Catholic and a cannibal, the American Party received more than 20 percent of the popular vote and eight electoral votes.

Nativists use violence to further an agenda.

Painting depicting the burning of an Irish Catholic church in Maine

In 1854, an anti-Catholic mob in Ellsworth, Maine, dragged Jesuit priest John Bapst—who had circulated a petition denouncing the use of the King James Bible in local schools—into the streets where they stripped him and sheltered his body in hot tar and feathers. That same year, the Know-Nothings in Bath, Maine, smashed the pews of a church recently purchased by Irish Catholics before hoisting an American flag from the belfry and setting the building ablaze. When the bishop of Portland returned to the city a year later to lay a cornerstone for the church’s replacement, another mob chased him away and beat him.

The violence turned deadly in Louisville, Kentucky, in August 1855 when armed Know-Nothing members guarding polling stations on an election day launched street fights against German and Irish Catholics. Immigrant homes were ransacked and torched. Between 20 and 100 people, including a German priest fatally attacked while attempting to visit a dying parishioner, were killed. Thousands of Catholics fled the city in the riot’s aftermath, but no one was ever prosecuted for crimes committed on “Bloody Monday.”

A Know-Nothing mob even seized a marble block gifted by Pope Pius IX for construction of the Washington Monument and tossed it in the Potomac River. A pamphlet published by Baltimore’s John F. Weishampel suggested that the stone could be used as a signal from the pope to launch an immigrant uprising to take over America. “The effects of this block, if placed in the monument, will be a mortification to nearly every American Protestant who looks upon it,” he warned, “and its influence upon the zealous supporters of the Roman hierarchy will be tremendous—especially with foreigners.”

Abraham Lincoln was among the many Americans disturbed at the rise of the nativist movement as he explained in an 1855 letter: “As a nation, we began by declaring that ‘all men are created equal.’ We now practically read it ‘all men are created equal, except negroes.’ When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read ‘all men are created equal, except negroes and foreigners and Catholics.’ When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty—to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”

The good news for Lincoln and those Americans with similar views is that the Know-Nothing Party cratered quickly after reaching its high-water mark, although nativism has proven to be stubbornly persistent. The party splintered as the slavery question superseded the immigrant menace with flashpoints such as the Kansas-Nebraska Act , the Dred Scott decision and the uprising at Harper’s Ferry steering the country to armed conflict.

The Irish find their footing—at the ballot box.

Monument to the Irish famine in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Paul Marotta/Getty Images)

Although stereotyped as ignorant bogtrotters loyal only to the pope and ill-suited for democracy, and only recently given political rights by the British in their former home after centuries of denial, the Irish were deeply engaged in the political process in their new home. They voted in higher proportions than other ethnic groups. Their sheer numbers helped to propel William R. Grace to become the first Irish-Catholic mayor of New York City in 1880 and Hugh O’Brien the first Irish-Catholic mayor of Boston four years later.

A generation after the Great Hunger, the Irish controlled powerful political machines in cities across the United States and were moving up the social ladder into the middle class as an influx of immigrants from China and Southern and Eastern Europe took hold in the 1880s and 1890s. “Being from the British Isles, the Irish were now considered acceptable and assimilable to the American way of life,” Dolan writes.

No longer embedded on the lowest rung of American society, the Irish unfortunately gained acceptance in the mainstream by dishing out the same bigotry toward newcomers that they had experienced. County Cork native and Workingmen’s Party leader Denis Kearney, for example, closed his speeches to American laborers with his rhetorical signature: “Whatever happens, the Chinese must go.”

Kearney and the other Irish failed to learn the lesson of their own story. Yes, the Irish transformed the United States, just as the United States transformed the Irish. But the worst fears of the nativists were not fulfilled. The refugees from the Great Hunger and the 32 million Americans with predominantly Irish roots today strengthened the United States, not destroyed it. A country that once reviled the Irish now wears green on St. Patrick’s Day . That’s something to raise a glass to.

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Athrú Aeráide agus An Timpeallacht

Is duine óg mé in Éirinn atá ag déanamh Scrúdú na hArdteiste i mbliana. Nílim ach ocht mbliana déag d’aois ach in ainneoin sin, ceapaim go bhfuilim lánábalta labhairt faoin ábhar thuas. Bíonn athrú aeráide agus an timpeallacht agus a dtionchair orainn pléite agus athphléite ag polaiteoirí, ag iriseoirí agus ag saineolaithe. San aiste seo, Pléifidh mé: athrú aeráide, an éifeacht atá aici ar an domhan agus meath na timpeallachta. Anuas air sin, déanfaidh me plé ar na bealaí ina féidir linn teacht slán ar na fadhbanna seo, (i mo thuairim.)

Ar an gcéad dul síos ba mhaith liom athrú aeráide a chur faoi chaibidil. Ní féidir labhairt faoi athrú aeráide gan fadhb na hiarmhairte (TG) ceaptha teasa a lua. Scaoiltear dé-ocsaíd charbóin (san atmaisféar) nuair a dhóitear breoslaí iontaise. Léann an dé-ocsaíd charbóin an ciseal ózóin. Déanann athrú aeráide damáiste don réigiún Artach, ach go háirithe agus mar thoradh tá na hoighearchaidhpeanna ag leá. Is cúis imní í seo toisc go bhfuil sé seo ag tarlú i réise saol an duine. Ta sé “cosúil le bheith ag féachaint ar Dhealbh na Saoirse ag leá,” dar le Daniel Fagre in airteagal don Chumann Náisiúnta Geografach, chuir sé seo tromchúis na faidhbe i bpeirspictíocht dom. Toisc go bhfuil an t-oighear ag leá chomh tapa sin tá leibhéal na bhfarraigí ag ardú agus cruthaíonn sé seo go leor fadhbanna. Measim go gcruthaíonn sé seo fadhbanna do na béir bhána go speisialta. Tá na béir bhána spleách ar na hoighearshruthanna agus tá teocht íseal de dhíth ag ainmhithe áirithe ar nós an bhéair ghoirm chomh maith. Ba chóir do dhaoine smaoineamh ar gach gné den chomhshaol, na béir seo san áireamh, nuair atá siad ag baint úsáide as rudaí ar nós aerasóil seachas orthu féin an t-am ar fad.

É sin ráite, de réir mar a fheicimse féin é, tá an tionchar is mó agus is measa ag an athrú aeráide agus cúrsaí aimsire ar phobal an triú domhain. I mo thuairim, tá sé scannalach go bhfuil na daoine is leochailí agus is soineanta ar domhan ag fulaingt an méid is mó de dheasca na faidhbe seo. Toisc go bhfuil an domhan ag éirí níos teo bliain i ndiaidh bliana, tá triomaigh agus gorta go forleathan sna tíortha i mbéal forbartha ar nós Uganda agus an Congó. Leis an teas uafásach atá ann, níl na daoine ábalta a mbarraí a chothú. Ciallaíonn sé seo go bhfuil sé geall le bheith dodhéanta saol níos fearr a dhéanamh dóibh féin nó dul chun cinn a dhéanamh sa saol in aon chor. Cruálacht lom atá ann, agus cuireann sé fearg orm pé uair a chuimhním air. Mar a deir an seanfhocal ‘Ní bhíonn an rath ach mar a mbíonn an smacht.’ Caithfimid cabhrú leis na daoine sin sular féidir linn é a shocrú a thuilleadh. Anois go bhfuil an tionchar atá ag an athrú aeráide ar dhaoine ar fud an domhain pléite agam, is dócha go bhfuil sé tráthúil ceist a chur- cé atá freagrach as an ngéarchéim uafásach seo? Is oth liom a rá go bhfuil an chuid is mó den locht ar an gcine daonna sinn féin. The seanfhocal is true when it says, “Is maith an té atá ag tabhairt achasáin uaidh”. Deirtear nach raibh na leibhéil dé-ocsaíd charbóin agus gáis cheaptha teasa riamh chomh hard is atá siad le trí chéad bliain anuas, sé sin nuair a thosaigh an réabhlóid thionsclaíoch.

Go háirithe anseo in Éirinn táimid ag brath go huile is go hiomlán ar bhreoslaí iontaise ó thíortha thar lear, agus nuair a dhóimid na breoslaí sin, scaoiltear dé-ocsaíd charbóin san atmaisféar. Gach uair a théimid i muinín an ghluaisteáin in ionad dul ag rothaíocht, cuirimid lenár lorg carbóin. Táthar ag tuar go n-ardóidh leibhéal na bhfarraigí breis is cúig cheintiméadar chuile bliain, go n-éireodh an domhan níos fliche agus níos teo fiú mar atá sé sa lá atá inniu ann, agus go mbeidh níos mó tuilte, aimsir antoisceach agus fulaingt ann má leanaimid ar aghaidh mar seo sna blianta atá romhainn.

É sin a rá áfach, nílim éadóchasach amach is amach faoin timpeallacht. Cén réiteach atá ar an bhfadhb mhór dhomhanda seo? I dtosach báire, ní féidir a shéanadh ach go bhfuil sé thar am dúinn an ruaig a chur ar ár spleáchas ar bhreoslaí iontaise. Anseo in Éirinn tá cumhacht na bhfarraigí thart timpeall orainn, agus ba chóir go mbeimisne mar cheannródaithe i bhforbairt na teicneolaíochta glaise seo. Caithfimid foinsí inathnuaite fuinnimh a thógáil agus a úsáid sa treo is go mbeimid saor ónár spleáchas ar bhreoslaí iontaise.

Cheana féin, Tá rialtais ar fud an domhain ag iarraidh cúrsaí a fheabhsú agus níos tábhachtaí fós, tá gnáthshaoránaigh i ngach cearn den domhan ag déanamh iarracht. Tá comórtas na mBailte Slachtmhara ag dul ó neart go neart agus in a lán de scoileanna na tíre bíonn comórtais ar siúl cosúil leis an mBrat Glas chun cur ar shúile na ndaltaí an difríocht a dhéanann gach duine don timpeallacht. Má dhéanann gach duine a gcuid féin chun a timpeallacht a chaomhnú, níl amhras a bith orm ach go dtiocfaidh feabhas ar an scéal agus go mbeidh domhan sláintiúil againn. “Is fearr go mall ná go brách”, mar a théann an seanfhocal. Dá mbeinn i m’uachtarán ar Pharlaimint na hEorpa, rachainn i ngleic leis an tsúil seo láithreach bonn. Dhéanfainn tuilleadh polasaithe a chruthú chun ár dtimpeallacht a chosaint agus chun stop a chur le hathrú aeráide.

Tá todhchaí an phlainéid idir dhá cheann na meá agus tá todhchaí an chine dhaonna ann chomh maith. Agus muid ag tabhairt aghaidh ar an todhchaí, is den riachtanas é go n-oibreoimid le chéile chun dul i ngleic leis an tionchar atá ag an athrú aeráide orainn ar gach cearn den domhan, go gcloímid leis na rialacha a tháinig ó Chomhaontú Pháras, agus go seasaimid an fód le chéile chun an fhadhb seo a réiteach, ar áis nó ar éigean. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, ‘is maith an scéalaí an aimsir’!

Líon focal: +/- 1000 focal (rófhada ach tuifim cén fáth)

An-chuid athrá in áiteanna – ach tuigim nach mbeidh sé mar sin da mbeadh teideal ceart agat

Á – 13/15 (an t-athrá – an t-alt sa lár)

G – 68/80 – Ardchaighdeán Gaeilge le sonrú tríd is tríd, botúin bheaga anseo is ansiúd. Ach an t-athrá fós ag cur as don aiste – d’fhéadfá an aiste seo “a ghlanadh suas” go han-éasca.

Alcól agus Drugaí

Is duine óg mé in Éirinn atá ag déanamh Scrúdú na hArdteiste an bhliain seo chugainn. Nílim ach seacht mbliana déag d’aois ach in ainneoin sin , ceapaim go bhfuilim lánábalta labhairt faoin ábhar thuas. Ní túisce a chonaic mé teideal na haiste seo , rug mé gréim ar mo pheann chun mo chuid tuairimí a bhreacadh síos . Bíonn alcól agus drugaí pléite agus athphléite ag polaiteoirí, ag iriseoirí agus ag saineolaithe . Is annamh a théann lá tharainn nach mbíonn ceannlíne faoi alcól nó drugaí ar an nuacht. Ní gá duit ach an teilifís a chur ar siúl , nó alt éigin ar líne a léamh , agus feicfidh tú cé chomh holc atá cúrsaí i láthair na huaire . In ainneoin na cainte , níor thángamar ar fhreagraí fiúntacha go fóill . Tá láidreachtaí agus laigían alcóil agus na ndrugaí i mbéal an phobail , cinnte. San aiste seo, pléifidh mé: fadhbanna soisialta le halcól agus le drugaí, coir, caidreamh daoine óga le halcól agus drugaí agus na buntáistí a bhaineann le alcól in Éirinn.

Is mór idir inniu agus inné gan dabht ach ní inniu ná inné a tháinig an fhadhb seo chun solais. Tá an fhadhb seo chomh sean leis na cnoic! Ach sa lá atá inniu ann, tá na coirpigh agus na hionsaithe ag éirí níos brúidiúla, níos nimhní agus níos foréigní. Gan aon amhras, tá baint láidir idir an fhadhb seo agus fadhb an alcóil agus drugaí. Tá drugaí mídhleathacha le fáil go forleathan i mbeagnach gach cathair agus gach baile in Éirinn. Tá níos mó andúileach. Bíonn siad ag iarraidh airgid a fháil chun drugaí a cheannach ar áis nó ar éigean. Tá cultúr an óil fréamhaithe go domhain ionainne mar Éireannaigh. Nuair a bhíonn daoine ar meisce nó as a meabhair ar dhrugaí tar éis na gclubanna oíche agus na dtithe tábhairne, bíonn trioblóid agus foréigean ar na sráideanna. Is léir go bhfuil fírinne leis an seanfhocal ‘Nuair a bhíonn an braon istigh, bíonn an chiall amuigh!’. De réir na nGardaí, tá baint ag 46% de na dúnmharuithe le halcól agus le drugaí. Nochtann na fíricí sin go bhfuil fadhb na drúgaí imithe o smacht in Éirinn. Dá mbeinn i mo Thaoiseach, chuirfinn méadú ar líon na nGardaí ar na sráideanna chun stop a chur leis an gcoireacht agus d’osclófainn tuilleadh seirbhísí le haghaidh athshlánúcháin. An bhfuilimid róbhog ar choirpigh? Ba cheart go mbeadh pionóis níos troime á chur orthu chun sochaí níos sábháilte a chruthú.

Bíonn tionchar ag drugaí agus ag alcól freisin ar dhaoine óga agus ar dhéagóirí. I mo thuairim, níl ach cúpla áis do dhaoine óga sa tsochaí. Tá siad ró-óg do chlubanna ach tá siad ró-shean d’imeachtaí óige. Tá na déagóirí seo leamh agus níl aon rud le déanamh acu, mar sin féachann siad le rudaí eile a dhéanamh. Rachaidh / téann ? déagóirí agus daoine óga go tithe tábhairne ag aois óg chun sóisialú a dhéanamh. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, Nuair a bhíonn an t-ól istigh bíonn an chiall amuigh. Nuair atá deagoirí ag ól, is féidir iad a ghortú dá chéile. Dá mbeinn i mo Theachta Dála sa rialtas, rachainn i ngleic leis an bhfadhb seo láithreach bonn. Chruthóinn níos mó deiseanna do dhaoine óga, ar nós clubanna sóisialta agus imeachtaí, ionas nach mbeidh orthu dul go tithe tábhairne ag aois óg. Is eile é brú piaraí maidir le daoine óga a a bheith ag ól agus ag tógáil drugaí. Ba mhaith leis na daoine óga treochtaí / nósanna a leanúint agus glacadh leo. Anois, tá an-tóir ar vápáil i measc déagóirí. Tá sé an-chontúirteach mar níl a fhios againn fós cad iad na héifeachtaí. De réir an Irish Times, admhaíonn 6 as 10 déagóir go n-úsáideann / gur úsáid siad galtoitín uair amháin ar a laghad. Áfach, tá roinnt déagóirí tugtha do dhrugaí níos measa. Is fadhb thromchúiseach sláinte é seo, tá a saol i mbaol acu. Sílim go bhfuil tascfhórsa frithdhrugaí ag teastáil uainn.

Ar an lámh eile, tá buntáistí ag baint le drugaí agus alcól sa tsochaí. Tóg mar shampla, drugaí i gcúram sláinte. Tá an oiread sin buntáistí ann. Go pearsanta, tá asma orm agus nuair a bhí mé níos óige bhí mé san ospidéal go minic as a bheith tinn ach nuair a fuair mé m’análóirí, bhí mé in ann fanacht sláintiúil agus spóirt a imirt. Tá alcól mar an gcéanna. Tá dhá bhuntáiste ag alcól sa tsochaí. Ar an gcéad dul síos, tugann sé deis do sheandaoine i gceantair thuaithe bualadh le chéile.Is é an dara buntáiste ná tionscal. Léiríonn na staitisticí go ngineann ár dtionscal óil an-chuid airgid do gheilleagar na hÉireann. Mar shampla, tá luach dhá bhilliún euro ar thionscal alcóil na hÉireann agus is cuid thábhachtach dár n-onnmhairí / easpórtálacha . Cuireann turasóireacht leis seo. Mar shampla, tugann timpeall 1 milliún cuairteoir cuairt ar Theach Stórais Guinness gach bliain. Gineann an taithí uathúil seo na milliúin don ghnó agus don tír. Téann daoine ó gach cearn den domhan chun Guinness agus deochanna eile a thriail in Éirinn. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán fhéin. Chun conclúid a chur leis an bplé seo, tá orainn rud éigin a dhéanamh láithreach bonn sula mbeidh ár bport seinnte . Is fearr mall ná go brách, mar a deirtear. Tá treoir, spreagadh agus moladh riachtanach chun feabhas a chur ar an gcás . Cathain a bheimid réidh le fadhb na ndrugaí agus an alcóil? Is maith an scéalaí an aimsir.

An Líon focal: +/- 900 – arís rófhaada ach tuigim go bhfuil tú ag iarraidh gach rud a bheith ullamh agat i gcomhair na hArdteiste, ach is leor nath nó dhó i ngach alt; ma chuireann tú an iomarca isteach, tógann sé ó mhaitheas na haiste. Níl siad ag teastáil uait chun spás a líonadh – tá tú in ann plé a dhéanamh gacn iad. Bí cúramach le húsáid na n-abairtí sa Mhodh Coinníollach – is maith a na rud é go bhfuil sé sin ar do thoil agat, ach bí cúramach cá gcuireann tú é – bheadh sé níos fearr i dtreo dheireadh gach ailt; nó ag deireadh na haiste ar fad. Ná bí á úsáid ar son é a úsáid; caithtear an Modh Coinníollach a úsáid ag an am ceart, san áit cheart.

Is ait liom gur roghnaigh tú an taobh dearfach de na drugaí agus den alcól. Is fíorannamh a chloiseann tú go bhfuil aon taobh dearfach leo. Dar liom , sa Ghaeilge ní hionann drugaí agus “LEIGHEAS” – leigheas a bhí i gceist agat leis an asma. I mo thuairim, drugaí = drugaí mídhleachtacha.

Á – 10/15 – (ar na cúiseanna thuas)

G – 57 / 80 (ar na cúiseanna thuas – tá marc don ábhar agus marc don Ghaeilge ceangailte le chéile)

Géarchéim na títhíochta

Is duine óg in Éirinn mé atá ag déanamh Scrúdú na hArdteiste i mbliana. Nílim ach seacht mbliana déag d’aois ach in ainneoin sin, ceapaim go bhfuilim breá-ábalta labhairt faoin ábhar thuas. Is Éireannach mé agus déanaim staidéar ar an nGaeilge freisin. Ní túisce a chonaic mé teideal na haiste seo, rug mé gréim ar mo pheann chun mo chuid tuairimí a bhreacadh síos . Bíonn géarchéim na títhíochta pléite agus athphléite ag polaiteoirí, ag iriseoirí agus ag saineolaithe. Is annamh a théann lá tharainn nach mbíonn ceannlíne faoi choir agus foéigean ar an nuacht. Ní gá duit ach an teilifís a chur ar siúl, nó alt éigin ar líne a léamh, agus feicfidh tú cé mhéad fadhbanna sóisialta atá in Éirinn. Tá ceist ag dul i méid freisin idir daoine óga agus ghéarchéim na títhíochta. San Aiste seo Pléifidh mé: na heacnamaíochta, geilleagar na tíre, lóistín mac léinn agus easpa dídine.

Dar liomsa, ceann de na príomhchúiseanna a bhaineann leis an nganntanas tithe ná an margadh tithíochta atá in Éirinn faoi láthair. Tá ganntanas mór agus mar sin, ó thaobh cúrsaí eacnamaíochta de brúnn sé praghas na dtíthe suas. Ach, ar an lámh eile de, creidim féin go bhfuil cúiseanna eile ag baint leis an scéal chomh maith. Le cúpla bliain anuas, tháinig méadú mór ar chostais agus ar thógáil tithe agus fágann sé daoine ar ioncam íseal nó fiú daoine ar mheán-ioncam ag streachailt le teach a cheannach. Sílim go bhfuil sé uafásach gur féidir le teaghlach allas a gcnámha a chur agus a bheith fágtha gan teach. Bíonn saoránaigh faoi bhrú damanta chun morgáistí ollmhóra agus cíos ard a íoc agus mar a théann an seanfhocal ‘Níl tine mar do thine féin’ agus ar an drochuair do dhaoine, ní féidir leo teach dá gcuid féin a bheith acu. Dá mbeinn i mo Thaoiseach, chruthóinn polasaí a chuirfeadh bac ar infheisteoirí costas tí a dhéanamh chomh costasach.

Ní féidir a shéanadh go bhfuilimid i lár géarchéime tithíochta ach níl teach nó arasán le fáil ar cíos réasúnta in áit ar bith sa tír. Dar ndóigh tá an fhadhb ag cur isteach go mór ar mhic léinn ollscoile na tíre seo mar níl siad in ann teacht ar lóistín nuair atá siad ag clárú do théarma ollscoile. An bhliain seo caite bhí ar roinnt mhór dóibh a gcúrsaí ollscoile a dhiúltú mar gheall ar seo. Go pearsanta, beidh mé ag dul go dtí an coláiste an bhliain seo chugainn agus ní dóigh liom go mbeidh mé in ann praghas lóistín a íoc. Beidh orm cónaí sa bhaile go dtí go gcríochnóidh mé an coláiste. De réir an ‘Independent’, is é meánchostas lóistín do mhac léinn ná €1,000 sa mhí?. Seo an praghas céanna ar mhorgáistí do thithe timpeall na tíre. Níl sé d’acmhainn ag go leor mac léinn na praghsanna seo a íoc. Ní mór do na tiarnaí talún na praghsanna seo a laghdú nó ní bheidh aon duine in ann fanacht ina gcuid maoine, mar a deir an seanfhocal ‘Is fearr lúbadh ná briseadh’. Creidtear go forleathan go bhfuil daoine ag baint na gcnoc ag lorg lóistín cuí sa lá atá inniu ann.

Ar deireadh, tá 556 teaghlach gan foscadh, 1185 páiste ina i mBaile Átha Cliath amháin . Nochtann na firicí seo go bhfuil costas ró-ard á ghearradh i gcomhair tithíochta in Éirinn. Cuireann sé uafás orm a chloisteáil faoi theaghlaigh a chodlaíonn ar na sráideanna toisc nach bhfuil a dhóthain airgid acu le haghaidh lóistín. Cé go bhfuil na heagraíochtaí dheonacha agus na húdáráis áitiúla ag déanamh iarracht tithe, agus árasáin a chur ar fáil dóibh siúd atá gan dídean nó i ngannatan is náireach an scéal é go bhfuil daoine ag streachalit sa chaoi sin. tá 556 teaghlach gan foscadh, 1185 páiste ina measc díreach i mBaile Átha Cliath. Is cosúil de réir na statisticí is déanaí go bhfuil an scéal seo ag éirí níos mease lá i ndiaidh lae. Dá mbeinn i mo Theachta Dála sa rialtas, rachainn i ngleic leis an bhfadhb seo láithreach bonn. Cruthóinn níos mó deiseanna do dhaoine gan dídean, ar nós foscaí agus scéim thithíochta, ionas nach mbeidh orthu dul ar na sraideanna agus iarraidh déirce.

Chun conclúid a chur leis an bplé seo, is léir go bhfuil ceist na tithíochta in Éirinn ina praiseach ar fud na mias. Tá cúrsaí ina cíorthuathail faoi láthair agus tá an chumhacht ag an Rialta rudaí a fheabhsú. Is féidir leo tosú le teorainn a chur ar rátaí cíosa. Má thagann laghdú ar costaisí lóistín, bheadh i bhfad níos lú daoine i bponc ag teacht ar áit chónaithe. Tá orainn rud éigin a dhéanamh láithreach, bonn sula mbeidh ár bport seinnte. Is fearr mall ná go brách, mar a deirtear. Cathain a bheimid réidh leis an bhfadhb seo in Éireann? Is maith an scéalaí an aimsir.

Líon focal: +/- 800

Ábhar – 10/15 bheadh alt ar chúlra na faidhbe go maith – cen fáth a bhfuil fahdb againn, na hÚcránaigh, etc etc. / na daoine atá ag cur fúthu in óstáin; an tionchar atá ag sin ar pháistí, caighdeán na hárasáin atá ar cíos, saint na dtiarnaí talún

Gaeilge – 58/80 – ceangailte leis an marc don ábhar. Nathanna iomarcacha in áiteanna arís.

Sochaí na hÉireann sa Lá Atá Inniu Ann

Níl saoi gan locht, mar a deir an seanfhocal, agus is ráiteas thar a bheith fíor é sin maidir le sochaí na hÉireann inniu. Maítear nach bhfuil sí pioc níos measa ná mar a bhí sí fadó, ach dar liomsa nach bhfuil ach amaidí ansin. Tá ár dtír breac le fadhbanna na laethanta seo, ach ritheann cúpla ceann liom atá níos géibheannaí (Níos práinní) – sin iad an ghéarchéim thithíochta, plá na ndrugaí, fadhb an óil agus an costas maireachtála.

Is ábhar mór imní é an ghéarchéim tithíochta atá go mór i mbéal an phobail na laethanta seo agus atá ag dó na geirbe againn le tamaill anuas. Níl aon dabht ach gur buanfhadhb é a bhí ann thar na blianta, ach tá cúrsaí ag dul in olcas le déanaí. Tá an méid daoine gan dídean ag ardú seachtain in ndiadh seachtain, agus is scannal ceart é go bhfuil páistí ann, i rith an 21ú chéad, gan dídean os a gcionn. Nil aon tithíocht inachmhainne ann do lanúin óga, agus mar sin tá go leor daoine fásta fós ina gcónaí lena dtuismitheoirí – níl aon rogha eile acu mar gheall ar chíosanna arda. Níl mórán tithe á dtógáil, agus de bharr sin níl aon fheabhas ag teacht ar an scéal. Agus cad atá an rialtas ag déanamh chun teacht ar réiteach don fhadhb? Rud ar bith!

Is oth liom a rá freisin go bhfuil fadhb na ndrugaí ag dul in olcas, ní hamháin sna cathracha ach sa tír ar fad. Tosaíonn daoine áirithe ag glacadh drugaí boga, mar channabas, ar dtús. Creideann siad nach bhfuil contúirt ar bith ach baint leis, ach níl an ceart acu. Cruthaíonn túsdrugaí mar sin fadhbanna sláinte chomh maith le fadhbanna meabhairshláinte, agus is minic a bhaineann siad triail as cinn chrua mar hearóin i ndiaidh é sin. Ar an gcaoi sin, ní fada go mbíonn siad tugtha dóibh.

Ar an mbealach céanna, tá fadhb an óil ina scúirse sa tír seo le cuimhne an gcat. Bíonn alcól ann ag an gcuid is mó d’ócaidí sóisialta, agus níl aon duine in ann ealú ón mbrú chun ól. Is páirt den ghnáthshaol in Éirinn é inniu, ach ní foláir dúinn cuimhneamh gur druga é fós, agus bíonn éifeacht mhór aige ar shláinte an duine, ar ndóigh, agus iompar an duine freisin. Eascraíonn iompar míshóisialta ó fhadhb an óil, mar íslíonn alcól breithiúnas agus is minic a dhéantar coireanna de thoradh sin. Gach deireadh seachtaine bíonn na meáin breac le scéalta faoi ionsaithe, faoi ghortuithe agus fiú marú ar na sráideanna de dheasca an óil. Géarchéim thromchúiseach atá inti, mar bíonn eagla ar dhaoine a dtithe a fhágáil san oíche nuair a bhíonn daoine atá ar meisce ag siúl na sráideanna.

Caithfidh mé bhur n-aird a thairringt freisin ar fhadhb eile – an costas maireachtála. Tá ardú mór tar éis teacht ar phraghas gach rud le déanaí, go háirithe earraí grósera agus breosla. Tagann uafás ar go leor daoine ag féachaint dóibh ar a mbille leictreachais anois, agus cosnaíonn peitreal 50% níos mó ná anuraidh. Tá an ráta boilscithe inár dtír dochreidthe, agus níl an pá in aghaidh na huaire ag ardú chun é a chealú. Ní théann an t-airgead chomh fada agus a chuaigh sé cúpla bliain ó shin, agus tá an lucht oibre ag fulaingt dá bhrí sin. Tá ar roinnt acu rogha a dhéanamh idir riachtanais bhunúsacha, ar nós bia nó teas, agus tá níos mó daoine ag lorg tacaíocht ó eagraíochtaí carthanacha ar nós SVP (Naomh Uinseann de Pól). Is mór an scannal é an scéal seo a bheith ag titim amach i sochaí na hÉireann sa triú mílaois. Deirtear gur sochaí fhorbartha atá againn, ach conas is féidir é sin a rá nuair atá cuid leochaileach dár sochaí ag streachailt?

Ní fadhbanna nua iad na ceisteanna a phléitear thuas, ach ní fhéadfaí a bheith in aon amhras faoi ach go bhfuil siad i bhfad níos measa ná mar a bhí fadó. Tá sochaí na hÉireann ag dul in olcas, mar níl aon rud á dhéanamh chun teacht ar réiteach dóibh. Is mithid don rialtas rud a dhéanamh – maoiniú a chur ar fháil le haghaidh tithíocht ar phraghas réasúnta, cniogbheartaíocht a dhéanamh ar dhrugaí mídhleathacha agus an t-íosphá a mheadú. Ní réitigh iomlána iad, ach is fearr iad na dada. B’fhéidir go bhfuil siad ródhéanach, ach tá orainn feabhsúcháin a dhéanamh inár sochaí do na glúnta atá le teacht. Is fearr déanach ná choíche!

S – (stíl) 5/5

Á – Ábhar 13/15

G- Gaeilge – 70 /80

(Caighdeán ard ó thaobh struchtúr na n-abairtí de, ó thoabh leagan amach na haiste de, ó thaobh stór focal de agus ó thaobh gramadaí de. Mionbhotúin den chuid is mó a bhaineann le hinscne na bhfocal, nó leis na réamhfhocail)

“…Is duine óg mé in Éirinn atá ag déanamh Scrúdú na hArdteiste i mbliana.”

[Cén teideal atá ar an aiste? Is dea-nós é an teideal a scríobh síos ag an tús.]

Is duine óg mé in Éirinn atá ag déanamh Scrúdú na hArdteiste i mbliana. Nílim ach seacht mbliana déag d’aois ach in ainneoin sin, ceapaim go bhfuilim lánábalta labhairt faoin ábhar thuas. Is Éireannach mé agus déanaim staidéar ar an nGaeilge freisin. Ní túisce a chonaic mé teideal na haiste seo, rug mé greim ar mo pheann chun mo chuid tuairimí a bhreacadh síos. Bíonn an choir agus foréigean pléite agus athphléite ag polaiteoirí, ag iriseoirí agus ag saineolaithe. Is annamh a théann lá tharainn nach mbíonn ceannlíne faoi choir agus faoi fhoréigean ar an nuacht. Ní gá duit ach an teilifís a chur ar siúl, nó alt éigin ar líne a léamh, agus feicfidh tú cé chomh mór is atá coireacht agus foréigean in Éirinn. Is iomaí foréigean a tharla le blianta beaga anuas agus san am atá thart. Tá an cheist ag dul i méid freisin idir daoine óga agus coireacht agus foréigean. San aiste seo, Pléifidh mé: alcól agus drugaí, na daoine óga agus foréigean teaghlaigh.

Is mór idir inniu agus inné gan dabht ach ní inniu ná inné a tháinig an fhadhb seo chun solais. Tá an fhadhb seo chomh sean leis na cnoic! Ach sa lá atá inniu ann, tá na coirpigh agus na hionsaithe ag éirí níos brúidiúla, níos nimhní agus níos foréigní. Gan aon amhras, tá baint láidir idir an fhadhb seo agus fadhb an alcóil agus fadhb na ndrugaí. Tá drugaí mídhleathacha le fáil go forleathan i mbeagnach gach cathair agus baile in Éirinn. Tá níos mó andúileach. Bíonn siad ag iarraidh airgid a fháil chun drugaí a cheannach ar áis nó ar éigean. Tá cultúr an óil fréamhaithe go domhain ionainne mar Éireannaigh. Nuair a bhíonn daoine ar meisce nó as a meabhair ar dhrugaí tar éis na gclubanna oíche agus na dtithe tábhairne, bíonn trioblóid agus foréigean ar na sráideanna. Is léir go bhfuil fírinne leis an seanfhocal ‘Nuair a bhíonn an braon istigh, bíonn an chiall amuigh !’. De réir na nGardaí go bhfuil baint ag alcól agus ag drugaí le 46% de na dúnmharuithe a tharlaíonn in Éirinn. Nochtann na fíricí sin go go bhfuil fadhb na ndrúgaí imithe o smacht in Éirinn. Dá mbeinn i mo Thaoiseach, chuirfinn méadú ar líon na nGardaí ar na sráideanna chun stop a chur leis an gcoireacht agus d’osclófaí tuilleadh seirbhísí le haghaidh athshlánúcháin. An bhfuilimid róbhog ar choirpigh? Ba cheart go mbeadh pionóis níos troime á gcur orthu chun sochaí níos sábháilte a chruthú.

Bíonn tionchar ag drugaí agus ag alcól freisin ar dhaoine óga agus ar dhéagóirí. I mo thuairim, níl ach cúpla áis do dhaoine óga sa tsochaí. Tá siad ró-óg do chlubanna ach tá siad ró-shean d’imeachtaí don óige agus mura bhfuil suim ag duine sa spórt, níl clubanna sóisialta acu. tá leadrán ar na déagóirí agus níl aon rud le déanamh acu, mar sin féachann siad le rudaí eile a dhéanamh. Casann na daoine óga ar an gcoiriúlacht agus ar iompraíocht fhrithshóisialta. Tá scaipeadh eipidéim ar iompar frithshóisialta. mar sin ní gá dóibh – níor cheart dóibh ? (they shouldn’t be) a bheith ar na sráideanna agus ag pleidhcíocht. In alt, deir aimsir na hÉireann ? go bhfuil méadú faoi dhó tagtha ar iompar frithshóisialta i measc daoine óga le tamall anuas. Méadaíonn sé seo rátaí coireachta agus foréigean. Dá mbeinn i mo Theachta Dála sa rialtas, rachainn i ngleic leis an bhfadhb seo láithreach bonn. Cruthóinn níos mó deiseanna do dhaoine óga, ar nós clubanna sóisialta agus imeachtaí, ionas nach mbeidh orthu dul ar na sraideanna agus bheith ag pleidhcíocht ag aois óg. Mar a deir an seanfhocal ‘Ná bris do loirgín ar stól nach bhfuil i do shlí’ agus ba cheart do dhaoine óga glacadh leis an gcomhairle seo,

Fadhb mhór eile na linne seo nach ndéantar trácht go minic sna méain air ná foréigean teaghlaigh agus foréigean in aghaidh na mban. Is in olcas atá an scéal ag dul. Tugtar drochíde nó déantar ionsaithe gnéis ar fhir, ar mhná nó ar pháistí ina dtithe féin agus bíonn orthu teitheadh chun tearmann a fháil. D’fhéadfadh an drochíde seo a bheith i bhfoirm fisicúil, siceolaíoch, mothúchánach, nó gnéasach. Is deacair a shamhlú go bhfuil daoine ann nach mbraitheann sábhailte nó go bhfuil a saol i mbaol ina dtithe féin. Ach léiríonn an taighde an fhírinne fhuar – deir na saineolaithe go mbíonn suas le 14,000 glao gutháin ar a líne chabhrach in aghaidh na bliana. Ní hamháin gur fadhb mhór í foréigean teaghlaigh ann féin ach léiríonn staidrimh agus staitisticí gur féidir le timpeallacht bhaile fhoréigneach coirpigh a chruthú.

Chun conclúid a chur leis an bplé seo, tá orainn rud éigin a dhéanamh láithreach bonn sula mbeidh ár bport seinnte . Is fearr mall ná go brách, mar a deirtear. Tá treoir, spreagadh agus moladh riachtanach chun feabhas a chur ar an gcás . Cathain a bheimid réidh le fadhb na coire agus fadhb an fhoréigin in Éireann? Is maith an scéalaí an aimsir.

Ní raibh teideal ar an aiste – tá sé tábhachtach ceangal leanúnach a thaispeáint leis an teideal (wihtout giving your essay a title, you’ve made it hard for me to judge if you’ve kept the link to the title which is so important)
Stór focal an-mhaith
Úsáid an-mhaith as an Modh Coinníollach
Cad faoi dhá alt éagsúla ar alcól agus ar dhrugaí? (Seperating the issues of alcohol and drugs might help you delve a little deeper into each, eg drug dealers, why young people get caught up in drugs etc)
The problem with alcohol being too cheap etc
Some violence also caused by racism
San alt oscailte, níl gá é a bheith chomh fada sin, (less is more in the opening paragraph)

Ábhar – (very hard to tell if you have shown a continuous link to the title) 11/15

Gaeilge – 65/80

Tá an costas maireachtála imithe ó smacht in Éirinn le déanaí

Níl amhras dá laghad orm ach gur ábhar conspóideach achrannach é an costas maireachtála in Éirinn. Tá an fhadhb ina cnámh spairne le blianta beaga anuas, agus is féidir praghas gach rud a fheiceáil ag síormhéadú blian i ndiaidh bliana. Chomh maith leis sin, is fadhb ollmhór í géarchéim na tithíochta agus tá cúrsaí ag dul in olcas dá bharr. Mar sin, tá sé ar intinn agam solas a chur ar ghéarchéim na tithíochta, an costas maireachtála, agus m’imní féin. (tús an-mhaith)

Ar dtús, is ar éigean a théann lá tharainn nach mbíonn tagairt de shórt éigin faoi ghéarchéim mhíchlúiteach na tithíochta. Chun é a chur go simplí, níl an soláthar in ann freastal ar an éileamh. Tá ganntanas tógálaithe sa tír agus mar sin, níl a dhóthain tithe, árasán, nó lóistín ar fáil. Bíonn praghasanna lóistín as cuimse mar dar leis na staitisticí is déanaí, tá cíosanna 80% níos airde ná mar a bhí siad 10 mbliana ó shin. I mBaile Átha Cliath is féidir leat níos mó ná €1,500 a íoc go míosúil. Caithfear a admháil gur staitistic scannalach é sin agus tá sé dodhéanta do go leor teaghlach na cíosanna arda seo a íoc.

Ní hí an ghéarchéim tithíochta ach cúis amháin atá ag cur isteach ar an gcostas maireachtála. Is léir don dall go bhfuil borradh mór tagtha ar phraghasanna breosla, leictreachais, earraí agus seirbhísí. Mé féin go pearsanta, cloisim mo thuismitheoirí ag gearán faoi phraghas peitril chuile lá. Níl aon chúis amháin leis an mboilsciú seo, ach bíonn daoine ag síneadh a méire ar an gcogadh idir an Úcráin agus an Rúis.

Ag deireadh na míosa, trasnaítear na méar ag súil go mbeadh a mbille leictreachais ar phraghas réasúnta. Níl hé sin an scéal agus mar sin, bíonn ar dhaoine áirithe rogha a dhéanamh idir teas agus bia. Caithfidh daoine aosta cóta a chaitheamh ar feadh an lae agus dul a chodladh lena gcóta le costas teasa a sheachaint. Maidir le teaghlaigh ar ioncam íseal, bíonn siad ag maireachtáil i mbochtaineacht, faoin gcaighdeán maireachtála. Níl sé ceart, cóir ná cothrom, go háirithe do na páistí. Níos measa fós, tá níos mó daoine gan dídean ar na sráideanna ná riamh, ag lorg déirce, agus níl an figiúr ach ag dul in airde gach blian. Ina measc, is leanaí iad trian de na daoine gan dídean. Ba chóir don Rialtas a bheith náireach as.

Lena chois sin, is dalta meánscoile mé agus tá sé ar intinn agam freastal ar an gcoláiste i mBaile Átha Cliath an bhliain seo chugainn, ach nílim cinnte anois leis an ngéarchéim tithíochta. Níl pingin rua agam ná ag go leor daltaí meánscoile eile. Bíonn na cíosanna iomarcach agus tá sé Ró-iomaíoch lóistín a aimsiú. Ní chuireann formhór daltaí as deisceart na tíre aon choláiste i mBaile Átha Cliath síos ar an bhfoirm CAO toisc nach mbeadh siad in ann a bheith ag comaitéireacht gach lá. Is mór an trua é go gcaithfidh duine a bheith ag brath ar lóistín le dul chuig an gcoláiste ar mhian leo. I mo thuairimse níl cothrom na Féinne le fáil agus sin í an fhírinne lom.

Ní féidir linn dearmad a dhéanamh ar na hiarrachtaí maithe atá á ndéanamh ag carthanachtaí mar Naomh Uinseann de Pól agus Focus Ireland. Bíonn siad ag obair go deonach ó dhubh go dubh, ag cur bia agus lóistín sealadach ar fáil do dhaoine. Chomh maith leis sin, tuairiscíodh go dtabharfadh creidmheasanna cánach €500 do thionóntaí. In ainneoin na mbeart seo, ní ann ach réitigh sealadacha nach bhfuil ag dul i ngleic leis an mbunfhadhb – an easpa lóistin. Mar sin, dá mbeinn i m’Aire Tithíochta dhéanfainn níos mó infheistíochta chun níos mó lóistín inacmhainne a chur ar fáil. Mar thoradh, laghdódh na cíosanna timpeall na tíre. Chomh maith leis sin, dhéanfainn iompar poiblí saor in aisce chun cabhrú leis an gcostas maireachtála. ‘I dtús na haicíde is fusa í a leigheas’ mar a deir an seanfhocal, agus aontaím go mba chóir dúinn a bheith ag dul i ngleic leis an ngéarchéim tithíochta láithreach bonn.

Chun conclúid a chur leis an bplé seo, is fíor a rá go bhfuil an costas maireachtála imithe ó smacht, go háirithe leis an ngéarchéim tithíochta agus leis an mboilsciú. Caithfear aghaigh a thabhairt ar na fadhbanna seo, agus dá luaithe is ea is fearr é sula mbeidh ár bport seinnte. Tuigim nach dtiocfaidh réiteach thar oíche, ach is i ndiaidh a chéile a thógtar na caisleáin. ‘Níl aon tínteán mar do thínteán féin’ mar a deirtear.

Leagan amach an-mhaith

Ailt an-soiléir

Stór focal maith

Nasc leanúnach leis an ábhar

Ábhar – 13/15

Gaeilge – 68/80 – fadhbanna leis an gCopail, agus leis an alt in áiteanna, cúpla frása ciotach

Aiste d’adrchaighdeán ar an iomlán.

Aiste – Spórt

Tá a fhios ag cách go bhfuil an spórt ríthábhachtach do shláinte fisiciúil agus meabhrach. (an duine). Ar an taobh eile den scéal , áfach ceaptar gur ábhar conspóideach achrannach é an spórt, go háirithe leis an gCorn Domhanda le déanaí. Mar sin, tá sé ar intinn agam cur chuige cothrom a ghlacadh do theideal na haiste seo. Pléifidh mé na mórán buntáistí a bhaineann leis an spórt: do shláinte agus do na gnéithe sóisialta a bhaineann leis. Chomh maith leis sin, ba mhaith liom solas a dhíriú ( a chaitheamh / a chur) ar na míbhuntáistí: drugaí agus bearna inscne.

Mar is eol do chách, is gné lárnach den saol nua-aimseartha é an spórt. Tá sláinte do chorp fite fuaite le do shláinte ’intinne, agus mar sin cruthaíonn corp sláintiúil intinn shláintiúil. Tá an duine sláintiúil níos sláintiúla, níos aclaí, tá níos mó fuinnimh aige, deirtear go dtéann tú i do chodladh níos tapúla agus níos furasta má dhéanann tú spórt, agus leanann an liosta buntáistí ar aghaidh. Ní gá duit a bheith ag imirt spóirt chun a bheith sláintiúil, is fearr a bheith ag siúl amuigh faoin aer ná bheith de shíor i do shuí os comhair na teilifíse. Sa lá atá inniu ann lei an teicneolaíocht nua, is fadhb níos coitianta é otracht. Tá an fón póca sáinnithe i lámha an duine agus é ina chúis le stíl mhaireachtála shuiteach. Mar sin, tá an spórt níos tábhachtaí ná riamh chun feisteas folláine? (fitness?) a choinneáil. ‘Tosach sláinte codladh: deireadh sláinte osna’ mar a deir an seanfhocal.

Maidir le do shláinte meabhrach, tugann spórt deis duit dearmad a dhéanamh ar an strus agus imní go léir. Tá sé sin níos soiléire i mbliana, dar liomsa. Bíonn daltaí na hArdteistiméireachta faoi bhrú millteanach, ach cabhraíonn an spórt le héalú ó fhadhbanna intinne. Chomh maith leis sin, mothaíonn tú níos fearr fút féin nuair a dhéanann tú aon aclaíocht. Tuairiscítear go mbíonn rátaí níos ísle struis, imní agus dúlagair ar dhaoine a dhéanann aclaíocht. Feabhsaíonn d’fhéinmhuinín agus beidh íomhá choirp níos fearr agat.

Ina theannta sin, foghlaimíonn an duine spóirtiúil scileanna sóisialta nuair atá siad ag glacadh páirte sa spórt. Bíonn gá le comhoibriú, comhghéilleadh agus ceannaireacht ar gach foireann agus foghlaimítear conas buille agus maslaí a ghlacadh gan dul le báiní. Aistríonn na scileanna sin go gnáthscileanna atá riachtanach don saol, dar liom. Níos tábhachtaí fós, déanann tú cairdeas nua sa spórt a bhíonn á imirt agat agus cuireann tú aithne ar dhaoine. Ceanglaíonn an spórt daoine le chéile mar buaileann tú le daoine a bhfuil na suimeanna céanna acu agus tá seans go bhforbródh cairdeas as sin amach.

Ar an drochuair, is fadhb mhór i gcuid mhór spóirt iad na drugaí agus tá siad ag déanamh dochair don spórt. Is mór an scannal é agus tá an locht ar fad ar mhionlach daoine náireacha agus mímhacánta mar tarraingíonn siad drochchlú ar an spórt. Tógann daoine drugaí chun a bheith níos láidre nó níos tapúla. Caithfidh go mbeidh an bua acu, ar shlí amháin nó slí eile. Ní gá ach féachaint ar an Tour de France. Náiríodh an spórt de bharr scannal drugaí Lance Armstrong. Chomh maith leis sin, tá sé iomráiteach go raibh go leor scannail dópála sna Cluiche Oilimpeacha. Sa bhliain 2012, bhí níos mó ná céad cás dópála agus goideadh go leor bonn óir. Níl an fhadhb dhíothaithe mar bhí cúpla cás dópála le cúpla bliain anuas. Níl cothrom na Féinne le fáil agus sin í an fhírinne.

Ina theannta sin, tugtar easpa aitheantais do mhná i gcomparáid leis na fir sa spórt. Tá a fhios ag gach duine go dtuilleann mná níos lú airgid ná fir, don spórt céanna fiú. An t-aon chúis leis an éagothroime seo ná nach bhfuil a dhóthain duine ag féachaint ar mhná sa spórt. Ag an am céanna, ní fhaigheann cluichí na mban an clúdach teilifíse céanna. Is fáinne fí é agus níl sé ceart, cóir ná cothrom. Ar bharr é sin, ní fhaigheann mná na háiseanna céanna le fir. Is sónna iad ceathanna te agus, uaireanta, seomra feistis fiú do mhná.

Ón méid atá scríofa agam, ní féidir a shéanadh ach go bhfuil an spórt ríthábhachtach do gach duine chun stíl mhaireachtála shláintiúil a chaitheamh. (treorú is to lead someone on a hike etc) Mar sin féin, ba chóir dúinn an chaimiléireacht agus an neamhionannas sa spórt a aithint. Tuigim nach dtiocfaidh réiteach thar oíche ach ar ndóigh, is i ndiaidh a cheile a thógtar na caisleáin. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, ‘is fearr an tsláinte ná na táinte.’

Aiste den scoth ar an iomlán; smaointe maithe, ceangal leanúnach leis an teideal (nó leis na spriocanna a leag tú amach duit féin). Ardchaighdeán maidir le stór focal, gramadach agus litriú.

Chuirfinn an aiste seo sa réimse H2, caithtear méid fíorbheag botún a bheith agat chun an H1 a fháil.

Bochtanas – sciúirse an domhain

Cad is brí leis an bhfocal ‘bochtanas’ nó cé atá bocht? Duine atá gan dídean? Ní chaithfidh tú a bheith gan dídean a bheith ar an ngannchuid. Duine atá ina chodladh ina charr in ionad siopadóireachta? Duine nach bhfuil in ann a morgáiste nó cios a ioc? Bíonn daoine bocht nach mbionn go leor le n-ithe agus le n-ól agus is leir go bhfuil bochtanas sciúirse an domhain gan aon agó. Pléifidh mé faoi b h ochtanas atá in Éirinn agus sa Triú Domha i n agus labhróidh mé faoi na heagraíochtaí c h arthantacha atá ag obair go dian chun feabhas a chur ar an bhfadhb mhór atá ag muintir na domhain.

Agus mé ag leamh ‘An Irish Independent’, lion mo chroi le brón agus dioma nuair a bhí mé ag leamh faoi n sceal tragóideach (cosúíl) bainteach leis an topaic seo. (Bhí an t-alt ag rá) go bhfuil timpeall ar 100 duine (ag) ina gcodladh ar na sraideanna gach oiche i mBaile Átha Cliath. Tá sé sin scannalach amach is amach. Chomh maith leis sin, tá timpeall ar 9,000 duine gan dídean mar nach mbíonn siad in ann a mórgáistí nó cíós a íoc. Cuireann na huimearcha seo náire agus déistin orm agus ní fheadfá go samhlu na hiomhanna seo a shamhlú gan amhras.

(Sa) Ina dteaglach féín a thosaíonn an fhadhb seo uaireanta, nuair a thiteann duine amach lena muintir nó teipeann ar chleamhnas nó ar phósadh. B’fheidir gur go bhfuil foréigean sa bhaile agus mar sin fagann duine an teach. Ina theannta sin, tá fadhb le drugaí agus alcól. Thosaigh na fadhbanna mar gheall ar an tiogar Cheiltic. Bíonn morán daoine fágtha le morgáistí móra agus mar sin, níl siad in ann na billí a ioc.

Buíochas le Dia, tá neart cumann ar nós Focus Ireland, Clann Shíomóin agus Neamh Uinseann de Pól. Is léír doibh gur caithfear dul i ngleic leis an bhfadhb agus tá siad ag deanamh iarraidh chun an fadhb a chur chun cinn. Cabhraíonn siad leis na daoine bochta trí dhídean, bia agus ag tabhairt tacaíocht a thabhairt dóibh. Cabhraíonn Trusta Peter Mc Verry leis na daoine gan didean. Codlaíonn daltaí na tíre ar na sraideanna chun airgead agus feasacht a ardú. Bhailigh siad ós cionn na €10 000 000 suas le deich mbliana. (?) Táim cinnte gur chabhraigh an t-airgead seo le mórán daoine.

Ach má tá fadhb againn in Éirinn ní haon rud é i gcomparáid idir an bhochtaineacht in Iarthar na hEuropa agus an bhochtaineacht thromchuiseach sa Triú Domhan. Tá fadhb ollmhór san Afraic gan aon dabht. Chuir an gorta sna Aetoip sna hóchtóidí uafas ar mhuintir an domhain. Dhírigh Bob Geldof agus Live Aid aird na cruinne agus seoladh coir bhia agus leigheas don chuig na sluaite ocracha. Ach (má) tá an fhadhb ag dul in olcas fós, gan amhras ar bith.

Anuas ar sin, faigheann níos mó ná 35,000 duine bás (ina gceadta) den ocras gach lá. Chomh maith leis sin tá ocras ar 95 milliún leanbh agus iad ina gcodladh gach oiche. Áfach tá eagraíochtaí ar nós Trocaire, Concern agus Gorta ann agus deannan siad obair den scoth chun feabhas a chur ar an bhfadhb. Cuireann siad uisce glan ar fáil sna tiortha ina mbíonn siad ag obair. Is é an polasaí atá acú ná cuidiú a thabhairt doibh chun cabhrú leo féin agus gan gach rud a thabhairt amach saor in aisce.

Níl na daoine saibhre saor ó locht ach an oiread. (De réir) Dar leis an taighde is deanaí, mar shampla tá nócha faoin gcead de mhaoin i seilbh deich faoin gcéad den daonra – lucht an tsaibhris. Is mór an scannal é gan dabht. Ní feidir a sheanadh ach go bhfuil an fhadhb leis an mbochtanas ag dul in olcas. Caithfimid rud éígin chun dul i ngleic leis an bhfadhb ar fud an domhain. Mar sin féin, ba cheart dúinn airgead a thuilleadh agus aiseanna a chur ar fáil do dhaoine bochta ar ndóigh. Más maith is mithid.

Iarracht mhaith ar leagan amach ceart agus argóintí a dhéanamh (good attempt at correct layout)

Ach téann 80/100 ar an nGaeilge – but 80% goes on ability in Irish, saibhreas foclóra – good vocab, agus cruinneas na teanga – and grammar.

Ábhar – 10/15

Gaeilge – 46/80 = 61/100

Trialacha agus Trioblóidí ag daoine óga inniu

Aontaim go huile is go hiomlán le teideal na haiste seo, gurb iomaí (iomaí agus uimir uatha) trialacha triail agus trioblóid a bhíonn ag daoine óga inniu. Dar leis an ráiteas seo go bhfuil an iomarca fadhbanna agus deacrachtaí ag an aos óg. Feicim tionchar an oíl óil, brú ó na scrúdaithe scrúduithe, fadhbanna sa bhaile agus meabhairshlainte ag cur isteach orainn go minic. Dar liom go mbíonn saol míchompordach (? – dúshlánach?) agus deacair ag daoine óga faoi lathair.

I mo thuairim féin, is é tionchar an óil an fhadhb shóisialta is troimchúisí i measc na n-óg i mo cheantar. Tosaíonn an gnáthdhuine ag an ól ar dtús nuair a bhíonn siad sa dara bliain. Tá an fhadhb seo níos measa anois ná mar a bhí cúpla bliain ó shin nuair a bhí mé ag an bpointe sin. Níl cliú (ceart go leor sa chaint, ach ag scríobh níl barúil agam) dá laghad agam cén fáth a thosaíonn siad chomh luath, nó cén fáth a thosaíonn siad ar chor ar bith! Ceapaim go bhfuilimid fiosrach faoin ól agus faoin saol i gcoitinne, mar ghnáthdhéagóirí. Is cuis eile é piarbhrú cinnte. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, “nuair a bhíonn ag t-ól istigh, bíonn an chiall amuigh”. (Cén trioblóid a leanann é sin? Nuair a thosaíonn daoine óga ag ól? Cén fáth nach bhfuil sé go maith dóibh?)

Le fada an lá, tá brú mar chuid lárrach de thrialacha agus trioblóidí an duine óig i mo thuairim. Bímid istigh sa scoil ar feadh sé uair an chloig ar a laghad, ag caitheamh beagnach dhá chéad lá sa bhlian ag taisteal, ag léamh, ag eisteacht agus ag scríobh. Níl aon dabht faoi ach go mbíonn a lán brú ar dhaltaí na hArdteistimeireachta sa tír seo. Cuireann córas na bpointí an iomarca brú ar dhaltaí. Bíonn daltaí in isle brí faoin am a bhíonn na scrúdaithe scrúduithe féin ag teacht agus ar siúl. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, “ is aoibheann beatha an scolaire. Ní aontaim leis an seanfhocal seo. (Cén fáth a bhfuil an brú seo orthu? Cé a chuireann an brú orthu?)

Gan amhras, ligeann a lán paistí na maidí le sruth maidir lena gcuid meabhairshlainte. Tá daoine óga goilliúnach go leor ag an aois seo agus tá trua mór agam do na páistí atá ag fulaingt i lathair na huaire. Mar a duirt mè cheana, bíonn an iomarca brú ar dhaltaí sa bhaile chomh mhaith leis an méid a bhíonn orthu ar scoil. (Cén sórt fadhbanna a bhíonn acu? An mbíonn cabhair ar fáil?)

Tá sé thar a bheith soiléir ón méid atá scríofa agam san aiste seo gur iomaí trialacha agus trioblóidí a bhíonn ag daoine óga inniu. Bíonn tionchar an óil, brú ó na scrúdaithe, fadhbanna sa bhaile agus meabhairshlainte ag cur isteach orainn go minic. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, “ Mol an oige agus tiocfaidh sí”.

Róghearr – tá idir 500-600 focal ag teastáil – you need to write a minimum of 500 words, expand on your points in each paragraph to reach the word limit.

Gaeilge chruinn den chuid is mó – good, accurate Irish throughout
But you will lose marks on account of not writing enough to show a broader range of vocab.

Gaeilge -51/80 = 66%

An coróinvíreas

Chuimhneofaí go deo ar 2020 mar bhliain an coróinvíris. (TG) Tháinig an víreas ar an saol i margadh sráide i Wuhan, príomhchathair Cúige Hubei sa tSín i mí na Samhna 2019. D’fhógair an Eagraíocht Domhanda Sláinte gur paindéim dhomhanda a bhí sa choróinvíreas ar an 11ú Márta 2020. Tuiriscíodh an chéad chás den víreas in Éirinn ar an 26ú Feabhra 2020 agus faoin 12ú Márta bhí an tír faoi dhianghlasáil. Dúnadh scoileanna, institiúidí tríú leibhéil agus áiseanna cúram leanaí fud fad na tíre ar an 12ú Márta ar feadh coicíse. Sin a cheapamar dála an scéil. Bhí mé san idirbhliain nuair a cuireadh abhaile sinn don chéad uair. Is cuimhin liom go maith an rith agus rás go léir a bhí ar siúl ag gach dalta sa scoil chun a gcuid stuif a bhailiú an tráthnóna úd. Bhí an t-ádh dearg liomsa agus le mo chomhscoláirí toisc nach raibh againn ach fíorbheagán leabhar.(TG – iolra) É sin ráite bhailíomar ár gcuid leabhair ar eagla na heagla go mbeadh orainn iad a úsáid agus muid sa bhaile. Faoi mar a tharla sé ní raibh oiread is leabhar amháin ag teastáil don tréimhse sin. Cuireadh na scrúdaithe stáit ar ceal. In ionad na ngnáthscrúdaithe (TG – iolra) fuair daltaí na hArdteistiméireachta 2020 gráid thuartha. Anuas ar sin, cuireadh srianta i bhfeidhm chun bac a chuir le leathadh an víris (TG). Bhíomar go léir i ngéibheann inár dtithe gan cead againn dul níos mó ná cúig chiliméadar ón dtigh agus muid ag dul ar siúlóid. Mar bharr ar an donas cuireadh cosc ar chuairteanna a thabhairt ar thithe daoine eile. Moladh dúinn gan dul amach as ár dtithe muna raibh géarghá leis. Dúnadh tithe tábhairne, bialanna agus clubanna oíche. Cuireadh cosc ar líon na ndaoine ag tionóil phoiblí,. Cuireadh srian ar líon na ndaoine a bhí in ann freastal ar shochraidí agus ar bhainiseacha san áireamh. Le scéil gairid a dhéanamh de, tháinig athrú suntasach ar shaol mhuintir na tíre thar oíche de bharr na paindéime. Dúnadh scoileanna arís i mí Eanáir 2021. Cuireadh mic léinn na tíre abhaile ar feadh nach mór trí mhí eile. Ar a laghad bhí na scoileanna réidh don chianfhoghlaim an uair seo. Nílim ag rá nach raibh sé deacair ar gach éinne. Is maith is cuimhin liom na míonna sin. Ni raibh mé spreagtha chun coimeád suas le mo chuid oibre agus dá bhrí sin níor bhain mé puinn tairbhe as an tréimhse áirithe sin. Ní féidir liom a shamhlú cé chomh dian is a raibh sé ar mhic léinn Ardteistiméireachta na tíre agus iad ag iarraidh ullmhú do na scrúduithe. Tugadh rogha dóibh, ó thaobh na scrúduithe de, idir na scrúduithe scríofa a dhéanamh nó gráid thuartha a fháil nó meascáin den dá cheann acu. Roghnaigh formhór dóibh chun meascán den dá rud a fháil agus mar thoradh ar sin tá boilsciú suntasach tagtha ar na pointí do dream na hArdteistiméireachta i mbliana. Gabh ar aghaidh chomh fada le mí lúil 2021. Faoin tráth seo bhí maolú tagtha ar na srianta buíochas leis an líon ard den phobal a bhí tar éis an instealladh a fháil.. Bhí na tithe tábhairne agus bialanna oscailte agus ní raibh ar dhaoine a mbéilí a ithe lasmuigh comh fada is a raibh Teastas Digiteach Eorpach Covid acu. Tugadh cead do dhaoine freastal ar imeachtaí poiblí comh fada is a raibh an Teastas acu. Cuireadh srian leis an méid daoine a bhí ceadaithe sna bialanna srl. ionas go mbeadh na húinéirí – heagarthóirí – in ann cloí le srianta maidir leis an scaradh sóisialta. Cuireach córas rianú teangmhálaithe i bhfeidhm chun go mbeadh sé éasca go leor chun na gearrtheagmhalaithe a aimsiú dá mba rud é go bhfuair duine ar bith an víreas. Bhuail athraitheach nua don víreas darbh ainm Omicron timpeall na Nollag, 2021, a tuairscíodh don chéad uair san Aifric Theas ar an 24ú mí na Samhna, an domhain. De dheasca Omicron tugadh sraith nua de srianta isteach ar an 20ú mí na Nollag. Tá na comharthaí céanna ag Omicron is atá ag na hathraitheacha eile, tinneas cinn, tuirse, deacrachtaí análaithe, silleadh sróine srl. ach tá sé i bhfad Éireann níos éadroime ná Beta, Gamma ná Delta fiú. An rud a spreag NPHET agus an rialtas chun srianta níos déine a thabhairt isteach ná cé chomh tógálach is atá sé. Bhí orthu dianbheartais a thógaint chun bac a chur le leathadh neamhrialaithe den athraitheach nua seo. Mar fhocail scoir, caithfidh mé a rá gur éirigh go réasúnta maith leis an rialtas an phaindéim a bhainistiú. Is mar thoradh ar chomhoibriú mhuintir na tíre a bhfuilimid ag teacht slán as greim an ghalair mharfaigh seo. Mar a deir an seanfhocal is “ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine”. Buíochas mór le Dia go bhfuilimid céim ollmhór níos cóngaraí den saol mar a bhíodh tráth dá raibh, Maolaíodh nach mór na srianta go léir ar an 25ú d’Eanáir 2022. Na t-aon srianta a d’fhan i bhfeidhm ná an riachtanas chun pusacháin a chaitheamh ar iompar poiblí agus in áiteanna poiblí scoileanna agus ospidéil ach go háirithe. Bainfear na srianta seo ar an 28ú Feabhra.

An líon focal – níos mó ná 800 (idir 500-600 focal ag teastáil)

Deacair marc a thabhairt gan teideal ceart – ach creatlach d’aiste an-mhaith ar an gCóróinvíreas. Stór focal maith ag baint leis an ábhar.

Caighdeán ard maidir le struchtúr abairte etc, níl aon fhadhbanna móra, ach botúin bheaga gramadaí agus litrithe tríd an aiste ar fad.

Essay credit: Pearl Ni Laoire

Oisín in Tír na nÓg

‘Is é grá Oisín do Niamh Chinn Oir agus a dhílseacht dá athair, Fionn agus do na Fianna, is cúis lena chruachás sa scéal béaloidis Oisín i dTír na nÓg’. Dean plé ar an ráiteas sin.

Aontaím leis an ráiteas seo. Scéal béaloidis Éireannach é Oisín i dTír na nÓg faoi fhear darbh ainm Oisin, a d’iompaigh a shaol bun os cionn tar éis dó bualadh le bean darbh ainm Niamh.

Is léir go bhfuil caidreamh láidir ag Oisin lena athair. Bhí Fionn ina cheannaire ar na Fianna agus bhí an-ghrá aige dá mhac. Chaith Fionn agus Oisín go leor ama ag seilg agus ag troid leis na Fianna. Bhí gaol dlúth idir Oisín agus Fionn agus bhí an-mheas ag Oisín ar a athair. Tá sé le feiceáil go láidir nuair a bhí Oisín ag fágáil na hÉireann chun dul go Tír na nOg le Niamh. Phóg sé Fionn go grámhar sular imigh sé ar an gcapall bán.

Nuair a bhuail Oisín le Niamh ar dtús, bhí gruaig (chothrom = fair/justice) fhionn uirthi agus bhí coróin á caitheamh aici. Bhí gúna síoda á caitheamh aici freisin. Thit Oisín i ngrá léi tar éis di geasa a chur air. Feicimid cén chaoi ar chuir a ghrá do Niamh cruatan air agus é le Niamh, caithfidh sé a athair agus na Fianna a fhágáil ina ndiaidh in Éirinn. Is cinneadh dian é seo ach mar gheall ar an (sprid? Geasa = enchantment), leanann Fionn Niamh go Tír na nÓg.

Nuair a bhí Oisín i dTír na nOg, smaoinigh sé ar na laethanta sona a bhí aige le Fionn in Éirinn. (Conas a chaith siad a laethanta?) Mhothaigh Oisin an-uaigneach gan a athair. Shamhlaigh sé faoin am a chuaigh siad ag seilg nó ag troid agus chuir sé seo an-bhrón air. Tar éis tamaill d’éirigh Oisin suaimhneach (míshuaimhneach = uneasy) agus theastaigh uaidh filleadh ar Éirinn. Mhothaigh sé nach bhfuil ciall dá shaol gan a athair agus theastaigh uaidh Fionn agus na Fianna a fheiceáil arís.

Nuair a bheartaigh sé go bhfillfeadh sé ar Éirinn, thug Niamh trí rabhadh dó. Dúirt sí go gcaithfeadh sé fanacht ar a chapall agus gan cos a chur ar ithir na hÉireann. Cé go raibh a shaol i mbaol, ba dheacair leis filleadh ar Éirinn arís. Feictear neart a chaidrimh lena athair agus é i mbaol a shaol chun Fionn a fheiceáil arís. Tá dílseacht Oisin dá athair agus do na Fianna an-láidir.

Bhí rud amháin nár inis Niamh d’Oisín, is é sin an t-am a chuaigh thart ar bhealach difriúil i dTír na nOg ná in Éirinn. Fad is a bhí Oisin i dtír na hóige agus é fós óg, bhí a athair agus na fir marbh. Bhí siad imithe i bhfad ó shin. Chuir sé seo an-bhrón ar Oisin agus chuir sé cruatan air. Chaill Oisin dhá rud a raibh grá aige dó, a athair agus Niamh.

Toisc nár éist Oisin le foláirimh Niamh, chuaigh sé chun cabhrú le fir áirithe carraig throm a bhogadh. Agus é seo á dhéanamh, thit sé den chapall, agus bhris sé an riail. Chomh luath agus a bhuail sé an talamh, chuaidh / d’éirigh sé ina sheanfhear dall. D’éirigh sé cráite agus ní raibh sé in ann filleadh ar thír na hóige a thuilleadh. Sin fáth eile lena chruatan, tá Niamh agus a thriúr clainne caillte aige anois, rud nach bhfeicfidh sé arís.

Thug na fir go Pádraig é agus chaith sé a laethanta deiridh ag tabhairt cuairte ar na háiteanna a mbíodh sé in éineacht le Fionn agus na Fianna. Cuireadh Oisin i riocht éagórach (unjust?) rud a chuir an-chruatan air agus é i ngrá le Niamh agus dílseacht aige dá athair agus do na Fianna. Bhí mí-ádh air agus ní fhéadfadh an dá cheann a bheith aige. Oisín i ndiaidh na Féinne (nath cainte a chiallaíonn an-bhrónach)

Scéal – 21 /25

Gaeilge 3 /5 = 24/30

Tá Córas Sláinte na tíre seo ina phraiseach

Aontaím go huile is go hiomlán le teideal na haiste seo go bhfuil córas sláinte na tíre seo ina phraiseach. Tá an fhadhb seo go mór i mbéal an phobail le fada an lá. Caithfidh mé a rá gur chuir teideal na haiste seo ag smaoineamh mé. Tá a fhios ag gach mac máthair go bhfuil murtall, fadhbanna meabhairshláinte agus fadhbanna le halcól agus drugaí ar chuid de na cineálacha fadhbanna is measa in Éirinn agus tá siad ag dul in olcas le fada anuas. San aiste seo déanfaidh mé plé ar na cineálacha fadhbanna a bhíonn bainteach leis an gCóras Sláinte. Chomh maith leis sin, déanfaidh mé iarracht réiteach a fháil ar na fadhbanna seo a leanas. (Oscailt mhaith)

Ar an gcéad dul síos, ní féidir é a shéanadh gur fadhb mhór an mheabhairshláinte, ní hamháin in Éirinn ach timpeall an domhain ar fad. Afách, tá meabhairshláinte in Éirinn ina praiseach. As an Eoraip ar fad, is é Éire an tír is measa maidir le cúrsaí meabhairshláinte. Cuireann an teicneolaíocht isteach go mór ar an meabhairsláinte, go háirthe do na daoine óga. Tá cibearbhulaíocht ag méadú an t-am ar fad. Bíonn daoine óga ag rá rudaí gránna faoi dhaoine eile ar líne. Gortaíonn na ráitis mhailíseacha seo na daoine leochaileacha. Mar thoradh, bíonn an t-uasmhéid féinmharaithe. Tagann strus, brú, náire agus neamhoird itheacháin fiú leis an teicneolaíocht agus na meáin chumarsáide. Uaireanta, cuireann daoine lámh ina mbás féin fiú. Is fadhb mhór í an mheabhairsláinte sa tír seo agus ní féidir é a shéanadh.

Gan aon amhras, is fadhb mhór í an murtall in Éirinn. Tá níos mó ná 40% de dhaoine ina gcónaí in Éireann atá de mhuintir na hÉireann murtallach. Cad is cúis leis an bhfadhb seo? Sa Tríú Domhan níl na fadhbanna seo ann. An bhfuil sé de bharr easpa oideachas ar shláinte an duine nó an aiste bhia? Sílim go bhfuil easpa oideachais sa tír seo maidir le cúrsaí sláinte agus mar thoradh níl daoine ag ithe an bia ceart nó ag fáil go leor aclaíochta gach lá. Cad é an réiteach i gcomhair na faidhbe seo? I mo thuairim láidir, ceapaim go gcaithfidh ranganna faoi aiste bia agus sláinte an duine a mhúinadh i ngach bunscoil agus meánscoil. Chomh maith leis seo, caithfidh an rialtas dul I ngleic leis an bhfadhb seo sula mbíonn sé ró-dhéanach.

Is fadhbanna an-mhóra iad alcól agus drugaí sa tír seo agus ní féidir é a shéanadh. Anois, in Éirinn tá drugaí le fáil i ngach áit agus bíonn daoine faoi aois ag ól an iomarca. Bíonn drugaí mar cócaon agus hearóin an-choitianta sa tír seo. Má bhíonn tú ag éisteacht leis an raidió nó ag féachaint ar an teilifís le déanaí tá a fhios agat cé chomh ciotianta atá an alcól agus drugaí in Éirinn. Ar an gcéad dul síos, is fadhb mhór é an t-alcól in Éirinn. Bíonn daoine faoi aois ag ól an t-am ar fad./ gach deireadh seacnhtaine Sílim go bhfuil sé de bharr go bhfuil costais ísle ar an alcól sa tír seo. Caithfidh an rialtas rud éigin a dhéanamh faoi. Mar thoradh ar an mí-úsáid drugaí agus alcól bíonn foiréigean I ngach áit. Tarlaíonn ionsaí gan choinne lá i ndiaidh lae. De réir an clár teilifíse, Tabú, ionsaíodh Shane Grogan gan choinne i 2012. Bhí sé amuigh lena chairde ag baint taitnimh as an oíche nuair a bhuail fear a bhí ar meisce cúl chinn Shane le bricín. Ní raibh sé ach fiche dó ag an am agus fágadh é i gcathaoir rothaí é tar éis an ionsaithe tragóidigh seo. Tá a shaol agus saol a theaghlaigh agus a chairde tar éis athrú go deo. Mar a deir an seanfhocal,nuair a bíonn an t-óil istigh, bíonn an chiall amuigh. Níl anseo ach scéal amháin as na mílte atá ann. Arís, sílim gurb é easpa oideachais cúis na faidhbe seo. Tá sé an deacair ar dhaoine óga díriú ar an oideachas mar bíonn a dtuismitheoirí ag mí-úsáid drugaí agus alcóil. Cad é réiteach na faidhbe seo? Caithfidh rialtas dul I ngleic leis agus b’fhéidir ionad speisialta cúnaimh a lonú i ngach contae. Rinne mé plé ar cúrsaí meabhairshláinte san aiste seo. Labhair mé faoin bhfadhb murtallach atá sa tír seo agus an fadhb an alcóil agus drugaí. Is léir go bhfuil cúrsaí sláinte na tíre seo ina phraiseach agus tá a fhios ag gach mac máthair é. Ag deireadh an lae caithfidh an rialtas dul i ngleic leis na fadhbanna seo go léir agus tiocfaidh feabhas air na cúrsaí sláinte in Éirinn.

Ábhar 8/15 – Córas Sláinte = health system, eg na hospidéil, an phaindéim Covid, na seirbhísí atá ar fáil etc – baineann an aiste seo le fadhbanna sláinte atá ag daoine óga, nó iompar frithshóisialta fiú.

Gaeilge = 42/80

An tábhacht a bhaineann le spórt i saol an duine.

Cé go bhfuil tabhacht ar leith ag baint le spórt i saol an ghnáthdhuine, tá sé thar a bheith soiléir dom go gcuirtear an iomarca béime ar na spóirteanna teangmálana spóirt teagmhála . Is iad spóirt mar pheil agus iománaíocht a fhaigheann na deontaisí srl ón Rialtais. Mar bharr ar an donais is iad sin amháín na spóirt atá ar fáil i bhformhór de scoileanna na tíre seachas na scoileanna príobháideacha agus roinnt de na meánscoileanna móra sna catharacha. Cén rogha atá ann más rud é go bhfuil mí-chumas éigin ort a chuireann bac ar do chuid ábaltacht chun spóirt dentsaghas sin a imirt?

Cuireadh 40 milliún euro ar fáil sa cháinaisnéis i mbliana chun infheistiú a dhéanamh sa rannóg spóirt. Tá 34.5% den airgead sin curtha ar fáil do na bord stúiraithe spóirt uile. Mar bharr ar sin tá deontais Covid curtha ar fáil dóibh chun cobhsaíocht airgid a thabhairt dóibh i rith na bliana. Léiríonn an chomparaid idir an céadtadan beag bídeach (6.7%) den airgead a cuireadh ar fáil don International Carding Scheme, scéim a thugann tacaaíocht cumhaileacta? do lúthchleasaithe as ocht a gcuid dtréanála agus na taillí do na gcomórtais, agus an t-airgead a fuair na boird stúiraithe, go bhfuil an iomarca infheistíochta ádhéanamh ag an Rialtais sna spóirt teagmhála. Nílim ag rá nach bhfuil aon airgead ar fail do lúthchleasiathe atá faoi mí-chumas, gan dabht tá, ach caithfear a bheith ag imirt ag caghdán caighdeán ard. Mar shampla, caithfear a bheith ag glacadh páirt i gcomótas mar na Cluichí Paroilimpeacha. Níl sé cothrom ar chor ar bith nach gcuirtear airgead ar fáil do lúchleasaisaithe atá faoi mí-chumas mura bhfuil siad ag imirt ar ard-chaghdáin. – ardchaighdeán

Faoí mar atá luaite agam thuas mura bhfuil a dhóthain airgid ag do mhuintir chun tú a chuir ar scoil phríobháideach, is fíorbheagán seans a bheith agat chun do rogha spóirt a dheéanamh gan a bheith buartha mar gheall ar chúrsaí airgid. Tá costas millteach ag baint le spóirt ar nós ballet bailé agus marcaíocht capaill. Ós rud é go dteastaíonn uait ballet a dhéanamh, bheadh ort 50 euro a chaitheamh ar na huirlisí bunúsacha, sin in uachtar ar phraghas na gceachtanna, timpeall 300 euro in aghaidh na bliana. Mar bharr ar sin ma tá tú ag ceannach bróga pointe, a chosnaíonn 100 euro ar a laghad, bheadh péire nua de dhíth ort gach mí chomh maith leis na rudaí breise ar fad. . Ó thaobh na marcáiochta de caithfear 350 euro ar a mheán a chaitheamh ar na huirlisí agus anuas ar sin caithfear idir 25 agus 60 euro a chaitheamh ar gach rang. Do mba rud é go raibh fonn ort níos mó ná rang amháin a dheanamh in aghaidh na seachtaine thiocfadh ardú ollmhór ar an chostas iomlán. Ach mo léinnléan , níl an rogha ag an gcuid is mó de dhaltaí méanscoile na tíre spóirt den saghas seo a dhéanamh tríd an scoil. Is iad spóirt teagmála amháin atá ar fáil do na daltaí seo agus is mór an trua é sin.

