Féile na Carraige

Féile na Carraige 2021

Féile na Carraige 2021 Programme

Tá Féile na Carraige 2021 buailte linn agus
comhthéacs beaganín níos dóchasaí ná mar
a bhí an t-am seo anuraidh le cead againn
nascadh agus bualadh le chéile arís. Ainneoin
go bhfuil scamall dorcha na Coivéide linn go
fóill, tá dóchas ann go dtáinig muid fríd an
chuid is measa agus spás anois chun todchaí
níos cothroime agus níos fuascailtí a shamhlú.
Bliain ollmhór fáis a bhí ann do phobal Ghlór
na Móna leis an iliomad tionscadail úra ag
tabhairt splainc mhisnigh don phobal thart
orainn agus maoiniú suntasach tarraingthe
isteach againn is tuilleadh foirne ag obair linn
anois chun tacú lenár bhfís cumhachtaithe
pobail a chur i gcrích. Tá coincheap caipitil
nua s’againn ‘Croí na Carraige’ i mbéal an
phobail agus tacaíocht thréan léirithe ina
leith fríd staidéar cuimsitheach féidearthachta
s’againn. Léirigh an tAire Pobail, Deirdre
Hargey, an mhuinín chéanna ionainn agus í ar
cuairt againn in Mí an Mheithimh agus tá na
pleananna anois ag bailiú nirt.
Agus, tugann Féile na Carraige an deis
dúinn an teachtaireacht dhearfach seo a
chraobhscaoileadh taobh istigh de sheachtain
spleodrach is fuinniúil na Féile. Beidh téama
an fheachtais deonú orgáin ag rith fríd an
fhéile agus muid ag tabhairt ardáin breise
do Dháithí agus Clann Mhic Ghabhann,
de bhunadh an cheantair s’againn is pobal
Ghlór na Móna, a throid feachtas fiachmhar,
pobalbhunaithe a bhrú athrú córasach dlí ar
bhoic móra na cumhachta. Ar ndóigh, beidh
na himeachtaí seo ag tarlú is muid ar fad faoi
bhróin ag cailliúint tragóideach Frances Mhic
Gabhann, le déanaí. Bean cheannródaíoch
san fheachtas céanna is ceannaire pobail
neamhleithleasach a bhí i measc an chéad
bhaicle Tuistí cróga chun páistí a chuir chuig
Bunscoil an tSléibhe Dhuibh thiar sa 90óidí. Tá
féile na bliana tiomnaithe i ndílchuimhne do
Frances.
Beidh muid ag ceiliúradh an aosa óig i
mbliana le seoladh tuairisce taighde an Dr
Órla Nig Oirc fán togra nualaíoch s’againn
‘Sólás na nÓg’ a bhíonn ag freastal ar
dhaoine óga le riachtanais breise foghlamtha.
Le cois, cluinfidh muid ón Eagraíocht
Réigiúnda Óige Nua-aitheanta Gaeilge
‘Forám na nÓg’, a rinne éachtaí le míonna
beaga anuas leis an mhaoiniú úr a fuair siad
ón Údáras Oideachais. Seolfar suíomh idirlíon
úrnua s’acu agus bronnfar teastais ar 69
daoine óga ó fud fad na 6 chontae a bhain
teastas OCN amach san obair óige agus sa
phiarmheantóireacht.
Beidh spásanna criticiúla machnaimh agus
díospóireachta againn mar ab iondúil le
leabhar speisialta Bill Rolston agus Robbie
McVeigh, ‘Anois ar Theacht an tSamhraidh:
Ireland, Colonialism and the Unfinished
Revolution’ á seoladh againn mar chuid dár
sraith Ag Samhlú Éire Nua agus an Ríocht
Aontaithe ag titim as a chéile ós comhair
ár súile amach. Sa mhullach air seo, beidh
imeachtaí oideachasúla againn a phléann le
hoidhreacht thragóideach agus fuaiscailteach
na stailceanna ocrais mar chuid d’imeachtaí
comórtha 40 bliana ar an tréimhse
corraitheach úd nuair a d’éagraigh pobal
s’againn gluaiseacht shóisialta cumhachtach
chun tacú lena príosúnaigh chróga a sheas
an fód in aghaidh na himpireachtaí fuiltí
Briotánaí. Beidh Misneach Bhéal Feirste ag
taispeáint scannáin úr eisiach a léirigh Féile
an Phobail fán Stailc Ocrais agus beidh
an tOllamh Denis O’Hearn, a scríobh an
Beathaisnéis iomráiteach ar Bobby Sands, ag
tabhairt léachta Harry Holland i mbliana, via
Zoom, ar ‘Bobby Sands, the Zapatistas agus
tógáil domhán mhalartach’.
Lena chois sin uilig, beidh lá mór spraoi
againn i gcomhar le CLG Laochra Loch
Lao, seoladh leabhráin spóirt Michael Gerd
Ó Dochartaigh, seoladh oidhreachta fá
stáir an cheantair, lón mór na mBan, Ióga
dátheangach le Nuala Ní Scolláin, is oíche
mhór ceoil agus léitheoireachta i gcumann
Clár Fhéile na Carraige 2021
Ghort na Móna le ceoltóirí áitiúla ar nós
Breandán ‘Nipper’ Ó Coinn, Jake Óg Mac
Siacais agus Niamh Nic Ionnrachtaigh.
Fríd an fhéile seo agus an t-athréimniú teanga
atá muid rannpháirteach ann; agus obair
claochlaithe pobail s’againn ó lá go lá, tá sé
de sprioc againn fís claochlaitheach a chothú
do dhomhán agus todchaí níos cothroime
agus níos daonna. Sochaí agus Éire úr ina
bhfaigheann pobal s’againn an chuid is fearr
do na cearta agus sochmhainní atá uainn
agus tuillte go maith againn.
Mar a dúirt an Fealsúnaí Iógach, Thom
Knowles, ‘You deserve the best. Never feel
unjustified or not worthy of having the best. I
tell you that that this is your birth right. But you
have to accept it, you have to expect and you
have to claim it. To do is not demanding too
much’

