Glór na Móna take their Croí na Carraige fundraising campaign to Canada
A pioneering youth and community organisation based in the Ballymurphy area of West Belfast are bringing their capital fundraising campaign to Canada next week with their landmark event in Hurley’s Pub, Montreal, on Thursday March 12th as part of green month in Canada. Glór na Móna is an award-winning community empowerment organisation that has received international recognition as a vibrant, grassroots, youth-centred organisation dedicated to mainstreaming the Irish language in everyday life and promoting a community-led approach to tackling the root causes and corrosive impact of transgenerational trauma and structural poverty.
As well as pioneering Irish-medium youth-work, providing for hundreds of disadvantaged young people each week, Glór na Móna has also led the way on local economic development, community education and movement building, playing a key role in the successful An Dream Dearg campaign for an Irish Language Act in the north of Ireland. The organisation also sits at the heart of a wider network of organisations focused on economic and linguistic revival, currently holding the presidency of Conradh na Gaeilge (The Gaelic League). Building on the work of the Gael-Ionad Mhic Goill community hub that Glór na Móna built in Ballymurphy in 2016, their new Croí na Carraige project envisions a multi-purpose youth, community, family and heritage hub on the vacant waste ground beside their current facility.
Speaking on the rationale behind the fundraising campaign, Glór na Móna Executive Director, Feargal Mac Ionnrachtaigh stated:
‘We are currently fundraising for a new Irish-Medium youth and community facility called Croí na Carraige, in the Ballymurphy area of West Belfast. It is a disadvantaged community that suffered a lot during the recent conflict in the north of Ireland and our current facilities do not allow us to deliver the essential services our community needs and deserves as evidenced here. We have full planning permission to build a purpose-built youth, community and heritage facility on the site – Croí na Carraige. We have been successful in securing £1.1 million of capital funds, which includes £500,000 from Belfast City Council who own the land and have a design team in place. We also have funding from the Irish Language Investment Fund. Phase One of the building is coming in at £1.6m so we are £500k short. This is why we are launching our own fundraising campaign to Canada to engage the Irish Canadians to help us deliver our vision for the young people of West Belfast.
‘We are calling on the Montreal Irish Canadian community to support our fundraising event in Hurley’s bar on March 12th. We will hear from our founder member and Conradh na Gaeilge President Conradh na Gaeilge, Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin who will be the keynote speaker on the night. His involvement in the event is timely considering the historic decision at Conradh na Gaeilge’s recent Ard Fheis in Belfast a few weeks ago to change its constitution to allow it to actively campaign for Irish Unity. We will also have entertainment from Siamsa traditional music school and the wonderful all-female trad band, Gráinne.
‘Glór na Móna are rooted in the revolutionary philosophy encapsulated in the famous Belfast Shaws Road dictum of “Ná habair é, déan é” (Don’t talk about it, do it!) and instead of waiting on state bodies to catch up, we have decided to launch our own fundraising campaign to meet the capital shortfall ourselves. We are incredibly grateful for the kind and heartfelt solidarity and support that we have received from a wide-range of supportive individuals and organisations who have helped us organise the event. We welcome any and all support that helps us make the Croí na Carraige project a reality. We look forward to seeing you all in Hurleys on Thursday 12th!’
For additional information on the Glór na Móna fundraising campaign, contact Feargal Mac Ionnrachtaigh on feargal@glornamona.com / or call-text +447841101630.