Domsa, go pearsanta, ní raibh radharc na súl ró-iontach orm agus mé ag fas aníos. Cé go raibh mé tapaidh agus aclaí go leor chun cluichí mar pheil nó camógaíocht a imirt. Ní raibh mé in ann na himreoirí eile timpeall orm a fheicint fheiceáil i gceart. De bharr sin níor lean mé orm ag cleachtadh na gcluichí seo. É sin ráite, bhain mé mo chúinne bea? fhéin amach i bhfoirm ballet agus marcaíocht capall. Bhain mé idir thaitneamh agus tháirbhe as an tréimhse ghairid a chaith me ag déanamh ballet. An rud ba mó a thaithin liom mar gheall ar ná an ceol aoibhinn a bhíodh á sheinnt ag an múinteoir. Thug an ceo an spás dom chun me fhéin a chuir in iúl i slí thaitneamhach. Thosaigh mé ag marcáiocht go rialta ag aois a 6, cé go raibh capall agam sa bhaile agus mé ag fás aníos. Táim fós ag marcaíocht. Níl dabht ar bith i m’aigne ach gurb é an marcaíocht an spóirt is tábhachtáí i mo shaol. Tugann sé faoiseamh dom ó strus agus ó anró an tsaoil. Anuas ar sin, is aoibhinn liom a bheith i dteannta capaill. Molaim d’éinne nach bhfuil tar éis triail a bhaint as dul agus e a dhéanamh. Is taithí iontach é.

Mar fhocal scoir, tá sé rí-thábhachtach go gcuirfeadh an Rialtais agus na heagraíochtaí spóirt aroan níos mó achmain ar fáil do lúthchleasaithe atá faoi mhí-chumas ag gach leibhéal, ní amhráin na lúthchleasaithe profisiúnta.

Líon focal: 764

Ábhar: 9/15

Gaeilge: 48 / 80 = 62/100

An cheist is mó ( the main issue is the essay doesn’t match the title)

An tábhacht a bhaineann le spórt – (the importance of sport- this only came through in the ballet and horse riding paragraph)

Moladh – recommendation – alt oscailte – the opening paragraph should lay out your thoughts on the title – do you believe sport is important – bheifeá ag súil le topaicí mar – sláinte, sláinte intinne, obair foirne, scileanna, an taobh shóisialta de, féiniúlacht. Bhí tú diúltach faoin spórt ag tús na haiste (your opening paragraphs were negative with no references to the benefits of sport)

Ní féidir a shéanadh ach gur fadhb mhór chasta í sláinte intinne In Eirinn

Is beag rud atá nios lárnaí i saol an duine ná cursaí sláinte intinne., is fear an tsláinte ná an táinte (mar a deir an seanfhocal),ach muna bhfuil corás sláinte intinne, eifeachtach in Eirinn, tá baol ann. Tá gach rud ag bráth ar chursaí meabhairshláinte.Is ar éigean a thagann (a théann) lá tharainn nach mbíonn tagairt de short éigean faoin gcursaí (ar chúrsaí) meabhairshláinte.Da bhrí sin, ba choir dom an scéal a iniuchadh agus mo thuairim féin a thabhairt (faoi) ar na fadhbanna ata ann.. Tá súil agam go mbeidh se rí shoiléir (is) gur fadbh ollmhór í agus níl sí inghlachta a thuilleadh i sochaí an lae inniu agus (go m)ba cheart iarracht choinsiasach a dhéanamh chun líon na ndaoine atá ag fulaingt lena chuid meabhairsláinte a laghdú agus níos mó cabhrach a chuir ar fáil, sula mbeadh sé ro dheanach. (ródhéanach)

Cad is brí leis an téarma meabhairshláinte? Is éard atá i gceist ná an bealach a mhothaíonn tú fút féin agus do chumas déileáil leis na fadhbanna laethúla atá agat i do ghnáthshaol.Má fhéachaimid ar na staitisticí níl aon dabht ach gur scanrúil an pictiúr a fheicimid. Deirtear go bhfuil fadhbanna leis an dúlagar ag duine as cúigear in Eirinn.Is deacair a chreidiúint go gcuireann beagnach ceithre chéad duine lámh ina mbás féin sa tír seoa gach bliain. Is iad na fir óga ochtó fáoin gcead den 400 sin. (de na ndaoine a chuireann a lámh ina mbás féin.)Cé a chreidfeadh go dtarlaíonn a leithéid?Bhuel, tarlaíonn agus níor choir d’éinne bheith bródúil (?) as.mar a fheictear domsa é, is fadbh mhór chasta í

Ach cad iad na cuiseanna? Ar an gcéad dul síos, déarfainn fein go láidir go bhfuil baint mhór ag na an Meáain leis an dúlagar nó meabhairghalar, go hairithe I measc na nóg.Cruthaítear brú soisíalta maidir le cuma fhisiciúil.. Chomh mhaith leis sin, usaidtear an na meain shoisíalta chun teacsana gránna a sheoladh.Ná déanaimis dearmad ar na cailíní bochta as Éirinn e a (ghabháil féinbháis) chuir lámh ina mbás féin / a mharaigh iad féin mar gheall ar “ask.fm”.Is scanrúil an rud é go scriosann an chíbearbhullaíocht saol agus intinn a lán daoine óga agus go deimhin (go gcúisíonn sé = cúisíonn = accuses) is í is cúis le feinmharú no dúlagar.

Ar an dara dul síos, feictear domsa go gcuisíonn drugaí agus an t-ól an fhadbh seo.(Feictear domsa gurb iad an t-ól…..is cúis leis an bhfadhb)Is minic a chasann daoine ar dhrugaí no ar ragús óil chun faoiseamh a fháil chun ealú on chruatan an tsaoil. Bíonn roinnt daoine róthugtha do na drugaí nó an t-ól oil. De reir an taighde is deanaí, tá baint ag alcól nó drugaí I caoga fan gcead daoine de na cásanna ina chuireann daoine a lámh ina mbás fein. Tá an fhianaise ann , go ndeantar dámáiste ollmhór don mheabhairsláinte de bharr an alcóil agus drugaí.

Tá an galar seo forleathan I measc daoine fásta chomh maith.Rinne an cúlú eacnamaíochta a lán dochair don mheabair shláinte. Bhí cursaí go dona agus tá siad ag dul in olcas la I ndiadh lae.Cailleadh postanna agus ni raibh daoine abálta a gcuid morgáistí a íoc. Cuireadh bru ollmhór ar muintir na heireann. De thoradh , bhí meabhairsláinte an duine ina phraiseach.Is léir go raibh an fhadbh seo ag reabadh tríd an tír seo le blianta beaga anuas.

Ach, Féachaimis ar na rudai dearfacha. Sna laetheanta seo, bíonn daoine ag caint faoina gcuid mothucháin agus ag teacht amach agus ag labhairt faoina gcuid fadbhanna. Féach ar an meid oibre atá déanta ag eagraíochtaí mar “Pieta House” agus “Jigsaw”.Gan iad, bheadh an sceal I bhfad níos measa.

Is deacair an fhadhb a réiteach.Ceapaim nach mór don Ríaltas tuilleadh oideachais faoin bhfadbh seo a thabairt don ghlúin nua atá ag fás aníos faoi láthair. Mar, blianta o shin, bhi an fhadbh faoi cheilt ach is mór idir inné agus inniú.Mholfainn do dhaoine óga a chuid mothuchain a phlé agus cabahir agus comhairle a lorg ma ta fadbhbanna acu. Chuirfeadh sé áthas orm, dá dtabharfaí an t-oideachas doibh .

Ba choir don Rialtas níos mo airgeaid a infheistú I bhfeachtais agus sceaéimeanna chun meabhair sláinte a fheabhsú, mar shampla, níos mo cabhair a chur ar fháil do dhaoine atá ag fulaingt no dlíthe níos deine a chuir I bhfeidhm maidir le cíbearbhulaíocht, daoine a sháraionn an dlí agus drugaí midhleathacha.D’feabhsódh siad cursaí agus bheinn lán sásta.

Tá se deacair meabhairghalar a aithint i measc ár gcairde agus ár dteaghlaigh. sin é an fath (go bhfuil sé) gurb í an fhadbh is chasta sa tir seo I mo thuairim, mar níl mar a shíltar a bhítear.Ba cheart duinn ar gcluas a thabhairt agus ár ndhicheaill a dheanamh chun cabhair a lorg duinn fein.

Mar fhocail scoir, taim dóchasach don todhchaí. Is feidir linn an fhadbh seo a reiteach igh agus a laghdú dá noibreoimis le cheile. As a chéile a dhéantar na caisleáin

An Líon focal – 770

Tá a lán fadaí ar iarraidh. Is féidir iad a chur isteach má bhrúnn tú ar an gcnaipe “alt gr” atá in aice leis an spásbharra. (There are lots of instances of a missing fada, or a fada in the wrong place but I gave this the benefit of the doubt. I haven’t corrected them all here)

Ar an iomlán, aiste mhaith, eolas maith ar an ábhar, leagan amach maith, stór focal maith, úsáid bainte as Modh Coinníollach go minic freisin. (Well done on the structure, layout, and rich vocab used, as well as the use of the Conditional Tense)

Ábhar = 12/15

Gaeilge = 61/80

(Aiste ar) foréigean agus coireacht.

Gan dabht (ar bith) tá saol na hÉirinn (Tá an saol in Éirinn) i ndiaidh athrú go mór le blianta beaga anuas, i ngach gné den saol idir chursaí oideachais, chursaí airgid agus chursaí polaitíochta ach é sin ráite b’fhéidir an t-athrú is mó atá i ndiaidh teacht chun cinn ar an oiléan seo nó na hathruithe atá tagtha i gcursaí coireachta agus foréigin. Ní hamháin sa tír seo atá athrú tagtha ach ar fud an domhain. Gan amhras is áit chontúirteach í an domhan seo ina bhfuilimid inár gcónaí ann (ina chonaí) ann.

Ar an drochuair, tá stair an chine dhaonna breac le scéalta faoin bhforéigean agus faoin dearg ghráin a bhíonn ag clanna, ag náisiún agus ag ciníocha ar a chéile. Níl difear ar bith i stair na hÉireann, ó thús am staire bhí an tír seo i gconaí breac le heasaontais agus de bharr sin bhí cuid mhór foréigin i gconaí ar siúl. Smaoinigh siar ar scéalta chogadh cathartha na tíre agus Éirí amach na Cásca nuair a bhi nimh san fheoil idir muintir na hÉireann agus na Sásannaigh.

Is minic a chloistear faoin gcoiriúlacht atá ar siúl ar fud an triú domhain agus an damáiste atá á dhéanamh de bhailte agus de chathartha na n-áiteanna seo. Tá seandaoine ag crith leis an eagla ina gcuid dtithe agus iad ag éisteacht leis an nuacht ach i mo thuairim féin is iad rialtais na dtíortha, a bhfuil ráta mór coiriúlachta iontu, ar cheart dúinn an mhéar a dhiriú orthu. Gineann an bochtanas fadhbanna eile agus go minic nuair atá daoine seo beo bocht agus gan pingin rua acu téann daoine i muinín an fhoréigin agus na coireachta.

Tá cuid mhór cínealacha coiriúlachta difirúla fríd an domhan sa la atá inniu ann agus b’fhéidir ceann de na samplaí is fearr den choiriúlacht úr seo nó i gcursaí airgid agus thar an líne teileafóin. Go minic anois faightear glaoigh teileafóin ó uimhreacha amhrasacha a bhfuil camscéimeanna ar siúl acu agus atá ag cur dallamullóg ar dhaoine saonta ag robáil a gcuid airgid. Gan dabht tá daoine anois níos curamaí leis na cínealacha seo camscéimeanna atá ar siúl ag na coirpigh seo ach go fóill tá sé ag tarlú. Fiú coicís ó shín chaill m’athair caoga euro as a chreidmheas fóin tar éis glaoch ó uimhir sa tSúdáin a fhreagairt! Ní mó na sastá a bhí sé. Sin ráite tá moladh tuilte ag na gardaí atá ag fáíl an lámh in uachtar ar an cíneal seo coire seo arís.

Bhí, tá agus beidh fadhb shíoraí ag Éirinn leis an ólachán agus silim gurb é seo atá ar thús cadhnaíochta (ar thús cadhnaíochta = pioneering, ní oireann sé anseo) (Tá an t-ólachán mar chúis ag an iompar frithshóisialta / is é an t-ólachán is cúis leis an iompar sóisialta) le haghaidh an iompar frithshóisialta a mbíonn ann i dtithe tabhairne agus clubanna oíche a leanann ar aghaidh go h-achtanna foréigeanacha go minic ag deireadh na h-oíche. Is féidir liom é a fheicail fiú i mo bhaile féin agus mé amuigh le mo chairde san óiche. Gan dabht tá an ceart ag mo mháthair rabhadh géar a thabhairt dom sula dtéim chuig an dioscó , faoin dainséar r a mbaineann leis an alcól ach ní hé an t-alcól an t-aon ghriosóir le haghaidh iompar frithshóísialta…

Tá drugaí níos coitianta i measc deagoirí agus óganaigh í na tíre seo anois nó mar a bhí riamh. De réir na staisticí agus raflaí ar na meáin n shóisialta tá paindéimeach an chóicín builte linn sa tír seo agus tá níos mó mí-úsaid substaintí ag tarlú anois nó mar a bhí riamh. Cuireann na cínealacha seo scealtaí atá me ag cloiseacht in umar na haimléise mé, go bhfuil daoine cosúil liom féin, an aois chéanna liomsa mallaithe ag agus gafa ag drugaí salacha lofa seo.

Is áit dhainséarach í an domhan, ach bhí í gconaí, gan dabht fad is atá an cine daonna ann béidh foréigean agus coireachta ann. Tá daoine ar nós na gardaí síochana i gconaí ag déanamh a seacht ndícheall chun muidine a choinneail ar ár suaimhneas agus caithfear an moladh agus an buíochas atá tuilte acu a thabhairt daofa, mar gan iad ní bheadh an dara suí sa bhuaile againn ach fanacht sa bhaile.

An Líon focal = 675

Ábhar – 8/15

Foréigean agus Coireacht (Coir = one crime, is coir é rud éigin a ghoid mar shampla) Céar faoi sainmhíniú a thaibhairt ar cad is foréigiean ann? Cad is coireacht ann? (How about providing a definition of both?) In aiste faoi choireacht bheifeá ag súil le plé de shaghas éigin ar na mangairí drugaí, seachas ar ghlaoigh fóin, fadhbanna na ngardaí, mar shampla an méid stáisiúin a dúnadh le linn an chúlaithe. (Some discussion on the drug dealers and the issues that the Gardaí have, especially the amount of stations that have been closed would be expected in an essay of this nature) Luaigh tú an tríú domhan, ach níor luaigh tú aon samplaí den fhoréigean a bhíonn ar siúl san tíortha seo. (It was disappointing that you didn’t follow up on the types of violence that occurs in 3rd world countries, or even which countries). Tá iompar frithshóisialta go forleathan ceart go leor, ach arís bheadh samplaí go hiontach mar fhianaise. (The paragraph on anti-social behaviour would have benefitted from some examples of what actually happens in the pubs and clubs, and why) Mholfainn níos lú altanna, ach iad a bheith níos láidre ó thaobh fianaise agus samplaí de. (Less paraghraphs, but more detail – 3 /4 main ideas and “proof” in each case)

Gaeilge: 48/80 (Roinnt mhaith stór focal, ach an-chuid mionbhotún Gaeilge – marc ceangailte leis an mar don stíl – Some good vocab in parts, but a lot of small grammar errors. Remember that the Irish grade and the topic grade are linked)

Is fadhb mhór dhomhanda í fadhb na timpeallachta.

Níl amhras dá laghad agam ach gur ábhar conspóideach achrannach é ceist na timpeallachta san lá ata inniu ann. Cloistear scéal éigin ar an raidió, feictear íomhánna scanrúla ar an teilifís no léitear míreanna nuachta uafásacha gach lá faoi bhagairt de shaghas éicint ar an timpeallacht. Ní théann lá tharainn nach mbíonn an t-ábhar seo i mbéal an phobail san ollmhargadh, i seomra feithimh an dochtúra nó i gceaintín oibre. Is cinnte gur fadhb mhór dhomhanda an lae inniu í fadhb na timpeallachta. (Is maith an smaoineamh plean na haiste a leagan amach san alt oscailte, eg, labhróidh mé faoi, nó féachfaidh mé ar etc)

Féachaimis ar na gnéithe éagsúla a bhaineann leis an topaic phráinneach chomhaimseartha seo agus ná bímis ró-neirbhíseach (?) faoi uafás an ábhair. Maidir leis an aeráid dhomhanda, ní mór dúinn a adhmháil go bhfuil athruithe móra tar éis teacht ar an aeráid le blianta beaga anuas. Cad faoi haigéin scriosta le hearraí plaisteacha, an dumpáil rúnda mhídhleathach sna hoícheanta, sráideanna na mbailte is na gcathracha lofa le bruscar brocach caite gan choinsias tar éis scléip is spraoi sna clubanna oíche agus sna tithe sceallóg? Feictear cannaí caite, buidéil bhriste agus páipéir na mbeartán ar fud na háite. (Cad é an pointe atá á chruthú agat anseo? Tá sé níos fearr cloí le hábhar mór amháin i ngach alt)

Tuairiscíodh i bhfómhar na bliana 2018 go bhfuil líon na n-ainmhithe fiáine laghdaithe seasca faoin gcéad le caoga bliain anuas. (Céard faoi cúpla ceann a lua?) Is náireach agus is scannalach í an fhíric thubaisteach seo. Cuirtear na milleán orainn mar chine daonna. Tá an locht orainn mar bímid ag ró-úsáid ar n-acmhainní nadúrtha a theastaíonn go géar ó na hainmhithe fiáine agus ó na héin fhiáine. (Conas a scriosaimid a ngnáthóga? Céard faoi ainmhí amháin a roghnú agus labhairt faoin dochar atá déanta dá ghnáthóg?) Ní fada uainn an lá nuair a thiocfaidh díothú ar fhiadhúlra an domhain, (Cén t-ainmhí atá go mór i mbaol?) mar gheall ar théamh domhanda agus ar dhífhoraoisiú. Go simplí tá muintir na hÉireann agus na cruinne móire ag déanamh dochar dár n-aeráid.

An mbíonn an gnáthdhuine saor ó locht maidir le fadhb mhór dhomanda na timpeallachta? Ní bhíonn, ar ndóigh. D’fhéadfadh saoránaigh na tíre so a gcuid a dhéanamh chun cabhrú leis an timpeallacht a shlánú. An mbítear ag úsáid córas scagtha bruscair, bosca don athchúrsáil, bosca don dramháil nó an bosca múirín? An dtógtar buidéil úsáidte go dtí an banc buidéal? An úsáidtear malaí in-bhithmhillte? An nglactar páirt in imeachtaí áitiúla agus scoile chun an ceantar a choinneáil glan, an Brat Glas, mar shampla, no bailiúchán bruscair ar na sráideanna agus ar na bóithre? An ndóitear breosla iontaise? An ndéantar iarracht timpeallacht ísealcharbóin a chruthú? An ithear an iomarca mairteola? An dtiomáintear carr leictreach? Is maith iad na ceisteanna sin dúinn toisc gurb oscailteoir súl iad dúinne. Dar liomsa ba cheart dúinn bheith buartha faoi fhadhb mhór dhomanda na timpeallachta. (Tá cúpla ceist reitriciúil go breá, ach caithfear topaic a phlé. Céard faoi chúpla moladh a chur isteach freisin, eg, ba cheart, ba chóir srl)

Nach mbíonn trua againn nuair a chloisimid go dtarlaíonn imeachtaí tragoideacha na haimsire géire in Éirinn agus in áiteanna ar fud an domhain? Séidtear stoirmeacha fíochmhara, scriostar bailte móra agus bailte iargúlta. Réabtar tithe is siopaí le cumhacht na gaoithe. Nár tharla tuilte de bharr stoirmeacha Ophelia agus Lorenzo inár dtír féin? Nár maraíodh cupla duine i rith na stoirmeacha sin? Nár fhoglaimaíomear ar fad go bhfuil an téamh domhanda buailte linn ar leac ár ndorais féin, mar a déarfa? Bhlaiseamar an triomacht mhillteach agus an teaspach géar le linn shamhradh 2018. Chonaiceamar titim mhór sneachta i rith an gheimhridh a chlúdaigh gach áit, ag cruthú fadhbanna d’fheirmeoirí agus do na Seirbhísí Éigeandála. Nach dtaispeánann na samplaí sin gur fadhb mhór dhomhanda í ar léibhéal áitiúil?

Cén réiteach atá ar an bhfadhb mhór dhomhanda seo? Ní mór a chur ina luí ar lucht scoile agus ar theaghlaigh go bhfuil dualgas orainn páirt a ghlacadh san fheachtas ar son na glaineachta. Dá mbéadh níos mó comhlachtaí sásta an cinneadh céanna a dhéanamh is a rinne Bord na Móna sa chath in aghaidh an bhreosla carbóin a throid. (Cén cinnead a bhí ann? Cén toradh a bhí air?) D’fhéadfaimis dul gan chupán caife nó gan bhuidéil phlaisteacha a úsáid. Ba chóir do cheannairí an domhain cloí go docht le Comhaontú Páras. Dá gcoinneodh náisiúin an domhain, Meiriceá san áireamh, faoi bhun an dá chéim d’árdu teochta, b’fhéidir go mbeadh rith an rása againn i gcoinne astaíochta gás ceaptha teasa agus smacht againn ar théamh domhanda.

Mar fhocal scoir, níl le rá agam ach gur fadhb mhór dhomhanda í ag dul in olcas lá i ndiadh lae. Mura dtugann rialtas na hÉireann agus ceannairí an domhain faoin bhfadhb mhór dhomhanda seo, gan aon agó beidh sé in umar na haimléise sa todhchaí. Is maith an scéalaí an aimsir!

Tá caighdeán iontach maith Gaeilge agat. Tá sé iontach gur féidir leat Modh Coinníollach, briathar saor agus Tuiseal Ginideach a úsáid gan stró, Maith thú.

Cúpla moladh faoin aiste – pointe mór amháin i ngach alt agus forbairt déanta air, “mapa” san alt oscailte faoi cad a bheidh á phlé agat. Más fadhb dhomhanda atá ann, cad faoi samplaí ó thíortha a lua – Greta Thunberg ag dul go Meiriceá i mbád seoil chun a pointe a chruthú. Cad iad na tíortha ina bhfuil na hainmhithe i mbaol? Seachain liostaí móra ceisteanna, is leor cúpla ceist chun béim a chur ar phointe éigin.

Ábhar – 13 / 15

Gaeilge – 70 / 80

An tionchar atá ag an athrú aeráide ar phobail éagsúla an domhain (2018)

Níl lá dá dtéann tharainn anois nach mbíonn tagairt éigin don athrú aeráide agus a thionchar orainn sa nuacht. Tá an fhadhb seo ina cnámh spairne le blianta beaga anuas, agus tá sí ag crá agus ag creimeadh an domhain. (Bhí) Tá tubaistí nadúrtha ann ó ré na gcloch anall ach tá an tionchar atá ag an athrú aeráide ar phobail éagsúla an domhain tar éis ardú as cuimse, agus anois tá an fhadhb mar ghéarchéim phráinneach ár n-aoise. Tá smacht ag an athrú aeráide orainn go léir, agus inniu tá sé ar intinn agam féachaint go mion ar theideal na haiste seo agus anailís a dhéanamh ar an tionchar atá ag an bhfeiniméan seo orainn fud fad an domhain.

I dtosach báire, pléimis an tionchar atá ag an athrú aeráide ar ár bpobal féin in Éirinn. Tuigeann gach mac máthar agus gach iníon athar go bhfuil an athrú aeráide tar éis dul i bhfeidhm orainn sa tírín seo. Cuireadh é sin in iúl dúinn ach go háirithe i mí Dheireadh Fomhair sa bhliain dhá mhíle is a seacht déag nuair a tháinig ‘Stoirm Ophelia’ chugainn. Spéirling uafásach a bhí inti, agus (cúisíodh= was accused) ba í ba chúis leis an uafás damáiste- scriosadh sealúchas, leagadh crainn ar na bóithre, agus ar an drochuair, fuair triúr bás. Is iomaí iarmhairt a bhí ann do mhuintir na hÉireann, agus bhí sé an-deacair orainn an damáiste a chealú. Dúnadh na scoileanna go léir le linn na stoirme sin, agus bhí orthu dúnadh arís an Márta ina dhiadh sin nuair a tháinig ‘Stoirm Emma’, nó ‘An Torathar ón Oirthear’. De réir na saineolaithe, níor thit an méid sin sneachta le breis agus daichead bliain anuas, agus don dara uair laistigh de sé mhí bhí drochthionchar ag an athrú aeráide orainn go léir. Ní rabhamar ábalta ár dtithe a fhágáil, cuireadh na seirbhisí stáit go léir ar ceal, agus dúnadh gnóthaí ar fud na hÉireann. Ní féidir cur ina luí orm nach ndeachaigh an t- athrú aeráide go mór i bhfeidhm ar phobal na hÉireann le linn na stoirmeacha thuas luaite, agus is í an fhírinne shearbh ná go ndearna siad luach na milliún euro de dhamáiste do bhonneagar agus d’eacnamaíocht na tíre.