Féile na Carraige 2021 comes in a slightly
more hopeful context than last year with space
opening up to meet, greet and connect once
again. Although the dark covid clouds are
still with us, there is optimism that we are over
its worst excesses with the potential now to
imagine a fairer and more liberatory future.
Our Glór na Móna community has just
undergone a year of immense growth with
the development of a plethora of new projects
providing an injection of inspiration and
resolve for local Gaels and drawn significant
additional funding which has allowed for new
staff to support us in realising our community
empowerment vision. Our proposed new
capital project ‘Croí na Carraige’, for a multipurpose youth, family, community and heritage
flagship facility on the grounds adjacent
to Gaelionad Mhic Goill, has received
widespread community support through our
feasibility study and Communities Minister
Deirdre Hargey showed the same confidence
in the project when she visited us in June and
declared support for the developing vision.
And Féile na Carraige provides us with an
opportunity to share this positive message
during the action packed week of Féile na
Carraige. The Organ Donation campaign
theme will be central to this year’s Féile as we
give an extra platform to Daithí beag and the
Mac Gabhann family, who hail from the local
district and the Glór na Móna community, and
who have fought a relentless and ferocious
community based campaign that forced a
systemic change of law from those in power.
These events will take place of course with a
community mourning the recent tragic loss of
Daithí’s grandmother Frances Mhic Gabhann.
A woman who helped spearhead that same
campaign and a selfless community leader
who was amongst the first cohort of brave
parents to send their children to a fledgling
Bunscoil an tSléibhe Dhuibh back in the 90s.
This year’s féile is dedicated to memory of
Frances.

We will be both celebrating and advocating
on behalf of our young people this year
when launching a research report by Dr Órla
Nig Oirc about our ground-breaking youth
programme ‘Sólás na nÓg’ which caters for
children with additional learning needs. We
will also hear from the newly recognised Irish
Medium Regional and Voluntary Organisation
Fóram na nÓg who have accomplished
astonishing feats in recent months with the new
funding they have received from the Education
Authority. Their new interactive training
resources website will be launched and over
69 young leaders from across the north will
be awarded OCNs in youth work and peer
mentoring.
We will also host our annual spaces for critical
reflection and debate and we will launch the
fantastic new book by Bill Rolson and Robbie
McVeigh ‘Anois ar Theacht an tSamhraidh:
Ireland, Colonialism and the Unfinished
Revolution as part of our Ag Samhlú Éire Nua
talk series as the United Kindgom falls apart
at the seams. We will also have events that
deal with the tragic yet emancipatory legacy
of the Irish Hunger Strikes as part of the 40th
anniversary commemorative programme
on that emotive year when our community
organised a powerful social movement to
support the prisoners who stood firm against
the bloody British empire. Misneach Bhéal
Feirste will be showing the exclusive new film
about the Hunger Strike produced by Féile an
Phobail followed by a Q and A session with
Séanna Breathnach and filmmaker Tony Devlin
while Professor Denis O’Hearn, who wrote the
celebrated biography on Bobby Sands, will
give the Harry Holland lecture this year, via
zoom, on Bobby Sands, the Zapatistas and
building an alternative world’
In addition to all this, there will be a Laochra
Sports and Fun day in partnership with CLG
Laochra Loch Lao, the launch of a GAA
kids coaching manual with Michael Gerd Ó
Dochartaigh, a heritage launch on the history
of Newhill Youth and Community Centre, our
women’s long table lunch, bilingual yoga with
Nuala Ní Scolláin, and a night of music and
readings in Gort na Móna CLG with local
musicians’ like Breandán ‘Nipper’ Ó Coinn,
and Niamh Nic Ionnrachtaigh.
Through this Féile; the language re-conquest
programme we are committed to; and the
community empowerment work we are
involved in on a daily basis, our primary
aim is to foster a transformational vision for
a fairer and more humane future. For a new
society and a new Ireland where we receive
our equal share of the rights and resources we
are entitled to. As the Yogi Philosopher Thom
Knowles advises, ‘You deserve the best. Never
feel unjustified or not worthy of having the
best. I tell you that this is your birth right. But
you have to accept it, you have to expect and
you have to claim it. To do is not demanding
too much’.

Is ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine!