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THE TÁNAISTE HAS called on all parties to refrain from any further comment or speculation following the release from prison custody of Gerry Adams.
In a statement issued last night, Eamon Gilmore noted that the PSNI are to send a file to the Public Prosecution Service and “we must await the outcome of these deliberations”.
“This is a week to reaffirm commitment to the PSNI and to the democratic institutions in Northern Ireland.”
He also called for a “renewed commitment” to the peace process in Northern Ireland and asked for more work to resolve the outstanding issues discussed in the Haass talks.
“This continues to offer the best means of addressing the outstanding issues of parades, flags and dealing with the legacy of the past,” he said.
Gilmore asked for sensitivity to be shown to the McConville family “whose loss was so vividly and publicly recalled this week, as were the families who lost loved ones in Ballymurphy and in the La Mon Hotel”.
These events are a reminder that more needs to be done, not least in addressing the needs of those who were bereaved or suffered loss during the Troubles.
Gilmore spoke with the British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers last night.
In a news conference, Gerry Adams confirmed his support of PSNI policing in Northern Ireland and said Sinn Féin was ‘wedded’ to the political institutions.
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My wife is deaf and to see our 2 sons aged 3.5 and 22 months using sign to communicate with their mother is nothing short of amazing .my wife also has a sister and brother who are also deaf and a sister who is hearing and watching them in flow of conversation is unbelievable . ISL is a fantastic language and I consider it the most important language I have as without it I would not the woman I married in my life today .
To learn even basic ISL is so expensive, I know a group of friends who wanted to learn. I did basic level with seehear expressed interest in continuing to the next level but never heard back from them. I find it sad the excitement some deaf people express when I use even my basic ISL to help communicate its not that hard to learn or use. I know in transition year we did it and loved it and I could secretly communicate with my friends across the room, bus and in later years a pub/nightclub.
Helena, do you mean DeafHear? There are other places you could learn. Try the Irish Deaf Society.
ISL should be recognised as an official language and the Deaf community deserves this…..
I’ve worked with a deaf colleague and have, over many years, managed to pick up some sign language from what he’s shown me. I won’t say I’m fluent but we can communicate perfectly well and it has given me an insight to his world, noises we take for granted every day he obviously can’t hear. I’ve seen him stepping out onto a road when there was, to our ears, an obviously noisy car coming, I’ve heard him paged several times and while I doubt this was malicious, people genuinely forget. It can be extremely frustrating.
Maybe the pager also had vibration
Maybe paged as in bing bong bing bong can Joe come to reception, Joe to reception please.
I’m afraid it was paged as in Sandra’s version, which was why it was pointless but I don’t believe it was anyone being malicious but rather they simply forgot. He saw the funny side when told about it so, in a way, people genuinely saw past his deafness.
They just want to be heard
That’s terrible! Im a bad person! Please delete journal!
The sign language pic shown at the to of the article is clearly not ISL as only one hand its used for the alphabet in ISL. More than likely the UK Version which is totally different.
Hi Aideen,
It’s very hard to find images of ISL (which is possibly indicative of the larger issue) so hopefully you’ll excuse the use of a generic stock photo of sign language.
Yes Michelle you’re probably right that’s its an indication of the issues The Deaf Community have here in Ireland
Yeah agree with you
The sign language pic… it’s a shame that the Journal did not think to select one of the letters in the American Sign Language Alphabet that is also used in the Irish Sign Language alphabet. (only 8 letters differ between the Irish and American sign language alphabets.)
I recently designed an interactive website to learn basic ISL online for free. It can be found at http://www.learnirishsignlanguage.ie . The idea of the site was to tackle the problem this article presents and show how new media can offer more accessible means of learning this language. The site covers The Alphabet, Numbers, Days of the Week, Months, Colours, Greetings, School, Hobbies, Emotions, Prepositions, Transport, The House, and Weather. Please Explore, Share with friends and enjoy! To avail of all the site offers Chrome is a preferable browser but learning videos are available on all browsers :)
Great resource Kate. :)
Can you put all that into an app for iPhone or Android?
Thanks craig :). The site is created in HTML5 therefore the learning videos can be viewed on iPhones, iPads and android devices. It is not yet an actual mobile app though. I hope to develop a phone app for it in the future. This at least for the moment eliminates the problems of Flash. :)
It’s really good, I learned the ISL alphabet earlier, took me about half an hour! I’m going to keep practicing to get the speed up! Can’t believe how easy it is to memorise! Such a great thing to know! Will definitely pass whatever I learn on to my kids!
The App shown on Late Late show for signing was amazing
Michelle on Hands On was great! Hope you all saw it as we have very little voice in the media and the hearing world. We have huge problems in terms of equality which needs to be addressed badly which people are not aware about e.g a natural right to use ISL in education. This is just one example of many! Way too many problems and lack of awareness in this country.
Thanks a lot Michelle, I’m glad you liked it.
If anyone is looking for ISL Fetac accredited classes, we have them at the Irish Deaf Society http://www.deaf.ie
I personally as a mother would love to see sign language being thought in all schools as a important recognised language, I would love to learn it myself
Wow didnt realise 90k with hearing difficulties in Ireland that is alot of people.
@ Chrissy Buckley
I understand that some school does have ISL programme but it is not recognised by the dept of education. Would be nice if they did.
Just spent the last half hour learning the alphabet in sign! Purely out of guilt!
Well done Michelle you did brilliantly, hope you carry this experience forward.
Thanks a lot Laura!
5,000 ISL in Ireland ! Maybe some Irish deaf who emigrated it new life in England,Australia and USA it could more 10,000 ISL
You never hear them give out
Firstly, congratulations to you Michelle and The Journal for raising this issue and taking part in Hands On, well done. Yes, the pic is not ISL, tip for the future, you could take a photo of the hand of a person that uses ISL. The important thing here is ISL and Deaf awareness. Maybe our government will start listening and give ISL the recognition it rightly deserves.
Michelle, well done on Hands on and for addressing the issue. It was indeed an enjoyable clip to watch and hope to have our silent voices heard more often. Well done :-)
What’ s isl
FlopFlipU,
ISL = Irish Sign Language, the sign language used by Deaf people in Ireland who sign. No, it does not have any connection with spoken Irish.
Hi Michelle, I knopw it being a while however better late than never. I wana say many thanks for doing an article on the Hands on Program. We, Deaf people need allies like you to get the message across to the greater population. So in that way, it would produce positive perspectives on who we are as we are often underestimated despite our poor educational attainment but this does not inhibit our ways of thinking and contribution thanks to our beautiful language, ISL – Irish Sign Language
Good job Michelle
Thanks Pádraig!
When I was in first year in college I wanted to take ISL instead of a European one, and got a large group who wanted the same. At our induction there was a man signing so I though it might be easy enough to organise but no joy, unfortunately.
Hi Michelle
Contact me to meet my ISL learners ASAP.
People Power v Kenny’s Muppets
Let’s call a referendum whether the Rock and Rolling Itish Sign Language be recognised in this beautiful Emerald Isle as our third official language
have your say