Ar an taobh eile ar fad de, is cosúil gur bhain gach duine taitneamh as an dea-aimsir a bhí ann an samhradh seo caite tar éis bliana drochaimsire. Shroich an teocht naoi gcéim is fiche in áiteanna éagsúla sa tír, agus cé gur bhreá an ní é sin agus muid ag iarraidh dath na gréine a fháil, is cúis imní é freisin. Tugadh ‘triomach’ ar an tréimhse sin, agus bhí feirmeoirí na tíre buailte go dona aige. Meabhraíonn tréimhsí mar sin dúinn go bhfuil an domhan ag éirí níos teo agus go bhfuil méadú tagtha ar an tionchar atá ag an athrú aeráide orainn na laethanta seo. Cinnte, ar an dromchla, is iontach an rud é sin do phobal na hÉireann mar go bhfuil an oiread sin taithí againn ar bháisteach agus ar fhuacht. Ar an lámh eile, áfach, ní féidir linn bheith dall ar na contúirtí a thagann i gcuideachta na haimsire seo, ar nós stoirmeacha leictreacha, ardú leibhéal na bhfarraigí agus ailse craicinn, gan ach cúpla sampla a lua. Mar sin, tuigtear dom gur chóir dúinn uile bheith buartha go leor faoin tionchar atá ag an athrú aeráide orainn mar tá an tionchar sin ag éirí níos mó agus níos dainséaraí lá i ndiadh lae.

Ní hamháin go bhfuil tionchar ag an bhfeiniméan seo orainn in Éirinn, ach freisin tá greim ag an athrú aeráide ar phobail eile timpeall an domhain. Mar shampla, má fhéachaimid trasna an Aigéin Atlantaigh, tá a fhios ag an saol mór agus a mháthair go bhfuil tionchar ag an athrú aeráide ar na Stát Aontaithe agus ná tíortha mórthimpeall, mar shampla Pórtó Ríce. I mí Mheán Fómhair sa bhliain 2017, bhí idir uafás agus alltacht orm nuair a chuala mé faoi ‘Spéirling Maria’, agus an dochar a rinneadh i bPórtó Ríce. Réabadh an áit as a céile, maraíodh thart ar thrí mhíle duine, agus fágadh na mílte duine gan dídean. In Éirinn bíonn sé dúshlánach go leor dúinn dul i ngleic leis an damáiste a thagann i gcuideachta adhaimsire (?) , ach i bPórtó Ríce tá na saoránaigh fós ag iarraidh a saolta a athbhunú agus is scanrúil an rud é sin. Léirigh an eachtra uafásach seo dom go bhfuil tionchar ag an athrú aeráide ar phobail éagsúla ó cheann ceann na cruinne, agus is fíor go bhfuil sé ina ábhar imní dúinn uile.

É sin ráite, de réir mar a fheicimse féin é, tá an tionchar is mó agus is measa ag an athrú aeráide agus cúrsaí aimsire ar phobal an triú domhain. I mo thuairim, tá sé scannalach go bhfuil na daoine is leochailí agus is soineanta ar domhan ag fulaingt an méid is mó de dheasca na faidhbe seo. Toisc go bhfuil an domhan ag éirí níos teo bliain i ndiadh bliana, tá triomaigh agus gorta go forleathan sna tíortha i mbéal forbartha ar nós Uganda agus an Congó. Leis an teas uafásach atá ann, níl na daoine ábalta a mbarraí a chothú agus bíonn ar níos mó páistí óga scoil a fhágáil chun cabhrú sa bhaile nó chun dul i mbun oibre chun airgead a thuilleamh dá gclann. Gan an t-oideachas sin, tá sé geall le bheith dodhéanta dóibh saol níos fearr a dhéanamh dóibh féin nó dul chun cinn a dhéanamh sa saol in aon chor. Fáinne fí atá ann, agus taibhsítear dom go bhfuil sé go hainnis go bhfuil na daoine leochaileacha seo ag fulaingt agus ag streachailt mar thoradh ar chúrsaí aimsire agus an greim atá ag an athrú aeráide orthu. Cruálacht lom atá ann, agus cuireann sé fearg orm pé uair a chuiním chuimhním air.

Anois go bhfuil an tionchar atá ag an athrú aeráide ar dhaoine ar fud an domhain pléite agam, is dócha go bhfuil sé tráthúil ceist a chur- cé atá freagrach as an ngéarchéim uafásach seo? Is oth liom a rá go bhfuil an chuid is mó den locht ar an gcine daonna sinn féin. Deirtear nach raibh na leibhéil dé-ocsaíd charbóin agus gáis cheaptha teasa riamh chomh hard is atá siad le trí chéad bliain anuas, ‘sé sin nuair a thosaigh an réabhlóid thionsclaíoch. Go háirithe anseo in Éirinn táimid ag brath go huile is go hiomlán ar bhreoslaí iontaise ó thíortha thar lear, agus nuair a dhóimid na breoslaí sin, scaoiltear dé-ocsaíd charbóin san atmaisféar. Cuireann na sceitheadh seo le téamh domhanda agus leis an athrú aeráide agus is iad sin is cúis leis na fadhbanna go léir atá againn ó thaobh timpeallachta de. Gach uair a théimid i muinín an ghluaisteáin in ionad dul ag rothaíocht, cuirimid lenár lorg carbóin. Aon uair a chuirimid aon rud sa bhosca bruscair, táimid ag cur leis an méid dramhaíle atá á chur i laithreán líonra talún. Táthar ag tuar go n-ardóidh leibhéal na bhfarraigí breis is cúig cheintiméadar chuile bliain, go n-éireodh an domhan níos fliche agus níos teo fiú mar atá sé sa lá atá inniu ann, agus go mbeidh níos mó tuilte, aimsir antoisceach agus fulaingt ann má leanaimid ar aghaidh mar seo sna blianta atá romhainn.

Is léir don dall go gcaithfimid rud éigin a athrú, ag céard is féidir linn a dhéanamh? Buíochas le Dia, tá sé de chumhacht againn an tionchar atá ag an athrú aeráide orainn a laghdú. I dtosach báire, ní féidir a shéanadh ach go bhfuil sé thar am dúinn an ruaig a chur ar ár spleáchas ar bhreoslaí iontaise. Anseo in Éirinn tá cumhacht na bhfarraigí thart timpeall orainn, agus ba chóir go mbeimisne mar cheannródaithe i bhforbairt na teicneolaíochta glaise seo. Caithfimid foinsí inathnuaite fuinnimh a thógáil agus a úsáid sa treo is go mbeimid saor ónár spleáchas ar bhreoslaí iontaise. Ina theannta sin, tá infheistíocht ag teastáil chun féachaint chuige nach bhfulaingeoidh bonneagar sa tír seo agus sna tíortha i gcéin de dheasca thionchar na haimsire arís. Rud eile , ba cheart dúinn an cháin charbóin a ardú chun spreagadh a thabhairt don phobal ár lorg carbóin a ísliú agus chun cúnamh a thabhairt do na daoine bochta sna tíortha i mbéal forbartha a bhfuil ag streachailt go crua leis an athrú aeráide.

‘Ar scáth a chéile a mhairimid’ a deir an seanfhocal, agus oireann sé go mór do na fadhbanna atá againn na laethanta seo mar thoradh ar an athrú aeráide. Tá todhchaí an phlainéid idir dhá cheann na meá agus tá todhchaí an chine dhaonna ann chomh maith. Agus muid ag tabhairt aghaidhe ar an todhchaí, is den riachtanas é go n-oibreoimid le chéile chun dul i ngleic leis an tionchar atá ag an athrú aeráide orainn ar gach cearn den domhan, go gcloímid leis na rialacha a tháinig ón gComhaontú Páras, agus go seasaimid an fód le chéile chun an fhadhb seo a réiteach, ar áis nó ar éigean. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, ‘is maith an scéalaí an aimsir’!

Feedback: any mistakes I found were minor, just spelling errors. It is the probably equivalent to the standard of a teacher! My only reservation is around the length – it is not required or realistic.

Staid na Gaeilge faoi láthair.

Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. Ba é Pádraig Mac Piarais a dúirt na focail sin. (Faraor), tá an chuma ar an scéal, áfach, go bhfuil todhchaí neamhchinnte i ndán do Ghaeilge na tíre seo, go háirithe sna ceantair Ghaeltachta. San aiste seo, déanfaidh mé anailís ar thrí ghné a bhainnean le staid na Gaeilge faoi láthair. I dtús báire, pléifidh mé an easpa seirbhísí agus deiseanna fostaíochta i gceantair thuaithe agus i gceantair Ghaeltachta. Pléifidh mé na pobail bheaga Ghaeilge thar lear agus scríobhfaidh mé freisin faoin nGaeilge i scoileanna. Faoi deireadh thiar thall, luafaidh mé cúpla pointe faoi staid na Gaeilge i mo scoil, Ashton. (Tá an t-alt oscailte seo píosa rófhada; níor chóir go mbeadh sé níos faide ná na haltanna eile; níl ann ach réamhrá)

Mar is eol do chách, is iomaí dúshlán atá roimh cheantair Ghaeltachta. Tá daoine óga na nGaeltachtaí ag dul ar imirce toisc nach bhfuil áiseanna ann. Téann siad go dtí cathracha móra na tíre nó fiú ar imirce chun tíortha thar lear. Bíonn sé deacair an Ghaelige a chaomhnú nuair a fhágann cainteoirí óga Gaeilge ceantair Ghaeltachta. Ar an dea-uair, tá nóta dóchais ann. Tá fás mór ar líon na gcainteoirí gníomhacha i gceantair nach bhfuil sa Ghaeltacht. (Cén fáth a bhfuil a bhfuil tábhacht leis na Gaeltaachtaí? Cén stáir atá leo? )

I láthair na huaire, tá méadú mór ar líon na nGaelscoilenna agus na nGaelcholáistí sa tír. Chomh maith le sin, tá pobail bheaga Ghaeilge i gCeanada, i Sasana, agus i dtíortha eile thar lear. Ach an féidir leis na pobail seo an Ghaeilge a choinneáil beo? Is maith an scéalaí an aimsir. Caithfidh an Rialtas a aithint, áfach go mbraitheann na Gaelgeoirí seo ar Ghaeilge na Gaeltachta. Má chailltear saibhreas na teanga: scéalta, dánta, seanfhocail, nathanna agus a leithéid, beidh sé rídhúslánach an Ghaeilge a fhorbairt mar theanga chomaimseartha. Ní féidir linn anam ár dtíre a chailleadh. (Cad a fhaigeann páistí as na Gaelscoileanna? Cad a dhéanann daoine ag na pop-up Gaeltachtaí?)

Admhaítear sa lá atá inniu ann go bhfuil caighdeán na teanga níos ísle ná mar a bhí ag tús an chéid seo caite. I mo thuairimse is é seo ar ndóigh a deir ? (is é sin an fáth a deir daoine?) nach fiú an Ghaeilge a choinneáil beo agus tá daoine ann a cheapann nár chóir go mbeadh an Ghaeilge ina hábhar éigeantach. Ba mhaith liom dul i ngleic leis an tuairim seo. Tá an Ghaeilge fós mar abhár éigeantach sna scoileanna. Ar chóir an Ghaeilge a dhéanamh roghnach? N’fheadar, ach dar liom, ní roghnódh ach líon beag daltaí an Ghaeilge dá mbeadh cead a chinn acu. Nach mbeadh sé i bhfad Éireann níos fearr leasaithe a chur i bhfeidhm sna modhanna múinte agus sa churaclam seachas buille marfach a thabhairt di sa seomra ranga. Dá mbeinn i m’Aire Oideachais chuirfinn béim láidir ar labhairt na Gaeilge sa bhunscoil agus sa mheánscoil dár ndóigh. Is bréa liom an Ghaeilge, ach caithfidh mé a admháil go bhfuil an fhilíocht agus an prós saghas leamh leadránach. Tá a bhformhór seanfhaiseanta agus as dáta chun an fhírinne a rá.

I mo scoil féin, cuirimid béim mhór ar an nGaeilge. Ba cheart dúinn beidh brodúil aisti gan aon amhras. I rith sheachtain na Gaeilge, bíonn go leor imeachtaí ar siúl. Mar shampla, bíonn céilí, tráth na gceist, seomra caidrimh ag am lóin agus bíonn tionóil speisialta ar siúl againn. Tugann bainistíocht na scoile seo tús áitedon Ghaeilge. Tá an t-ádh dearg ag mé féin agus ag na scoláirí eile mar déanann ár scoil a seacht ndícheall i rith sheactain na Gaeilge. Bainimid taitneamh agus tairbhe as an teanga.

Ar an deireadh thiar, caithfidh mé a rá go bhfuil an-ghrá agam don Ghaeilge agus tá siúl agam go rachaidh an teanga ó neart go neart. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, is fearr Gaeilge bhriste ná Bearla cliste.

Táim den tuairim gur cheart duit níos mó taighde a dhéanamh roimh scríobh na haiste duit.

Luaigh tú topaicí a bhí suimiúil ach gan mórán eolais orthu (eg na pop-up gaeltachtaí – bheadh eolas faoi sin an-suimiúil. )

Níl doimhneacht (depth) ábhair agat sna haltanna. Ba cheart smaoineamh mór amháin a phlé I ngach alt , ie níor chóir na Gaeltachtaí agus na gaelscoilenna a chur le chéile – dean níos mó taighde orthu – cén buntáistí atá ag na scoileanna etc. Gan an doimhneacht sin, níl saibhreas teanga agat

NB – ráiteas nó teideal na haiste a lua go minic

An tEarrach Thiar – Baineann an file úsáid éifeachtach as íomhanna sa dán, déan an ráiteas seo a phlé?

Creidim go láidir go mbaineann an file úsáid fhíor- éifeachtach as íomháanna sa dán, an tEarrach Thiar. Tá sé seo le feiceáil ó thús go deireadh an dáin. Tugann an file ceithre íomhá de shaol síochánta foirfe an oileáin sa dán seo sna ceithre véearsa. Sna híomhánna éagsúla, feicimid an duine agus an dúlra ag comhoibriú lena chéiíle. Bíonn cuid de na híomhánnna dírithe ar an gcluas agus cuid acu díobh dírithe ar an tsúil.

Sa chéad véarsa tá íomhá ann d’fheirmeoir amuigh ag rómhar ina gharraí, ag cur glasraí. Tá an ghrian ag taitneamh agus is lá álainn é. Tá an íomhá seo dírithe ar an gcluas. Níl tada le cloisteáil an lá ciúin meirbh seo ach fuaim dhíoscánach na spáide. Is fuaim álainn cheolmhar í, dar leis an bhfile.“Fear ag glanadh cré, De ghimseán spáide, Sa gciúineas shéimh, I mbrothall lae: Binn an fhuaim”

Tar éis chruatan an gheimhridh, fáiltíonn na feirmeoirí roimh an earrach mar gur mhaith leo a bheith amuigh ag obair sna garraithe, ag cur glasraí a chothóidh iad féin agus a gclann don chuid eile den bhliain. Níl aon mháistir ag an bhfeirmeoir ach é féin agus an aimsir agus oibríonn sé ar a luas féin. Úsaideann an file aidiachtaí moltacha dearfacha sa véarsa seo. Baineann binneas, síocháin agus áilleacht leis an íomhá seo. (Ach conas mar atá sé éifeachtach?) Cruthaíonn an file atmaisféar ciúin síochánta sa véarsa seo.

Tá an dara híomhá dírithe ar an tsúil. Baineann an file sárúsáid as dathanna sa dara véarsa. Feicimid an fheamainn dhearg ag taitneamh faoin ngrian ar an trá bhán. Bhí sé de nós ag na feirmeoirí feamainn a bhailiú le cur ar an talamh mar leasú san earrach. Fadó, chuir siad an fheamainn i gcliabh agus chuir siad an cliabh sin ar a ndroim chun an fheamainn a iompar ón trá

‘Fear ag caitheadh,Cliabh dhá dhroim, Is an fheamainn dhearg, Ag lonrú I dtaitneamh gréíne,Ar dhuirling bháín’

Tá gach rud geal agus álainn san íomha seo. Cé go bhfuil an obair seo crua, ní mhothaímid go gcuireann sé isteach ar an bhfeirmeoir. Arís cruthaíonn an file atmaisféar síochánta sa véarsa seo. (Arís, cad é an éifeacht?)

Tá an tríú véarsa dírithe ar an tsúil freisin. Sa véarsa álainn seo, feicimid muintearas an oileáin. Feicimid na mná le chéile ag baint feamainne ar an trá nuair atá an taoide imithe amach. Nuair a bhí Máirín Ó Direáin óg, théadh sé lena mháthair agus leis na mná eile go dtí an trá ag baint carraigín. Thaitin sé go mór leis na mná a bheith le chéile, amuigh faoin ngrian tar éis an gheimhridh istigh. “ Támh – radharc síothach. San Earrach thiar.”

Cruthaíonn an file atmaisféar suaimhneach sona leis an íomhá seo, íomhá atá bunaithe ar chuimhní óige an fhile. (éifeacht?)

Tá an ceathrú híomhá dírithe ar na gcluas agus ar an tsúil. Baineann an íomhá seo leis na hiascairí ag filleadh abhaile tar éis lá amuigh ag iascach. Tá an bád beag, an churach, lán d’éisc agus tá na hiascairí ag rámhaíocht abhaile go ciúin ar an bhfarraige órga. Cloistear fuaim lag fholamh ó na maidí rámha, fuaim shuaimhneach shíochánta. Arís tá an ghrian ag taitneamh san íomhá seo agus táimid in ann an fharraige órga a fheiceáil inár n-intinn. (go maith, tá tú ábalta é a fheiceáil go héasca i d’intinn = íomhá an-éifeachtach) Radharc álainn a chruthaíonn an file anseo. “Toll-bhuillí fanna, Ag maidi rámha, Currach lán d’éísc, Ag teacht chun cladaigh, Ar ór-mhuir mhall”

Íomhá atá anseo de lá foirfe ar an oileán agus léiríonn sé grá an fhile d’oileán a óige. Cruthaíonn sé atmaisféar suaimhneach síochánta anseo arís, na hiascairí sona sásta ag filleadh abhaile tar éis lá rathúil amuigh ar an bhfarraige.

Is aoibhieann liom an dán seo, mar tá na híomhánna gleoite ar fad. Déanann an file cur síos maoithneach ar an earrach in iarthar na hÉireann agus cuireann sé slite beatha na n-oileánach os ár gcomhair ar bhealach an-ealaíonta. Is léir go raibh sé i dtiúin le nádúr an oileáin agus gur mhothaigh sé an tionchar a bhí ag na fuaimeanna, na dathanna, na radhairc ón oileán air. Mar sin n de creidim gur bhain an Direánach usáid chliste agus paiseanta as íomhánna ó thús go deireadh an dáin. I ndáiríre, thaitin ag dán go mór liom de bharr na nhíomhanna cumhachtacha a chuir béim ar ghrá an fhile dá áit dúchais, Inis Mór agus dá bharr ba mhaith liom cuairt a thabhairt ar Inis Mór lá éigin, is go bhfeicfinn féin an iontas a bhraith an fhile ann. (toisc gur mheall na híomhánna éifeachtachta mé etc)

An líon focal : 744

Sár-fhreagra – caighdeán na Gaeilge ar fheabhas, caighdeán an fhreagra ar fheabhas

Cúpla rud le smaoineamh orthu:

Ná déan dearmad go mbíonn eochairfhocail i gcónaí sa cheist agus go gcaithfear cloí leis na focail agus na téamaí sin tríd is tríd

Oscail le freagra ar an gceist, agus bris an freagra sin ón gcuid eile den fhreagra; leag amach do mheon ar an gceist agus lean ar aghaidh.

Conas is féidir le híomhá bheith éifeachtach? Más íomhá éifeachtach atá i gceist, bheifeá ábalta an rud atá i gceist ag an bhfile a fheiceáil go han-éasca i d’intinn. Eg, tá muintir an oileáin ina steillbheatha (they are very life like); tá sé an-éasca na daoine agus áilleacht an cheantair a shamhlú etc.

Tá an freagra an-fhada, níos faide ná aiste. Níl le fáil ar cheist mar seo ach 15 marc, agus nílim cinnte an mbeadh an t-am sin agat le linn pháipéar 2.

Ábhar 11/13

Gaeilge 2/2

An Córas Sláinte sa tír seo, an laige is mó atá againn?

Ábhar mór leathan is ea é seo faoin gcóras sláinte in Éirinn inniu. Ábhar iltaobhach, achrannach is ea é agus ar oscailt na haiste seo (dom? – ón (my) opening of this essay?) , cuireadh ag smaoineamh láithreach mé ar an bhfadhb seo. (Dar ndóigh, ceann de scéalta móra na linne is ea an córas sláinte atá go mór i mbéal an phobail in Éirinn le roinnt blianta anuas – is leor 1-2 abairtí ginearálta ag an tús) . Bíonn an cheist seo faoi chaibidil sna meáin chumarsáide go minic agus tá sé pléite agus athphléite ag polaiteoirí, iriseoirí, saineolaithe agus ag an bpobal i gcoitinne. Ach in ainneoin na cainte go léir, ní féidir a shéanadh go bhfuil an fhadhb seo ina cnámh spáirne le fada anuas agus tá sé thar am teacht ar réiteach fiúntach.

De bharr sin, ba chóir dom an scéal go léir a iniúchadh agus mo thuairim féin a thabhairt ar na fadhbanna a bhíonn ag cur isteach ar ár gcóras sláinte agus ar Fheidhmeannacht na Seirbhise Sláinte. Tríd an aiste seo, beidh mé ag plé na liostaí feithimh, an ganntanas leapacha, na dochtúirí a bhíonn ag obair ó dhubh go dubh agus fadhb na hotrachta, a bhíonn go léir ag cur brú uafásach ar na seirbhisí éigeandála. Pléifidh mé freisin scannal na dtástálacha broinne a ceilteadh ar mhná.

Is léir don dall go bhfuil liostaí dochreidte feithimh sa chóras poiblí le haghaidh obráidí . Bíonn daoine ar fud na tíre ag fanacht agus ag fulaingt agus is mór an scannal é seo. Sin an chúis is mó go bhfuilim den tuairim gurb é an córas sláinte an laige is mó atá againn sa tír nua aimseartha seo. Anuas ar sin nuair a fhaigheann na daoine an dáta cinniúnach don obráid, bíonn orthu fanacht arís ar feadh cúpla uair an chloig ar na trálaithe i bpasáistí ospidéil mar thoradh ar an nganntanas leapacha ar fud na tíre. Ní haon slí í seo caitheamh le daoine a bhfuil tinneas orthu. (Cén fáth a mbíonn ar dhaoine fanacht? An bhfuil aon réiteach agat ar an bhfadhb? Cad a tharlaíonn taobh istigh den chóras príomháideach?)

Níos measa fós, is minic a bhíonn ar na h-oibrithe sna hospidéil uaireanta fada a dheanamh gan nóiméad sosa a bheith acu. Sin an chúis go bhfuil an-chuid dochtúirí ag fágail na tíre chun post níos fearr a fháil thar lear. Mar thoradh ar na huaireanta míréasúnta, bíonn seans níos mó go ndéanfaidh na hoibrithe botúin agus dá bhrí sin sílim gurb é an córas sláinte an laige is mó atá againn. (Céard faoi na haltraí? Stailc na naltraí? Cén fáth a raibh siad ar stailc? Cad a deir sé sin faoin gcóras?)

Faraor, creidim go láidir go bhfuil na fadhbanna atá ag an gcóras lochtach seo ag méadú. Tá daonra na tíre seo ag dul in aoise agus tá fadhb na hotrachta ag cur brú dochreidte ar na seirbhisí éigeandála. Dar leis na staitisticí ó Pharlaimint na hEorpa, is í an otracht is cúis le 2-8% de chostas sláinte na hÉireann. Ní haon ionadh é mar sin go bhfuil an córas sláinte ina phraiseach. Ar an nóta sin, ceapaim gurb é an córas sláinte an laige is mó againn sa tír seo mar níl Feidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte ag deanamh a ndícheall chun stop a chur leis an otracht in Éirinn. Meastar go bhfuil tríocha faoin gcéad de dhaoine sa tír seo róthrom agus níl faic déanta ag an Rialtas faoi. Ba chóir don Rialtas níos mó airgid a infheistiú chun nathanna sláintiúla a chur chun cinn agus cáin a chur ar bhia míshláintiúil. Sa tslí sin, bheadh muintir na tíre níos sláintiúla agus ní bheadh orthu a bheith ag fanacht sna hospidéil. Faoi mar a deir an seanfhocal “Is fear cosc na leighis”. (Cén fáth a bhfuil fadhb chomh mór againn le hotracht sa tír seo sa lá atá inniu ann? Cad is cúis léi? Cad iad na galair a ghineann ón otracht? Cén fáth a bhíonn ar dhaoine atá róthrom freastal ar na hospidéil?)

An fhírinne a chuireann déistin orm ná an scannal CervicalCheck. Fuair níos mó ná dhá chéad bean torthaí tástála míchearta agus anois tá siad tinn. Níl aon duine de lucht riartha na tíre ag seasamh suas agus níl aon duine acu sásta freagracht a ghlacadh Tá mná na hÉireann ag fáil bháis agus ba chóir go mothódh an Rialtas náire. Mar shampla, bhásaigh Emma Mhic Mhathúna i 2018 agus í 37 bliain d’aois. D’fhág sí cúigear páistí ina dhiadh. Is scannal an-bhrónach é seo. (Conas a fuair siad na torthaí míchearta? Cad a tharla ansin? Cén galar a bhí orthu? Vicky Phelan?)

Mar fhocal scoir, tá gníomh ag teastáil ón Rialtas. Fadhb mhór í seo faoin gcóras sláinte agus tá sé de dhualgas ar an Rialtas a ndícheall a dhéanamh chun an fhadhb seo a réiteach.

An Líon focal = beagnach 700, ach, beagnach 200 de seo ar réamhrá (introduction) agus níl go leor eolais sna haltanna eile. Tá sé níos tábhachtaí pointí fada a scríobh, seachas réamhrá fada.

Tá caighdeán maith gramadaí tríd an aiste, caighdeán maith saibhris Ghaeilge, ach tá i níos mó eolais ag teastáil.

Níl an córas sláinte in Éirinn ag freastal ar shaoránaigh na tíre seo

(Córas Sláinte na hÉireann– The Irish Health System vs The Health System in Ireland)

Ní féidir a shéanadh ach gur fhadhb mhór fhorleathan í córas sláinte na hÉireann. ( Níl aon rud mícheart, ach bheadh sé níos fearr a rá go bhfuil fadhbanna leis an gcóras, seachas córas = fadhb) Níl ár gcóras sláinte ag freastal orainn, muintir na hÉireann, ar chor a bith. Is ar éigin a théann lá tharainn nach bhfuil trácht éigin sa nuacht faoi na droch-chinntí atá á ndéanamh ag an rialtas agus an drochmheas atá á léiriú acu ar shaoránaigh na tíre seo. Is léir go gcaithfimid dúiseacht as ar suan agus tabhairt faoi deara go bhfuil ár gcóras sláinte ina chíor thuathail agus go bhfuil ár bpolaiteoirí ag dó na geirbe ag sochaí na hÉireann.

Tá clú agus cáil ar Éirinn ar fud na cruinne mar thír fhorbatha álainn. Mar sin, cén fáth go bhfuil na hospidéil cosúil le cinn i dtíortha i mbéal forbatha? Níl an córas sláinte in ann freastal ar mhuintir na hÉireann mar gheall ar na liostaí fada feithimh! Is léir gur cuma le rialtas na hÉireann faoi na daoine a bhíonn ag streachailt chuile lá gan aon seirbhísí sláinte cearta. Tá sé an-soiléir go bhfuil an lucht ar Fheidhmeannacht na Seirbhísí Sláinte, lena ndroch-chinntí agus a ndrochstiúradh. Caitheann an Ghearmáin, mar shampla, i bhfad níos lú airgid ar a roinn sláinte agus fós ní bhíonn na líostaí feithimh leath comh fada! Is scannal ollmhór é seo. Táim comh cinnte ‘s a bhfuil cos ar asal nach bhfuil ár gcóras sláinte ag freastal ar muintir na hÉireann. (T) Fágtar na daoine is laige inár sochaí tréigthe! ‘Ní lia duine ná tuairim’ agus níl aon amhras ach gur fíor an seanfhocal seo maidir le córas sláinte na hÉireann.

Níos measa fós, is léir nach bhfuil meas madra ag an rialtas ar dhochtúi ná, ar altraí ach go háirithe.. Ƒágann thart ar 60% d’ (bhan)altraí na hÉireann ár gcóras sláinte chun obair a lorg thar lear. Is tragóid é sin. (Cruthaítear) Cuirtear oideachas ar na daoine is oillte agus is eirmiúla in Éirinn agus bíonn orthu fágail mar gheall ar an drochmheas a léiríonn rialtas na hÉireann orthu. An gcreidfeá é? Bíonn dochtúirí agus (ban)altraí ag obair ó dhubh go dubh, lá i ndiaidh lae ag déanamh a seacht ndícheall chun freastal ar shaoránaigh na hÉireann, ach níl sé seo fiúntach fiú. Níl siad in ann freastal ar shaoránaigh na tíre seo mar nach bhfuil ár rialtas ag tabhairt aon chúnamh dóibh. Níl ár gcóras sláinte ag freastal ar na (ban) haltraí ná ar chuile dhuine a n-oibríonn go crua, (cruathallach?) sa chóras seo, ach oiread. Is léir nach dtuigeann Simon Harris, an tAire Sláinte an seanfhocal ‘ ar scath a chéile a mhaireann na daoine’ agus é ag fágail (sláinte?) slán le muintir oillte na hÉireann go tíortha a bhfuil córas sláinte ceart iontu.

Anuas ar sin, fiú nuair a bhíonn áit san ospidéil agus nuair a bhíonn dochtúirí agus (ban)altraí ar fáil, bíonn fadhb fós. Tá ganntannas ollmhór leapacha sna bardaí in ospidéil, go háirithe sa Roinn Éigeandála. Tá easpa spáis, áiseanna, dochtúirí, (ban)altraí gach uile rud inár gcóras sláinte. Nach bhfeiceann sibh an fhadhb! Is é córas sláinte na hÉireann ceann de na scannail is conspóidí agus is tragóidí sa ghlúin seo. Is mór an trua nach dtuigeann rialtas na hÉireann an seanfhocal ‘is fearr an tsláinte ná an táinte’ agus iad ag rialú ár dtíre.

Caithfimid go léir obair le chéile mar thír dhaonlathach chun réiteach a aimsiú ar an bhfadhb chasta seo. Is léir gurb iad na táinte is cúis le fadhb na sláinte sa scannal seo. Is é easpa airgid an fhadhb lárnach inár gcóras sláinte. Tá an Roinn Sláinte agus an rialtas ina iomlán tar éis praiseach a dhéanamh de thógail an ospidéil leanaí nua seo. Cosnóidh sé thart ar 2 bhilliún euro a thógail. Samhlaigh é sin! Beidh sé ar cheann de na hospidéil is costasaí ar fud na cruinne! ‘S deir siad nach bhfuil a dhóthain airgid acu chun freastal ar shaoránaigh na tíre seo, go háirithe na (ban) haltraí, agus iad ag agóid de bharr easpa airgid! Tá a fhios ag madraí na sráide gur seafóid é seo go huile is go hiomlán. Táim comh feargach le puc ar buile mar níl seans dá laghad go bhfuil córas sláinte na hÉireann ag freastal ar shaoránaigh na tíre seo. Áfach, bíodh dóchas againn, mar a deir an seanfhocal; ‘de réir a chéile a thógtar na caisleáin

Go maith – leagan amach, altanna, nathanna, struchtúr na n-abairtí, litriú den chuid is mó

Le feabhsú – alt oscailte – abair cad faoi d’aiste, cad iad na príomhphointí; alt deiridh, ná cuir isteach eolas nua (Ospidéal na Leanaí)

Ábhar – 11/15 (bheadh alt iomlán faoi stailc na n-altraí an-mhaith anseo)

Gaeilge: 62/80

Dís: ‘Ní ghlacann bean an tsuirbhé pairt rómhór sa scéal seo, ach léiríonn sí na fadhbanna atá sa chaidreamh idir an bheirt phríomhcharactar.’

Aontaím go huile is go hiomlán leis an ráiteas sin. Ní dóigh liom go nglacann bean an tsuirbhé páirt rómhór sa scéal, ach is cinnte go léiríonn sí fadhbanna idir an lánúin phósta.

Ar an gcéad dul síos, is léir go raibh fadhbanna sa chaidreamh (roimh a rinne) sula ndearna bean Sheáin an suirbhé. Thug an suirbhé seans don bhean chéile gearán a dhéanamh faoina saol mar bhean tí. Is léir go bhfuil mí-shonas agus frustrachas ar an mbean chéile. Bíonn sí ag déanamh curaimí tí agus ag tabhairt aire don leanbh an lá ar fad, nuair a bhíonn Sean amuigh ag obair agus ag tuilleamh airgead. (An bhfuil aon fhianaise (evidence) ón scéal a thaispéanann é sin? )

Tá uaigneas ar an mbean-chéile mar ligeann sí bean an tsuirbhé isteach sa teach chun cainte léi. Nuair atá an bhean ag caint léi, éiríonn sí feargach faoin ról atá aici mar bhean tí.i. Tugann sí eolas do bhean an tsuirbhé. (Cén sórt eolais a thugann sí?)

(Roimh atá – roimh + ainmfhocal, sula + briathar) Sula raibh an lánúin ag caint faoin suirbhé, tá atmaisféar nádúrtha agus suaimhneach, (* ach ní raibh siad ag caint…) ach nuar a chloiseann Sean faoin suirbhé, bíonn raic ann. Tá fearg ar Sheán mar thug a bhean chéile eolas príobháideach amach. Deirtear sa sliocht nuachtáin go bhfuil (haon as) ceathrú de mhná pósta mí-shásta. Tugann an suirbhé seans don bhean insint do Sheán cé chomh mí-shona is atá sí mar bhean tí. Is léir nach n-oireann an tslí bheatha di agus ba mhaith léi dul amach ag obair.

Léiríonn bean an tsuirbhé an méid suime atá aige I saol a mhná -céile (TG). Ní bhíonn sé ag tabhairt aon tacaíocht di. Tugann sé freagraí borba, drochbhéasacha di ar nós ‘huh’ agus ‘sea’ Úsáideann an bhean searbhas leis; ‘Níl ionam ach staitistic’ Is léir go bhfuil mianta difriúla ag an lánúin, ba mhaith leis an bhfear a bheith ag léamh an nuachtáin ná a bheith ag éisteacht dá bhean chéile.

‘An nuachtán níos tábhachtaí ná mise’

Is cinnte go nglacann bean an tsuirbhé ról sa scéal mar tugann sé seans don bhean caint faoi na fadhbanna atá aici lena fear céile. Ba mhaith léi éalú ón sórt saoil seo agus feicimid é seo mar thoradh an tsuirbhé. Nochtann an suirbhé na fadhbanna atá eatarthu.

Word count – 372

Ar an drochuair, níl go leor sonraí (details) agat sa fhreagra seo. Agus mar thoradh, tá an freagra róghearr.

Rinne bhean an tsuirbhé níos mó ná na fadhbanna a nochtadh – cad faoin leanbh? Nuair a dúirt sí go raibh sí ag iompar clainne agus go raibh bean Sheáin chun ionadaíocht a dhéanamh di chun sorn a cheannach.

Cathain a ndearna sí an suirbhé? Cén fáth gur thug sí na freagraí a thug sí?

Níor thaispeáin tú go raibh mionsonraí (small details) an scéil ar fad ar eolas agat cé go ndearna tú iarracht an cheist a fhreagairt.

Cad a tharla nuair a thosaigh bean Sheáin ag rámhaille agus ag clamhsán? (ranting and raving)

Ceist a fhreagairt, téama agus sonraí an scéil a thaispeáint – 13/25, Gaeilge 3/5 = 16/30

Aontaím leis an ráitéas sin, gan amhras. Is mioncharactar í bean an tsuirbhé ach glacann sí ról tábhachtach in imeachtaí an gearrscéil. Tugann si deis do bhean Sheáin a frustrachas a scaoileadh amach. Usáideann Siobhán Ní Shúilleabháin an suirbhé mar uirlis chliste chun na fadhbanna sa chaidreamh a léiriu dúinn agus is í bean an tsuirbhé an caractar a sheinneann an uirlis seo sa scéal. (Cad iad na fadhbanna? Abair amach cad iad agus úsáid samplaí ón scéal. Tá leadrán orthu; tá an paisean imithe; tá fadhbanna cumarsáide acu. Eg, tá siad ina suí sa seomra suí le chéile, leanbh ina luí, stéig ag díreo, carr sa gharáiste ag díluachaíl, an meadar leictreachais ag dul timpeall)

(Tosaigh ag tús an scéil – cá raibh Seán agus a bhean nuair a thosaigh an argóint seo? Conas a scríobhadh an scéal? – agallamh beirte – (duologue). Taispeánann an comhrá “beo” an mhíthuiscint eatarthu)

Is bean neamhspleách chumasach í bean an tsuirbhé. Tá a post féin agus a hairgead féin aici. Mar sin, tá codarsnacht mhór idir í féin agus bean Sheáin- bean tí lánaimseartha. Ceapaim go bhfuil bean Sheáin in éad léi agus tuigeann sí nach bhfuil sí sásta ina ról mar bhean tí. Tá uaigneas uirthi sa teach ina haonar leis an leanbh nuair a théann Seán amach ag obair lá ina dhiadh lae. Tá comhluadar ag teastáil uaithi agus sin an fáth a chuireann sí failte roimh bhean an tsuirbhé an mhaidin sin. Tá sí lánsásta a bheith ag caint léi chun éalú ó riachtanais na beatha. (Tugann) Thabharfadh (Modh Coinníollach – mar ní raibh aon rud cinnte faoin socrú a rinne siad) bean an tsuirbhé deis do bean Sheáin triail a bhaint as slí bheatha nua. (Bíonn) Bheadh sí chun seasamh isteach do bhean an tsuirbhé mar ionadaí agus í ar shos máithreachais. Tá sé soiléir dúinn go (bhfuil) mbeadh áthas ar bhean Sheáin rud nua a dhéanamh agus (beidh) bheadh sí ábalta sorn nua a cheannach.

Deirtear sa suirbhé go bhfuil an ceathrú cuid de mhná pósta sa tír seo míshona agus míshásta – deir bean Sheáin go bhfuil sí ina measc. Admhaíonn sí gur inis sí bréaga sa suirbhé toisc nach raibh sí i ndea-ghiúmar an mhaidin sin. Bhí an teach bun os cionn, tháining an bille leictreachais agus bhí sí ar buile le Seán – ach ní cuimhin léi cén fáth. Bhain sí taitneamh as scéalta uafásacha a chumadh faoin a fear céile. Léirionn é sin na fadhbanna sa chaidreamh. Déanann sí é sin toisc go bhfuil an leadrán agus an t-uaigneas ag cur isteach uirthi. (Cad faoi ról na mban sa tsochaí? Cén fáth nach bhfuil ainm ar bhean Sheáin? Cad faoin tSín, agus leabhar dearg Mao? Cén ról a bhí ag na mná sin?)

Tagann na fadhbanna sa chaidreamh chun solais tríd an gcómhrá a bhíonn eatarthu. Tarlaíonn an comhrá sin mar thoradh ar an suirbhé. Tá sé soiléir dom nach bhfuil mórán cómhrá déanta acu roimhe sin mar ní thuigeann siad dearcadh a chéile. Tá siad beirt ag fulaingt ón easpa tuisceana agus ón easpa cumarsáide (á bhfulaingt orthu). Ceapeann Sean nach bhfuil le déanamh aige ach soláthar dá chlann. I gcodarsnacht le sin, teastaíonn comhluadar agus caidreamh ón mbean. Tá sé drochbheasach di – fadhb eile sa chaidreamh. Is é ‘Hu’ an freagra amháin a fhaigeann sí uaidh i rith an chómhrá agus titeann sé ina choladh agus í fós ag caint.

Cé gur inis bean Sheáin bréaga sa suirbhé, tá sé ríshoiléir go raibh roinnt fírinne ina focail. Tá leadrán an tsaoil ag cur isteach uirthi agus tugann bean an tsuirbhé deis iontach di é sin a mhíniú. Úsáidteareann bean an tsuirbhé chun míshonas bean Sheáin a léiriu dúinn i tslí chliste agus éifeachtach.

Dhá rud ag teastáil i bhfreagra mar seo i gcónaí – freagra a thabhairt ar an gceist AGUS mionsonraí (all the small details) ón scéal mar fhianaise (as proof) ar do fhreagra. Caithfidh tú a thaispeáint go bhfuil an scéal ar eolas agat.

Freagra = 16/25

Gaeilge = 3 / 25

Is bean í Lisín atá i gceannas ar a saol féin, ar a teaghlach agus ar a teach.

Freagair an cheist thíos faoin ngiota as an úrscéal Hurlamaboc.

Déan plé ar an ráiteas sin.

(593 fhocal)

Aontaím go huile is go hiomlán LEIS an ráiteas gur bean spéisiúil í Lisín atá i gceannas ar a saol féin, ar saol a teaglaigh agus ar a teach. Tríd an scéal is príomhcharachtar láidir í Lisín. Feicimid a saol foirfe, le gach rud eagraithe aici. Gan dabht faighaimid léargas iontach ar an saol a chaith lucht an rachmais sa sliocht seo.

Ina saol féin bhí Lisín foirfe i ngach bealach agus bhí gach rud in ord is in eagar aici, mar ba eagraí den scoth í. (D’fhán) Bhí Lisín i gceannas nuair a bhí sí ag eagrú. Mar shampla bhí cóisir mhór eagraithe aici chun a pósadh le Pól a cheilúradh: “Bhí gach rud idir lámh aici.” Ceapaim gur duine tiarnasach í Lisín agus mar sin bhí an smacht ag teastáil uaithi. Bhí “dhá reoiteoir ” aici, lán le bia blasta: “píoga,” “ispíní,” “bradán,” agus “arán lámhdhéanta den uile shórt” chomh maith le rudaí milse. Mar a dúirt mé cheana féin is léir go raibh Lisín i gceannas (ar a saol féin?) .

Bhí Saol gnóthach ag Lisín, cé nach raibh post aici. Níor ghá di obair agus mar sin ba bhall de a lán clubanna í. Bhí sí ag foghlaim teangacha freisin, mar Spáinnis agus Rúisis. Rinne sí a lán oibre carthanaí . Bhí suim ag Lisín freisin sna scannáin agus i ndramaí. “Bhí sí ábalta labhairt ar aon ábhar ar bith faoi ghrian.”

Bhí Lisín ina cónaí lena clann. Ag féachaint isteach bhí a teach “gan locht”. Phós Lisín a fear céile, Pól, nuair a bhí siad óg – fiche bliain ó shin. Cé nach raibh Pól saibhir agus cé go raibh sé ag obair i siopa, Chonaic / d’aithin Lisín na féidearthachtaí a bhí ag an mbuachaill aineolach. Anois bhí airgead go leor ag Pól mar ba léachtóir é i gcursaí gnó san ollscoil, faoi stiúir Lisín. Tá an chuma ar an scéal go raibh Pól faoi bhois an chait ag Lisín. Níl a lán measa agam ar Phól mar níorbh fhear ró-láidir é. Bhí beirt mhac ag Lisín agus Pól. Ruán agus Cuán ab ainm dóibh. Ba buachaillí dáthúla agus cliste iad.Thug Lisín mórán molta agus spreagtha do Ruán. Dá bhrí sin níorbh fhéidir leis a rá léí má bhí sé míshona faoi rud éigin. Ní raibh Ruán macánta nuair a dúirt sé go raibh sé ag tnúth go mór leis an gcóisir. Chomh maith le sin chuir Lisín brú ar Ruán a bheith sona. É sin ráite bhí grá aige dá mháthair ach ní raibh gaol maith acu.(Agus taispeánann sé sin go raibh sí i gceannas ar shaol a teaghlaigh)

“Bhí an teach i gcónaí néata agus álainn.” Bean tí den scoth í Lisín. Tá sé soiléir go raibh gach rud socraithe ag Lisín don chóisir. Bhí “péint ar na ballaí,” “snas ar na hurláir,” agus “bláthanna sna procaí.” Bheadh an chóisir sa ghairdín dá mbeadh an lá go breá. Ach bheadh an chóisir istigh sa teach dá mbeadh an aimsir go dona. Bhí gach rud ar bith réidh aici – boird, cathaoireacha, gloiní agus fion agus bia blasta. Ní bheadh aon duine a fheiceáil ag an gcóisir mar ní bheadh aon locht ann.?

Dar leis na comharsana agus an saol mór, ba bhean álainn í Lisín. Bhí sí tanaí agus bhí a gruaig fada agus fionn. Bhí sí fós mar bhean óg, cé go raibh sí pósta le fiche bliain. Bhí na mná eile ar Ascaill Na Fuinseoige foirfe freisin ach bhí Lisín chun tosigh orthu (os a gcomhair). Bhí siad dathúil agus faiseanta. Is léir go raibh na mná gafa lena n-íomhá.

Gan dabht bhí Lisín i gceannas ar gach rud faoina saol agus saol a clainne. Cé nach maith liom í, is príomhcharachtar suimiúil iontach (iontach suimiúil?) í Lisín Albright.

Déan iarracht tagairt a dhéanamh don cheist go minic. Leis an gceist seo, bheadh sé an-éasca 3 phríomhalt a scríobh – a saol féin (clubanna, teagnacha, Cuma), a teaghlach (Pól agus na páistí) agus a teach (an teach agus an chóisir) – tús agus críoch freisin. Déan plean sula dtosaíonn tú.

Ábhar = 16/25 (Cén sórt scéil é? Cá bhfuil Lisín ina cónaí? Cén ré atá ann? Cad atá i gceist ag an údar leis an scéal seo?)

Gaeilge = 3/5

Staid na Gaeilge faoi láthair

2015 Aiste (e). Credit: Emma O’Hora

Is rud álainn í an Ghaeilge, agus is pribhléid ollmhór é (chun) a bheith in ann í a labhairt. É sin ráite, (is) ba rud casta é staid na Gaeilge, san am atá caite ach go háirithe. In ainneoin sin is dóigh liom (go bhfuil) gur teanga bheo í agus go bhfuil sí fós ina cuid lárnach dár gcúltur agus dár ngnáthshaol, buíochas le Dia! (Cad a dhéanfaidh tú san aiste seo? Cad iad na pointí a dhéanfaidh tú faoi Staid na Gaeilge FAOI LÁTHAIR)

Ar an gcéad dul síos, déanann gach aon páiste stáidéar ar an nGaeilge nuair a bhíonn siad ag freastal ar an mbunscoil. Caithfidh me a admháil nach raibh oideachas den scoth agam maidir leis an nGaeilge agus mé ag freastal ar mbunscoil, agus tá a fhios agam go mbraitheann a lán daoine mar an gcéanna, ach creidim go bhfuil an fhadbh seo ann le roinnt ábhar, agus ní hámhain leis an nGaeilge. Níl sé chomh dona is a deirtear in aon chor. Bhí mé fós ag éisteacht leis an nGaeilge, agus uaireanta á labhairt, i slí spraíúlagus i slí shimplí, agus gan aon ullmhúchan le haghaidh scrúdú ar bith á dhéanamh agam. Nach é sin an rud is tábhachtaí atá de dhíth ag aon pháiste? Sílim go gcabhraíonn sé sin le staid na Gaeilge mar go bhfuil níos mó doaine ag fás suas leis an nGaeilge, agus dá bharr , ní féidir a rá go bhfuil staid lag (ná beag) aici.(Ach má bhí drochthaithí acu ar scoil??)

Anuas ar sin, leanann an Ghaeilge ar aghaidh go dtí an dara léibhéal. Anseo, tosaímid ag déanamh stáidéir ar an ngné nua-aimseartha den Ghaeilge, mar shampla, na scéalta agus na dánta mór le rá, agus nílimid ag déanamh tada seachas bheith ag fhoghlaim focal i ndiaidh focail (níos mó?) Éiríonn sí níos tábhachtaí inár saol. Chomh maith leis sin, téann a lán daltaí meánscoile chuig an nGaeltacht i rith an tsamhraidh. Tá sé coitianta é sin a dhéanamh, i mo cheantar féin ar aon nós. Léiríonn sé sin go bhfuil suim ag daoine óga í gcúrsaí Gaeltachta agus go bhfuil staid mhaith ag an nGaeilge.

Tá an Ghaeilge ann le chloisteáil taobh amuigh den scoil fosta. Mar shampla, lá i ndiaidh lae, cloisimid níos mó Gaeilge sa Dáil. Cúpla mí ó shin, thosaigh an Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar á foghlaim. Gach aon uair a fhéachaim ar na díospóireachtaí a bhíonn ar súíl gach lá sa Dáil ar an teilifís, labhraíonn cúpla duine as Gaeilge, mar shampla, Catherine Connolly. Déarfainn go léiríonn sé seo cé chomh láidir is atá an Ghaeilge.

Treisíodh staid na Gaeilge san Aontas Eorpach le blianta beaga anuas. Tá stádas oifigúil aici anois, an stádas céanna atá ag an Gearmáinis agus an mBéarla agus mar sin de. Ciallaíonn sé seo go bhfuil an-chuid daoine ag obair trí Ghaeilge, mar shampla, mar aistritheoirí. Mar gheall ar an neart post atá ar fáill trí Ghaeilge, tá staid láidir aici.

Taobh amuigh de chúrsaí eacnamaíóchta, tá staid láidir ag an nGaeilge maidir le cúrsaí siamsaíochta sa tír seo.

Déanann an eagraíocht ‘Conradh na Gaeilge’ a ndícheall chun an Gaeilge a chur chun cinn, agus tá roinnt rath bainte amach acu le déanaí. Tá stáisiúin Raidío “Raidíó RíRá” acu agus bíonn sé ag craoladh ar líne gach uile lá.

Ar ndóigh, ní féidir liom cúrsaí siamsaíochta a lua gan trácht do TG4. Bíonn gach saghas clár acu, agus de ghnáth bíonn an caighdeán an-ard ar fad. I mo thuairim pearsanta, cabhraíonn na cláir sin liom níos mó Gaeilge a fhoghlaim, agus na canúintí éagsúla a thuiscint, ní hamháin canúint Chonnacht a chloisim gach lá agus mé sa seomra ranga.

Tá an Ghaeilge ar fad timpeall orainn agus tá ról lárnach aici sa saol.

Rud eile a thug mé faoi deara le déanaí ná go bhfuil níos mó suime i gcúrsaí Gaeilge lasmuigh de na ceantair Ghaeltachta. Tá daoine óga fud fad na tíre á roghnú mar chúrsa tríú leibhéal, mé féin mar shampla! Níl Gaeilge ar bith ag mo thuistí, ná fiú éinne i mo chlann, ach mar gheall ar an ról lárnach atá aici sa tsochaí, agus i stair na tíre ar ndóigh, rinne mé mo dhícheall chun í a fhoghlaim agus í a úsáíd. Cloisim an scéal céanna ó dhaoine eile gach lá.

Mar thoradh ar na pointí seo, creidim go láidir go bhfuil staid láidir ag an nGaeilge sa lá atá inniu ann, agus níl aon dabht agam go mbeidh an staid chéanna aici sa thodhcaí.

Céard faoi píosa staire maidir leis an nGaeilge agus an meath a tháinig uirthi?

Cúpla staitistic ón daonáireamh is déanaí faoi labhairt na Gaeilge?

Céard faoi Ghaeilge sna meáin Shóisialta?

Ábhar – 9/15 (Tá feabhas le chur ar leagan amach – NB an chéad alt)

Gaeilge – 48 / 80

Déan cinnte go bhfuil plean leagtha amach agat roimh ré

Tá droch-chaoi ar an gcóras sláinte atá againn in Éirinn

Ceann d’fhadhbanna casta na linne seo (is é) ná an scéal seo faoin ndroch-chaoi ar an gcóras sláinte atá againn in Éirinn. Tá go leor fadhbanna sa chóras slainte in Éirinn; murtall, fadhb an óil, fadhb na ndrugaí agus drochsláinte mheabhrach cuid díobh seo. San aiste seo pléifidh mé na fadhbanna seo agus na réitigh orthu

Ar an gcéad dul síos, tá fadhb shláinte nua sa chéad domhan agus is í sin fadhb an mhurtaill. Le blianta beaga anuas tá daoine sa domhan forbartha ag éirí níos mó agus níos troime. Is ceist chasta chigilteach í an cheist seo agus níl miniú simplí uirthi. Sa lá atá inniú, tá daoine ag gabháil leis an teicneolaíocht. Tá a lán fógraí ann do bhia gasta agus bia mífholláin ar gach suíomh gréasáin. An t-easpa eolais is cúis mhór leis an murtall. Chun an fhadhb seo a shocrú caithfimid amhúineadh do dhaoine conas bia sláintúil a roghnú agus aclaíocht rialta a dhéanamh

Anois ceaptar go bhfuil thart ar 61 faoin gcéad de dhaoine fásta agus 22 faoin gcéad de pháistí na hÉireann murtallach – rátá i bhfad níos airde ná tíortha eile na hEorpa. Cosnaíonn an murtall an córas sláinte 2 bhilliúin euro gach bliain. Níor éirigh le haon tír réiteach sásúil a fháil ar an murtall go fóill, ach moltar cáin a chur ar bhia atá lán le siúcra, le saill agus le salann.

Cúis eile go bhfuil an córas sláinte i ndroch-chaoi ná fadhbanna drugaí agus óil. Tá a lán daoine óga ag mí-úsáid drugaí agus óil agus cuireann siad a lán b

rú ar an gcóras sláinte. Tagann a lán deagóirí ólta go dtí an t-ospidéal de bharr an iomarca alcóil? (mar rinne siad tinn orthu féin?) . Ní mhúintear do dhaoine óga go bhfuil an t-ól agus drugaí contúireach mí-úsáideann siad drugaí agus ól gach seachtain. Tá seomraí timpiste agus eigeandála lán le daoine óga gach deireadh seachtaine agus tá a lán daoine ina luí ar thralaithe mar níl aon leaba dóibh. Ní dóigh liom go bhfuil aon réiteach simplí ar an gceist chasta seo, ach creidim gur chóir dúinn múineadh do dhaoine óga faoin na contúirtí a bhaineann le hól agus le drugaí

An fhadhb dheireanach leis an gcóras sláinte in Éirinn ná drochsláinte mheabhrach i ndaoine óga. Is ar éigean a théann lá tharainn nach mbíonn tagairt éigin don scéal faoi dhaoine óga atá ag éirí tinn toisc go raibh l siad faoin a lán brú ar scoil. Níl aon cheist faoi ach go bhfuil cuid den locht ar an gcóras oideachais. Tá níos mó déagóirí ná riamh ag fáil diagnóis le dúlagar, buairt agus neamhord itheacháin. Anois, tá a lán daoine óga ar liostaí feithimh le seirbhísí meabhairshláinte. Ba cheart duinn ár ndícheall a dhéanamh an fhadhb seo a réiteach.

Níl aon dabht ar bith faoi ach go bhfuil droch-chaoi ar an gcóras sláinte atá againn in Éirinn. Ba cheart dúinn ar ndícheall a dhéanamh an fhadhb seo a réiteach. Caithfimid a mhúineadh do dhaoine conas a bheith sláintiúil agus aire a thabhairt dóibh féin, idir chorp agus intinn (araon go fisiceach agus go meabhrach). Bíodh dóchas againn. Faoi mar a deir an seanfhocal: ‘’De réir a cheile a anachain déanta’’

Leagan amach maith
Smaointe maithe
Staitisticí maithe in alt 3
Líon focal idir 500-600
Tús, lár agus críoch
Saibhreas briathra
An iomarca athrá de na nathanna céanna
Cúram leis na réamhfhocail

Ábhar: 10/15 (níos láidre ag tús na haiste)

Gaeilge : 55/80

Tá daoine óga na hÉireann leisciúil agus míshláintiúil

Caithfidh mé a rá nach n-aontaím ar chor ar bith leis an ráiteas thuasluaite. Tá an ráiteas seo i mbéal tuistí agus fuí(? Fiú?) i mbéal an phobail le fada an lá. Nach bhfuilimid go léir tar éis an seanfhocal “Is aoibhinn beatha an scoláire” a chloisteáil arís is arís? Ach dar liom is iomaí fadhb (leanann an uimhir uatha an focal iomaí) atá ag daoine óga i láthair na huaire, táimid ag fás suas i ndomhan atá an-difriúil ón domhain a bhí ann fiche bliain ó shin agus feictear domsa go bhfuil brú dochreidte orainn go laethúil.(ar bhonn laethúil – on a daily basis)

Deirtear go bhfuil daoine óga na hÉireann an-leisciúil, sa lá atá inniu ann. Níl an t-am againn cabhrú leis an obair tí nó go leor aclaíochta a dhéanamh. Ach tá fáth soiléir leis (úsáideann tú leis nuair a bhíonn an t-alt agat) na rudaí sin. Sa lá atá inniu ann tá brú ollmhór ar dhaltaí ó cheann ceann na tíre. Dar liom go bhfuil an Ardteist i bhfad ró-acadúil (mar) agus tá go leor daltaí ag streachailt agus in ísle brí (leis) dá barr (as a reult of it – Baininscneach). Ach gan dabht caithfidh mé a rá go mbaineann maitheas leis an gCórais oideachais in Éirinn. Tá an t-ádh dearg orainn go bhfuilimid in ann dul ar scoil gach lá le múinteoirí den scoth agus anuas ar sin táimid in ann freastal ar an meánscoil go hiomlán saor in aisce. Gan amhras is rud dochreidte maith é sin! (Níl pointe an ailt seo róshoiléir – mura bhfuil daoine óga leisciúil, abair cén fáth – cad air a bhfuil an milleán)

Anuas ar sin tá an seans againn blaiseadh a fháil de go leor ábhar difriúil agus ní féidir a shéanadh ach go bhfuil clú agus cáil ar an gCóras oideachais atá againn ar fud an domhain. Ach (an nath = an dara suí sa bhuaile = alternative; sa chás seo ach ar an taobh eile den scéal caithfidh mé a adhmháil go mbaineann go leor donais leis an gcoras chomh maith. Is léir don dall gurb é rás na bpointí ceann de na laigí is mó atá againn sa náisiúin nua-aimseartha seo agus dar liom is scanall amach is amach é! I láthair na huaire bíonn gach mac agus iníon máthar (TG) ag iarraidh freastal ar na coláistí is mó éilimh (TG) agus feictear domsa mar sin go bhfuil na pointí ag dul in airde gach uile bhliain. Ní féidir a shéanadh ach go bhfuil áit ar chúrsa I mBaile Átha Cliath chomh hannamh le sneachta sa Samhradh!

(Cá bhfuil an nasc leis an teideal san alt seo? – Tá daoine óga na hÉireann leisciúil agus míshláintiúil – Baineann an t-alt seo le córas na bpointí; ní mór duit nasc a dhéanamh leis an teideal i ngach aon alt)

Mar gheall ar an easpa áiteanna ar na cursaí bíonn ar gach dalta a bheith ag obair domhnach is dálach don bhliain ar fad, ach anuas ar sin tá a fhios againn go léir go gcaitheann daoine óga an iomarca ama ar na meáin leictreonacha (toisc go bhfuil siad chomh leisciúil / míshláintiúil) sa lá atá inniu ann agus gan amhras baineann go leor maithis agus donais leo ( uimhir iolra – na meáin) . Maidir leis an idirlíon a bunaíodh sna nóchaidí anois tá sé an-éasca dúinn fanacht i dteagmháil lenár gcairde in Éirinn nó thar lear. Rugadh agus tógadh an ghlúin óg leis an idirlíon agus is léir nach féidir linn an domhan a shamhlú gan iad anois. Deirtear go bhfuil daoine óga an leisciúil agud míshláintiúil agus gan amhras ní chabhraíonn na meáin shóisialta leis an íomha sin.

Ach tá brú tromchúiseach ar dhaoine óga am a chaitheamh ar an idirlíon. Mar dhéagóir tá gach duine ag iarraidh a bheith mar an gcéanna agus mar sin baineann gach déagóir úsáid as an idirlíon. Úsáidimid na meáin shósialta ionas nach mbeimid difriúil ach is fadhb ollmhóir í an mhaistíneacht ar líne agur ar scoil. De réir taighde a rinneadh ag Coláiste na Tríonóide, theagmhaigh lámh fhuarchríoch an bhulaíocht ar líne le duine as gach ceathrar cailíní agus buachaill as gach seisear. An bhféadfá é sin a chreidiúnt? Gan dabht uaireanta bíonn torthaí uasfásacha ag an maistíneacht ar líne, déanann sé dochar don fhéinmheas agud don fhéinmhúinín atá ag daoine óige. Anuas ar sin anois is arís cloistear scéalta faoi dhéagóirí bochta atá tar éis lámh a chur ina mbáis féin mar gheall ar an maistíneacht ar líne.

I mo thuairim tá saol andeacair ag daltaí sa lá atá inniu ann agus níl sé ró-éasca dúinn a bheith buartha faoinár sláinte nuair atá brú ag teacht orainn ó go leor áiteanna difriúla. I mo thuairim dá mbeadh gach duine in ann obair le chéile agus cabhrú le daoine eile, go háirithe na daltaí bheadh gach duine in ann a bheith níos sláintiúla agus rachaidh an tír seo agus muidne leis ó neart go neart. B’fhéidir nach bhfuilimid róshláinte I mbliana agus táim cinnte de nach bhfuilimid leisciúil.

Tasc – 5 / 5 ( Roghnaigh tú aiste agus scríobh tú aiste)

Ábhar – 7/15 ( Níor léirigh tú tuiscint cheart ar an ráiteas / teideal na haiste. Níor thaispeáin tú nasc láidir leis an téama i ngach alt; níor scríobh tú aon rud faoi shláinte fhisiciúil, tá níos mó scríofa faoin gCóras Oideachais ná faoin leisciúlacht ná faoi mhíshláínte na ndéagóirí )

Gaeilge – 38 /80 ( Tá nasc idir an marc don ábhar agus an marc don Ghaeilge – mura scríobhann tú go díreach faoin téama, ní bhfaighidh tú na pointí don Ghaeilge. Ní mór fairsingeacht agus saibhreas teanga a léiriú freisin)

Scéal na hArdteiste. Mothúchán: Dílseacht

This was a really interesting and a good scéal, but the language in the scéal tends to be simpler so grammar and good spelling are vital! All the spelling and grammar errors have been corrected below.

Braitheann brí an fhocail dílseacht ar an dearcadh atá ag an duine ar an saol, do dhaoine áirithe baineann sé le cursaí spóirt, le hairgead nó le hoideachas ach do Niamh de Burca bhí míniú eile ann.

Tráthnóna Sathairn a bhí ann nuair a shiúil sí síos an bóthar cúng ciúin ar thóir a caisleáin.(in pursuit of her castle?) Bhí (fear ar meisce) meisceoir ar leac na sráide, cuma na trioblóide air. Tháinig carr lena taobh. D’aithin Niamh an fear a chuir a chloigeann amach an fhuinneog “ síob uait, táim ag dul do bhealachsa”. Bhí aithne súl aici air a cheap sí, an fear ciúin béal dorais a ghlaoigh daoine air, níor labhair sé mórán nó níor labhair sé riamh go dtí seo. Bhreathnaigh Niamh ar an meisceoir arís ar thaobh an bhóthair agus shochraigh sí go mbeadh an bealach eile níos sábháilte. Carr deas nua dhá mhíle is a hocht dhéag a bhí ann ar aon chaoi, caithfidh an fear a bheith deas, a cheap sí, agus léim sí isteach sa charr.

Ag fágáil na leabharlainne níos luaithe di an lá céanna, (bhí an oíche tar éis teach tar an lá – píosa seo gan chiall) nuair a bhí an dorchadas ag scuabadh tríd an mbaile, bhí grúpaí beaga de chailíní ó Scoil Naomh Eoin ag siúl abhaile le chéile. Choinnigh Niamh ag siúl ina haonar. Ní raibh sí I bhfad ina cónaí sa bhaile. Bhuel cúig bliana ó shin a bhí sé nuair a bhog sí féin agus a clann isteach sa “ chaisleán “ mar a ghlaoigh muintir an cheantair air. Ní raibh aon chara (cairde – friends?) déanta aici go fóill. Rinne daoine áirithe iarracht léi ach níor ‘réitigh’ sí leo toisc nach duine dílis í. Ní raibh aon rud I (gciontanta) gcoitianta aici le (daoine sa cheantar)muintir an cheantair dar léi. Sa bhaile (sa tseanᾴit) bhí a cairde saibhir ar nós í féin. Bhí éad ar na cailíní ina scoil (nua?) chomh maith, a cheap sí. Cúig nóiméad tar éis fágáil na leabharlainne di, d’iarr cailín darb ainm Roisin uirthi siúl abhaile léi ach níor fhreagair Niamh í. Rud éigin faoin oíche a bheith dainséarach a bhí sí ag rá ach níor bhac Niamh léi.

Bhí Roisin ag féachaint ar Niamh ag siúl síos an bóthar agus chonaic sí í ag dul isteach sa charr. Tháinig cás a carad (TG) isteach ina hintinn agus an dochar a bhí déanta ag an bhfear sin. Bhí sé contúirteach ach níor chreid aon duine í (iad). Bhí Roisin dílis dá cairde. Thuig sí brí an fhocail ‘dílseacht’ mar ní raibh sí chun Niamh a fhágáil leis an bhfear sin. Bhí fón Roisin ina lámh aici agus chuir sí fios ar na Gardaí láithreach.

Breathnaigh Niamh síos ar an mbrat salach urláir a chlúdaigh leath an tseoimrín bhig I dteach a comharsan, ceard a tharlóidh anois a cheap sí, ní bheadh aon duine á cuardach agus a tuismitheoirí as baile don deireadh seachtaine. Tháinig an fear isteach sa seomra agus chroith Niamh leis an bhfuacht a tháinig isteach leis ach níorbh fhéidir léi bogadh.

“ Níl fianaise againn gur fear contúirteach é a Roisin, ní féidir a bheith ag cur glaoch le tuairimí” agus chuir an Garda síos an fón. Bhí Roisín ar buile, cé mhéad uair a dhéanfaidh an diabhal sin dochar gan iarmhairtí. Síos le Roisín go dtí stáisiún na nGardaí agus bhí sí dul ag fanacht ansin go dtí go labhródh duine éigin léi. Faoi dheireadh labhair sí le Garda le ciall éigin agus thug said cuairt ar theach Niamh (Néimhe – TG) agus nuair nach raibh sí ann, ar theach a comharsan. Bhí an fear láidir ann ach de réir dealraimh, ní raibh mórán céille aige mar cár thóg sé í ach ar ais chuig a theachsa agus an doras fᾴgtha ar oscailt. Torann ò Niamh ag screadadh an chéad rud a chuala na Gardaí a briseadh isteach sa teach.

“ Róisín dílis a chuir fios orainn” a dúirt an Garda léi ar ais ag an stáisiún. “Bhí an t-ádh ortsa buíochas di féin” agus shín Niamh a lámh I dtreo a carad (TG) nua a bhí ag fanacht taobh amuigh den doras.

Anois thuig Niamh an fhírinne agus bhí sé searbh “ déanann sparán trom croí éadrom”. Roimh an eachtra seo ní raibh cara ar bith aici ar domhan, ní raibh duine ar bith aici le siύl abhaile leo nó b’shin an chaoi a raibh sé. Mar gheall uirthi féin, dar ndóigh, ní dhéanfadh sí botún mar sin arís go deo. Teastaíonn cara dílis ó gach duine agus bhí cara maith aici I Roisin (fada). Bhí ceacht eile foghlamtha aici ag an am céanna, ní rachadh sí isteach I gcarr le strainséir arís, is dóigh go raibh an meisceoir ar an tsráid I bhfad níos deise ná an fear a thóg í.

Bhí faoiseamh uirthi go raibh sí slán sábháilte istigh ina leaba, buíochas le Roisin. Bhí áthas an domhain uirthi go raibh cara dílis aici cosúil le Roisin. Ní raibh gá acu a bheith imníoch arís. Bhí áthas uirthi go raibh an misneach ag a cara gníomhú ar a son. Ní dhéanfadh sí dearmad ar an eachtra sin go deo na ndeor. Agus í ag titeadh ina codladh an oíche sin thuig sí brí an fhocail “ dílseacht”.

Domhan na Meán agus na teicneolaíochta

The average LC Aiste Ghaeilge needs to be in the region of 500-600 words. This essay was almost 3 times that in length.

The main advice here for the student is to cut it down to one third of its current length. It is a really good essay, lots of really intelligent points and now totally clean of all grammar and spelling errors.

Errors are in bold Italics, corrections in bold in brackets afterwards. Author, John Downey, credited as requested.

Nach iontach go deo iad na meáin chumarsáide sa lá atá inniu ann? Nuair a smaoiním féin ar na meáin chumarsáide, is iad na focail is mó a thagann i gcuimhne dom (= in my memory – a thagann chun cinn – which comes to mind)) ná nuachtáin agus irisí, an raidió, an t-idirlíon, an fón cliste agus ar ndóigh an meán is uileghabhálaí dóibh ar fad, an ríomhaire nó teicneolaíocht na fáisnéise (na faisnéise – Níl aon fada ar an a). Fiú sna tíortha is boicthe (boichte) ar domhain (ar domhan – níl aon i) bíonn fón póca de shaghas éigin ag a lán daoine. Ní lia duine ná tuairim ach creidim féin (go pearsanta) go mbaineann idir bhuntáistí agus mí-bhuntáistí (mhíbhuntáistí – idir = both ‘h’ ) leis na meáin chumarsáide. San aiste seo pléifidh mé na rudaí dearfacha atá le feiceáil sna méain (fada ar an a) ach ní féidir linn dearmad a dhéanamh ar na rudaí diúiltacha ( diúltacha) atá ann freisin. Labhróidh mé ar dtús faoin maitheas a bhaineann leis na meáin.

Níl amhras ar bith ach go bhfuil an cibearspás tagtha inár – (*mar chuid lárnach dár* – has a central role in) saol nua-aimseartha seo. Tá tionchar ag an ngé seo den saol orainn uilig. Lorgaíonn daoine cairde le (leis na) suimeanna céanna agus le teacht na suíomhanna gréasáin ar nós Instagram, Facebook agus Snapchat is féidir le daoine labhairt lena gcairde a chónaíonn cúig nóiméad síos an bhóthair (síos an bóthar – Tuiseal Ainmneach) nó ar an taobh eile den domhain (níl aon i sa chás seo). Cinnte, is mór idir inniu agus inné. Is cuimhin leis an ngliúin níos sine (is cuimhin leis an seanghlúin – de ghnáth úsáideann tú “níos sine” nuair atá comparáid i gceist) na laethanta a d’fhág imircigh an tír seo ar an mbád bán, gan chumarsáid ar bith lena muintir riamh arís. Áfach, tá an domh ain(níl aon i) níos lú anois agus tá fáil again anois ar aon eolas nó aon nuacht le brú cnaipe. Cé go mbaineann brón agus uaigneas leis an eisimirce, tá deoraithe ábalta a ngaolta sa bhaile a fheiceáil a bhuí le leithéidí Skype agus labhairt lena chéile ar chostas an-íseal ar an idirlíon. Is scéal difriúil é ón am nuair a d’fhág imircigh an tír seo gan cumarsáid ar bith lena muintir riamh arís. Ní áibhéil ar bith a rá go bhfuil an idirlíon (an t-idirlíon – Tuiseal Ainmneach)mar shráidbhaile dhomhanda ( sráidbhaile domhanda – tá sráidbhaile firinscneach ) anois. Ní féidir a sheachaint (Ní féidir a shéanadh? – It cannot be denied, seachaint – to be avoided) ach go bhfuilimid timpeallaithe ag na meáin chumarsáide. Insíonn na meáin rudaí dúinn ( insítear dúinn tríd na meáin –we are told through the media, as opposed to inanimate object “telling”) faoi cad atá ar siúl nó ag tarlú sa domhain (níl aon i). Táimid ábalta aon phíosa eolais ar bith a fháil le brú cnaipe. Tugann siad (Tugtar) tuairimí difriúila difriúla) dúinn agus is féidir (leo) an nuacht a scaipeadh go han-tapa. Déanann siad ( Déantar ) clúdach forleathan ar scéalta móra an lae. Coinníonn siad (Coinnítear) muid feasach faoi chúrsaí Reatha I gcónaí. Mar shampla, nuair a bhí Aung San Suu Kyi gafa(nuair a gabhadh…) , bhí gach duine ar an eolas faoi. Tá sé mar gheall ar na meáin (is de bharr na meán) go bhfuil sí fós beo dar le roinnt daoine. (Cinnte tá a lán fadhbanna tagtha (tagtha) anois nach raibh ann cúpla bliain ó shin – an bhfuil gá leis an abairt sin?))

Maidir leis an idirlíon, a bunaíodh sna nóchaidí, déanann se – (Tá) an saol níos easca dúinn ar fad (dá bharr). Rugadh agus tógadh an ghliúin (an ghlúin)óg leis na meáin leictreonacha agus ní cuimhin linn anois domhain (níl aon i) gan fhón (gan fón) cliste, ríomhairí glúine nó an t-idirlíon. In ionad an raidió a chur ar siúl anois, téimid ar líne chun an nuacht is déanaí a fháil. Gan amhras fulaingíonn na meáin eile mar gheall ar na meáin leictreonacha.

Bíonn dhá insint ar gach scéal, áfach, agus is fíor é sin maidir leis na meáin chumarsáide. Cé go gcuireann na meáin chumarsáíde nuacht an domhain ar fáil dúinn le brú cnaipe níl aon dabht I m’aigne ach go dtéann cuid de na meáin thar fóir ag lorg scéaltaí ( scéalta) , go háirithe maidir leis na ceiliúráin. Is cuimhin go maith liom an t-am a bhí Kate Middleton san ospidéal lena chéad ( níl aon h ) pháiste agus bhí an domhain (níl aon i) go léir ag iarraidh eolais. Ghlaoigh bean amháin I stáisiúin raidiosan Astráil ar an ospidéal ag cur I gcéill gur Banríon Éilis a bhí ann(inti – bean a bhí i gceist). Rinne banaltra botún mar thug sí amach eolas agus go luath ina dhiaidh sin, chuir sí lámh ina bás féin. I gcás eile nuair a fuair Peaches Geldoff bás de bharr drugaí, bhí a hathair Bob cráite le ceisteanna ó na hiriseoirí. Níl sé ceart ná cóir daoine a chrá ar mhaithe le siamsaíocht a chur ar fáil do dhaoine eile. Tá cumhacht as cuimse ag na meáin. Is mór freisin a scríobhtar bréga ) (? Is iomaí bréag a scríobhtar – many a lie is written) faoi dhaoine ar na páípéír tabóide (na nuachtáin tablóideacha) , agus mar is eol do chách, is sia a théann an bhréag ná an fhirinne .(an fhírinne) Níl aon dabht faoi ach go mbaineann siamsaíocht leis na meáin chumarsáide. Gach bliain bíonn táirge nua ar an margadh. Mealltar daoine, go háirithe déagóirí, chun cluichí éagsúla a imirt. Fadhb mhór a bhaineann le seo ná go mbíonn cuid mhaith de na cluichí an-fhoighneach (= very patient, an-fhoréigneach = very violent) agus bíonn páistí ag imirt cluichí nach bhfuil aois-oiriúnach dóibh. Ciallaíonn sé sin do dtéann déagóirí i dtaithí ar an bhforéigean agus ar an ábhar sin tá baol ann go mbeidh siad féin foréigneach ina saol. Chomh maith le sin, cuireann irisí pictiúir de dhaoine foirfe ós ár gcomhair Domhnach is dálach. Léíríonn siad ( léirítear ) íomhánna dúinn a bhfuil tionchar mór acu orainn. Má bhreathnaíonn tú ar na fógraí, feicfidh tú go mbíonn siad lán d’íomhánna mí réalacha ( míréadúla ) . Is bocht an scéal é sin nuair a cheapann tú faoin tionchar atá ag an meáin. Bíonn nua-theicneolaíocht ag athrú de shíor agus tá sé deacair do dhaoine cóiméad( coimeád) suas leis na hathraithe ( na hathruithe ) seo ach tá sé níos éasca do dhaoine óga. Aontaím gur chóir go bhfoghlaimeodh gach duine conas úsáid a bhaint as an idirlíon toisc go bhfuil go leor buntáistí ag baint leis. Tá aipeanna nua ag teacht ar an saol lá i ndiaidh lae agus déanann siad an saol níos éasca dúinn ar fad. Is fearr déanach ná choíche! Measaim go bhfuil sé an-tábhachtach do na gliúnta ( na glúnta ) amach anseo go mbeadh na teicneolaíocht is déanaí acu. Tá sé ag athrú gach lá agus tá chumhact ( cumhacht ) ollmhór ag na meáin. Le blianta beaga anuas, feicimid tionchar as cuimse ag na líonraí sóisialta agus tá siad ag athrú an tsaoil.

Gan fuacht gan faitíos (? Coolly, boldly? – gan dabht ar bith –without a doubt?)) is áis oideachasúil iontach é an t-idirlíon agus bíonn Wifi agus córas leathanbhanda ar fáil go forleathan i mbeagnach gach áit agus bíonn sé níos tapúla ná riamh. Is féidir le daoine mórán eolais a fháil ón ngréasán domhanda le cabhair innill cuardaigh ar nós Google agus Yahoo, ní gá dul go dtí an leabharlann a thuilleadh chun an t-eolas is déanaí a fháil ar ábhar ar bith. Úsáidim an t-idirlíon chun taighde a dhéanamh ar thionscnamh (project? = ar thionscadal) scoile agus tá suíomhanna iontacha ar fáil ina dtugtar comhairle agus treoir do dhaltaí ag lorg níos mó nótaí. I gcóir (I GCOMHAIR) daltaí na hArdteiste d’fhéadfadh an fhoirm CAO a líonadh amach ar an idirlíon anois. Bímid ag gearán go minic faoin tslí a bhfuil na fóin chliste ag déanamh damáiste ar chomhluadar an duine agus ag cuir (ag cur) ar ais an comhrá agus an chuideachta. ‘’Bíonn an fhírinne searbh’’ agus feictear in aon bhialann, grúpa dlúthchairde agus iad ina suí go ciúin ag stánadh ar na scáileáin idirgníomhach (idirghníomhacha). Aontaím go huile is go hiomlán gur fadhb thromchúiseach é seo agus go bhfuil ré an chomhrá thart. ( Áfach, caithfimid gruaim a choinneáil orainn féin. – we must keep ourselves in depression?) I ndeireadh na dála níl an (níl san iompar seo) iompar seo ach drochnós agus mar a deir an seanfhocal ní fál go haer é nósanna a bhriseadh.

Ar an drochuair, tá taobh díobhálach leis na meáin chumarsáide agus is dócha go bhfuil an taobh sin le feiceáil ar an ríomhaire den chuid is mó. Is olc an scéal é ach bíonn taobh maith agus taobh olc ag baint le gach rud. Tagann a lán dainséar leis an idirlíon go háirithe maidir le daoine óga agus a bhfón póca cliste féin. Le teacht na suíomhanna sóisialta a mheallann daoine óga chun rudaí gránna maslacha faoina chéile tá an chibearbhulaíocht ag méadú. Gortaíonn ráitis mhailíseacha daoine leochaileacha agus rómhinic cloistear scéalta faoi dhéagóirí ag cur lámh ina mbás féin mar gheall ar ábhar na suíomhanna sin. Bíonn mórán péidifiligh ( péidifileach – Tuiseal ginideach – iolra) ag iarraidh teangmháil ( teagmháil ) a dhéanamh le leanaí i seomraí cainte ar an idirlíon. Ligeann daoine orthu go bhfuil siad ar chomhaois leis na leanaí chun iad a mhealladh chun cainte agus fiú bualadh leo. Mar a deir an seanfhocal ‘’Ní thagann ciall roimh aois’’ agus bíonn ar dhaoine a bheith cúramach. De réir an taighde nua atá déanta ag Ionad Frithmhaistíneachta Choláiste na Tríonóide theagmhaigh lámh fuarchroíoch na cibearbhulaíochta le duine as gach ceathrar cailíní agus le buachaill as gach seisear. Cruthaíonn úsáid na teicneolaíochta a lán fadhbannna i saol an duine óig. Is minic a chaithtear uair an chloig an lae ar an bhfón póca agus ní nach iompar ( ionadh ) go gcuireann iompar mar sin isteach go mór ar achar airde na ndaltaí. Thar aon rud eile ní fheidhmíonn daoine chomh maith agus is féidir leo ar scoil agus is dáiríre an fhadhb é seo. Is é an t-aon réiteach a fheicimse ar an bhfadhb seo ná go gcaithfidh tuismitheoirí a bheith i láthair nuair a úsáideann a bpáistí an t-idirlíon chun iad a chosaint ó rudaí gránna an domhain nua aimseartha seo.

Is tionscal an sabhair ( an-saibhir ) é tionscal na meán cumarsáide anois agus cruthaítear na milliúin post gach bliain sa teascóg seo. A bhuí le cáin níos ísle ná aon áit eile ar domhan tháinig Google, Microsoft agus Intel anseo agus tá jabanna le fáil i dteicneolaíocht na faisnéise níos minice ná riamh. Áfach mar gheall ar an idirlíon agus na suíomhanna ceoil mídhleathacha cailltear na céadta post freisin. Tá na siopaí ceoil beagnach dúnta anois agus mar gheall ar an bpíoráideacht, bíonn daoine ag íoslódáil scannán freisin agus tá na mílte post I mbaol mar sin. Tá dhá thaobh ar an mbád, mar a deirtear! Fásaim féin (Tá mé ag fás) aníos sa réabhlóid seo atá faoi lán seoil. Féachaimis arís ar roinnt buntáistí tábhachtacha a bhaineann leis na meáin. Tá sí siamsúil, oideachasúil agus suimiúil. Tá an domhain( níl aon i ) I bhfad níos lú agus bíonn gach rud ar domhan ar fáil le brú cnaipe. Bheinn cinnte gur domhan difriúil é domhan na meán I gceann deich mbliana le teacht a lán rudaí nua. Tá a lán míbhuntáistí eile ann freisin agus caithfimid ár ndícheall a dhéanamh mar beidh sé ag goilliúnt ( ag goilleadh ar ) ár gcine daonna. Gan amhras ar bith, níl torainn ( teorainn ) leis na meáin ach an teorainn a bhaineann le samhlaíocht agus le hintinn an duine. Domhan corraitheach síorathrach é domhan na meán agus fad is atáimid airdeallach orthu, beidh an domhan sin agus muidne leis ag dul ó neart go neart. Chun críoch a chur leis an scéal, dá mbeadh soineann go Samhain bheadh breall ar dhuine éigin.

Tús 7. áis oideachasúil 2. Suíomhanna teangmhála 8. comhrá 3. Nuacht 9. taobh dorcha díobhálach 4. Ag dul thar fóir 10. jabanna 5. Mí fhoighneach – damáiste- cluichí 11. achar airde 6. Buntáistí Críoch
Post author: Martina
Post published: October 8, 2018
Post category: #625Lab Irish / Irish

Aiste: an maitheas is an donas a bhaineann leis na meáin chumarsáide, irish: ask a straight h1 student, an tsraith pictiúr.

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Guest Essay

It’s Time to End the Quiet Cruelty of Property Taxes

A black-and-white photograph of a beaten-up dollhouse sitting on rocky ground beneath an underpass.

By Andrew W. Kahrl

Dr. Kahrl is a professor of history and African American studies at the University of Virginia and the author of “The Black Tax: 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America.”

Property taxes, the lifeblood of local governments and school districts, are among the most powerful and stealthy engines of racism and wealth inequality our nation has ever produced. And while the Biden administration has offered many solutions for making the tax code fairer, it has yet to effectively tackle a problem that has resulted not only in the extraordinary overtaxation of Black and Latino homeowners but also in the worsening of disparities between wealthy and poorer communities. Fixing these problems requires nothing short of a fundamental re-examination of how taxes are distributed.

In theory, the property tax would seem to be an eminently fair one: The higher the value of your property, the more you pay. The problem with this system is that the tax is administered by local officials who enjoy a remarkable degree of autonomy and that tax rates are typically based on the collective wealth of a given community. This results in wealthy communities enjoying lower effective tax rates while generating more tax revenues; at the same time, poorer ones are forced to tax property at higher effective rates while generating less in return. As such, property assessments have been manipulated throughout our nation’s history to ensure that valuable property is taxed the least relative to its worth and that the wealthiest places will always have more resources than poorer ones.

Black people have paid the heaviest cost. Since they began acquiring property after emancipation, African Americans have been overtaxed by local governments. By the early 1900s, an acre of Black-owned land was valued, for tax purposes, higher than an acre of white-owned land in most of Virginia’s counties, according to my calculations, despite being worth about half as much. And for all the taxes Black people paid, they got little to nothing in return. Where Black neighborhoods began, paved streets, sidewalks and water and sewer lines often ended. Black taxpayers helped to pay for the better-resourced schools white children attended. Even as white supremacists treated “colored” schools as another of the white man’s burdens, the truth was that throughout the Jim Crow era, Black taxpayers subsidized white education.

Freedom from these kleptocratic regimes drove millions of African Americans to move to Northern and Midwestern states in the Great Migration from 1915 to 1970, but they were unable to escape racist assessments, which encompassed both the undervaluation of their property for sales purposes and the overvaluation of their property for taxation purposes. During those years, the nation’s real estate industry made white-owned property in white neighborhoods worth more because it was white. Since local tax revenue was tied to local real estate markets, newly formed suburbs had a fiscal incentive to exclude Black people, and cities had even more reason to keep Black people confined to urban ghettos.

As the postwar metropolis became a patchwork of local governments, each with its own tax base, the fiscal rationale for segregation intensified. Cities were fiscally incentivized to cater to the interests of white homeowners and provide better services for white neighborhoods, especially as middle-class white people began streaming into the suburbs, taking their tax dollars with them.

One way to cater to wealthy and white homeowners’ interests is to intentionally conduct property assessments less often. The city of Boston did not conduct a citywide property reassessment between 1946 and 1977. Over that time, the values of properties in Black neighborhoods increased slowly when compared with the values in white neighborhoods or even fell, which led to property owners’ paying relatively more in taxes than their homes were worth. At the same time, owners of properties in white neighborhoods got an increasingly good tax deal as their neighborhoods increased in value.

As was the case in other American cities, Boston’s decision most likely derived from the fear that any updates would hasten the exodus of white homeowners and businesses to the suburbs. By the 1960s, assessments on residential properties in Boston’s poor neighborhoods were up to one and a half times as great as their actual values, while assessments in the city’s more affluent neighborhoods were, on average, 40 percent of market value.

Jersey City, N.J., did not conduct a citywide real estate reassessment between 1988 and 2018 as part of a larger strategy for promoting high-end real estate development. During that time, real estate prices along the city’s waterfront soared but their owners’ tax bills remained relatively steady. By 2015, a home in one of the city’s Black and Latino neighborhoods worth $175,000 received the same tax bill as a home in the city’s downtown worth $530,000.

These are hardly exceptions. Numerous studies conducted during those years found that assessments in predominantly Black neighborhoods of U.S. cities were grossly higher relative to value than those in white areas.

These problems persist. A recent report by the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy found that property assessments were regressive (meaning lower-valued properties were assessed higher relative to value than higher-valued ones) in 97.7 percent of U.S. counties. Black-owned homes and properties in Black neighborhoods continue to be devalued on the open market, making this regressive tax, in effect, a racist tax.

The overtaxation of Black homes and neighborhoods is also a symptom of a much larger problem in America’s federated fiscal structure. By design, this system produces winners and losers: localities with ample resources to provide the goods and services that we as a nation have entrusted to local governments and others that struggle to keep the lights on, the streets paved, the schools open and drinking water safe . Worse yet, it compels any fiscally disadvantaged locality seeking to improve its fortunes to do so by showering businesses and corporations with tax breaks and subsidies while cutting services and shifting tax burdens onto the poor and disadvantaged. A local tax on local real estate places Black people and cities with large Black populations at a permanent disadvantage. More than that, it gives middle-class white people strong incentives to preserve their relative advantages, fueling the zero-sum politics that keep Americans divided, accelerates the upward redistribution of wealth and impoverishes us all.

There are technical solutions. One, which requires local governments to adopt more accurate assessment models and regularly update assessment rolls, can help make property taxes fairer. But none of the proposed reforms being discussed can be applied nationally because local tax policies are the prerogative of the states and, often, local governments themselves. Given the variety and complexity of state and local property tax laws and procedures and how much local governments continue to rely on tax reductions and tax shifting to attract and retain certain people and businesses, we cannot expect them to fix these problems on their own.

The best way to make local property taxes fairer and more equitable is to make them less important. The federal government can do this by reinvesting in our cities, counties and school districts through a federal fiscal equity program, like those found in other advanced federated nations. Canada, Germany and Australia, among others, direct federal funds to lower units of government with lower capacities to raise revenue.

And what better way to pay for the program than to tap our wealthiest, who have benefited from our unjust taxation scheme for so long? President Biden is calling for a 25 percent tax on the incomes and annual increases in the values of the holdings of people claiming more than $100 million in assets, but we could accomplish far more by enacting a wealth tax on the 1 percent. Even a modest 4 percent wealth tax on people whose total assets exceed $50 million could generate upward of $400 billion in additional annual revenue, which should be more than enough to ensure that the needs of every city, county and public school system in America are met. By ensuring that localities have the resources they need, we can counteract the unequal outcomes and rank injustices that our current system generates.

Andrew W. Kahrl is a professor of history and African American studies at the University of Virginia and the author of “ The Black Tax : 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America.”

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Lecturers ‘under pressure’ to pass foreign students due to financial concerns

Irish universities have become increasingly reliant on lucrative international students to plug holes in their finances.

Higher education institutions are heavily reliant on international students, who pay higher fees than domestic or EU applicants, due to underfunding of the third-level sector. Photograph: iStock

Lecturers in some universities say they feel pressurised into putting financial concerns in advance of academic quality by awarding passes to more lucrative international students who are struggling in their courses.

Higher education institutions are heavily reliant on international students, who pay higher fees than domestic or EU applicants, due to underfunding of the third-level sector.

In some cases, however, lecturing staff say they are concerned that significant numbers of non-EU students – paying upwards of €18,000 a year – are being accepted on to postgraduate courses without the English language proficiency needed to pass.

In University College Cork, for example, some lecturing staff have expressed concern that significant numbers of international students are being “set up to fail” by being accepted on to postgraduate programmes without sufficient English.

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In one case, a lecturer who failed more than 30 students on a postgraduate course was the subject of a joint complaint from a group of Chinese students, which included an allegation of racism, according to multiple sources.

[ ‘Talent attachés’ to be posted across globe to attract international students to Ireland ]

“The saddest thing is these students are suffering terribly and incidents of trauma, insomnia and depression have been reported by international students to authorities,” said a lecturer. “There is an expectation that they will pass, and that suits university management, while staff don’t feel supported.”

In a statement, UCC said admissions criteria for programmes specify English language requirements, which are approved by the university’s academic board.

“International candidates are only accepted to programmes at University College Cork if they have been awarded the required scores in international standardised tests of English language proficiency for non-native, English-language speakers,” a spokeswoman said, in a statement. “Where necessary, UCC provides supports to students who may require additional language supports.”

She added that UCC upholds “robust academic standards, and all modules and assessments are reviewed by external examiners and external accrediting bodies, where relevant”.

International students are required to provide evidence of satisfying English language requirements – such as the Duolingo English Test – but many courses in Irish higher education institutions do not require an in-person interview.

Staff across a number of higher education institutions have told The Irish Times that loopholes in language requirements or insufficient supports within their universities mean more vulnerable students risk relying on AI tools in order to pass assignments. More stringent language requirements are typically sought in health or medicine-related programmes.

[ Trinity students to end protest after college agrees plans to divest from Israeli companies ]

“This isn’t a criticism of students,” said one lecturer. “Some of my very best students are international students, but we’re letting others down.”

There has also been concern expressed at large class sizes and high proportions of international student numbers on individual courses, raising questions over the student experience and quality of group work.

“We also have a shocking situation where, on a master’s programme, there are just over 160 students and over 140 of those are from a single country,” said one academic, who asked not to be named.

The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) said chronic underfunding of the higher education sector was evident in “soaring student-to-staff ratios” and increased reliance on international students as a funding source.

“While international students undeniably enrich the academic environment, viewing them primarily as financial assets risks diverting attention from the core mission of delivering education and research,” said Miriam Hamilton, deputy general secretary at IFUT.

“It is imperative that the university sector receives secure and sufficient public funding to safeguard its vital role and contribution to society. By moving to a sustainable funding model, universities can maintain their commitment to excellence in education and research without compromising their integrity.”

[ Student accommodation: A market plagued by bed shortages, rising rents and 51-week leases ]

The number of non-EU international students has risen significantly in recent years, from just more than 17,000 students in 2016-2017, to more than 25,000 international students in 2022-23, an increase of almost 50 per cent.

The Government agreed in 2022 that the higher education sector required an extra €307 million a year in base funding but, in the two subsequent budgets, it has delivered about €100 million of this.

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Carl O'Brien

Carl O'Brien is Education Editor of The Irish Times. He was previously chief reporter and social affairs correspondent

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Secondary students regularly see ‘toxic’ content on social media, survey finds, irish times poll: public mood on immigration hardening as local and european elections approach, irish workers among the least productive in europe, study indicates, south dublin tennis club slams student accommodation plan, first look at new over 23s nightclub in dublin city centre: ‘it’ll be big. it’ll be loud. it’ll be spectacular’, scottie scheffler arrives at valhalla after being arrested in incident before us pga round, latest stories, vatican reforms process for evaluating alleged visions of virgin mary to combat hoaxes, bruce springsteen in dublin: croke park concert setlist, weather forecast, ticket information and more, taoiseach outlines ireland’s intention to recognise palestine in call with israeli president, green policies burned by new netherlands coalition, larry goodman’s abp group announces €28.5m scottish investment.

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110 + Interesting Racism Essay Topics to Write About + [Example]
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Understanding Racism: Defining Racism in an Irish Context » INAR
My Experiences of Racism Free Essay Example
An Oversight of Racism in Ireland

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Irish Immigrant Stereotypes and American Racism
In this essay, Kevin Kenny examines a British political cartoon to raise questions about the transatlantic nature of anti-Irish prejudice and its relationship to the history of racism in America. "The Most Recently Discovered Wild Beast" (1881) is one of a series of nineteenth-century images portraying the Irish as violent and subhuman.
'Racism is rampant in Ireland, across all sectors and levels'
Dr Ebun Joseph, founder of the Institute of Antiracism and Black Studies, says racism is rife in Ireland. In her role, Joseph has come across many examples of people facing discrimination purely ...
Understanding Racism: Defining Racism in an Irish Context » INAR
The Irish Network Against Racism INAR (formerly ENAR Ireland), who coordinate a network of 104 civil society organisations in Ireland, have pioneered the iReport.ie racist incident reporting system since 2013, logging thousands of incidents and producing from their data cutting edge reports and policy submissions to national and international ...
'I make myself small and stay quiet': Experiences of racism in Ireland
In my experience here over the past 10 years, racism and exclusion takes on many different forms in Ireland. When I have been assaulted on the streets of the city centre, I've always wondered if ...
Is anti-Irish racism still a problem? You can Bank on it
Banks is no stranger to controversial statements. In 2016, she was dropped from her headline slot at a UK festival after making racist and homophobic remarks (again on social media) towards former One Direction singer Zain Malik. In this latest outburst, she once again faced accusations of racism, this time against Irish people.
Does Ireland have a racism problem?
From RTÉ News, tens of thousands attend anti-racism march in Dublin. "This is a very dangerous time. We need action which is going to implement the idea of making sure that this is an Ireland ...
Racism in Ireland: Integration in education
In her final report exploring the topic of racism in Ireland, Social Affairs Correspondent Ailbhe Conneely looks at integration in the education system. Conor McNamara loves being Irish.
Black and Irish: What exactly is systemic racism?
Black and Irish: What exactly is systemic racism? Last year Boni Odoemene, Leon Diop and Femi Bankole of The Black and Irish Instagram page joined forces with Amanda Ade to create The Black and ...
'It's endemic': Prevalence of racism in Irish workplaces at record levels
Racism at work is on the rise, new figures from the Irish Network Against Racism (INAR) show. Preliminary findings from their 2022 report found a record 69 cases were reported, up from 16 in 2021 ...
'Ireland, and black!': minstrelsy, racism, and black cultural
7 The history of racism in Ireland would have to take account, of course, of the complex relationship between Ireland and the British Empire, as a colony to be compared with the plantations in the West Indies (as Carlyle does in the article quoted at the beginning of this essay), but also as what W.J. McCormack calls 'a metropolitan colony', contributing to and participating in the empire ...
INAR's 2020 iReport.ie Reports of Racism in Ireland » INAR
2020 Reports of Racism in Ireland: Overview. There were 700 reports received in 2020. Criminal offences excluding incitement to hatred constituted 159 reports. Discrimination accounted for 99 reports, and other recordable racist incidents accounted for 143 reports. There were 334 reports concerning hate speech, almost double that of 2019.
PDF UNDERSTANDING and RESPONDING TO RACISM in Ireland: Irish Association of
112 racist crimes reported to iReport.ie in 2019. Racist incidents in the workplace: Ireland ranked as one of the worst Europe-wide with a rate of 33%, compared to an EU average of 22%. (FRA, 2018) Black non-Irish people are 5x more likely than white Irish people to experience discrimination when seeking employment. (ESRI, 2018)
Statement on eliminating racial discrimination in all its forms in
And that we respond with the proper actions necessary to address structural racism in our society. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission reported in December 2019 in Geneva on Ireland's obligations under the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Commission has, following consultation and input from around the ...
Racism in Ireland today: What are the issues? » INAR
Anti-Roma Racism, sometimes also referred to as anti-gipsyism or Romaphobia, refers to the racism or discrimination experienced by people because they are or are perceived to be Roma, "Gypsies" [a pejorative term] or from a Roma or "Gypsy" background. Roma people continue to be targeted for explicit discrimination in all areas of Irish life and experience similar institutional ...
Racism in Ireland: ''You dirty black
Lawal is one of three black Irish women in their 20s who speak to the Irish Times Women's Podcast today. In a wide-ranging conversation, Lawal, Amanda Adewole and Felicia Olusanya talk about their ...
The roots and realities of racism in Irish society
When young people look for jobs, the most damaging discrimination can happen without a single word being spoken: " [Racism is] knowing we could get skipped over when employers are looking at CVs because of our last name.". (8) Bosses and landlords can, out of sheer bigotry, refuse to deal with people of colour.
Whiteness and the Racialization of Irish Identity in Celtic Tiger
This essay examines a small selection of novels for young readers published between 1993 and 2004 which deal in a variety of ways with themes of race and migration in Ireland. ... Immigration and the State," in Coulter and Coleman, The End of Irish History?, 74-94; Steve Garner, Racism in the Irish Experience (London: Pluto Press, 2004), 156 ...
Irish-Americans tempted to condemn today's protests should remember
Black men strung up and lynched by Irish-Americans in New York, in the midst of the Civil War. It turns the stomach to acknowledge, but the truth is unavoidable. Catholics did this. White women ...
When America Despised the Irish: The 19th Century's Refugee Crisis
Fleeing a shipwreck of an island, nearly 2 million refugees from Ireland crossed the Atlantic to the United States in the dismal wake of the Great Hunger. Beginning in 1845, the fortunes of the ...
Irish essays corrected and marked by experienced examiner #625Lab
#625Lab Irish. Corrected and marked by experienced SEC examiner. This page contains essays full of feedback that you can learn from. Learn now, in the safety of 625Lab, and avoid mistakes in the real deal. You may also like: Leaving Cert Irish Guide (€) Athrú Aeráide agus An Timpeallacht Is duine óg mé in Éirinn atá ag déanamh Scrúdú na hArdteiste i mbliana. Nílim ach […]
Welcome to INAR » INAR Irish Network Against Racism
If you are affected by racism you can report it to the iReport.ie. iReport.ie Racist Incident Reporting System, INAR's flagship project, was launched in July 2013. It allows the people, communities, and organisations of to confidentially report racism in Ireland from any online device. More about iReport.ie.
H1 Sample Answer
Find Irish (Gaeilge) past exam papers broken into topics such as poetry or prose. Listen to Aural exams. Prepare for Irish oral with videos and notes on sraith pictiur.
How bullying due to race or ethnicity occurs in Irish schools
But on the other hand, students of racial/ethnic majority can bully those of the minority to maintain or feel their own social power. Feeling the racial/ethnical power is a basic function of ...
Property Taxes Drive Racism and Inequality
Guest Essay. It's Time to End the Quiet Cruelty of Property Taxes. April 11, 2024. ... are among the most powerful and stealthy engines of racism and wealth inequality our nation has ever produced.
Black Irish (folklore)
The term "Black Irish" was initially used in the 19th and 20th centuries by Irish-Americans to describe people of Irish descent who have black or dark-coloured hair, blue or dark eyes, or otherwise dark colouring.This meaning is not often used in modern Ireland, where "Black Irish" usually refers to Irish people of African descent. The first use of the term "Black Irish" is tied to the myth ...
Gardaí investigating alleged racist abuse of ...
Gardaí investigating alleged racist abuse of Limerick election candidate and canvassing team Fianna Fáil's Suzzie O'Deniyi was subjected to a 'beyond vile' tirade in the Caherdavin area
Donald Trump's a racist and Labour should call him out ...
LONDON — London's Mayor Sadiq Khan thinks Donald Trump is a racist, a sexist, and a homophobe — and wants his own Labour party to do more to "call him out." Last week Labour — on course for power on current polling — extended what appeared to be an olive branch to the Republican ...
Lecturers 'under pressure' to pass foreign ...
In one case, a lecturer who failed more than 30 students on a postgraduate course was the subject of a joint complaint from a group of Chinese students, which included an allegation of racism ...