In the last few months, we have witnessed a number of developments and we hope they will assist in our goal towards the official recognition of Irish Sign Language (ISL) much sooner. We are happy to report that there are positive moves as a result of our efforts. They are:
Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis: Gerard Smith of Prosperous Cumman proposed a motion asking FF to approve the official recognition of ISL. It was passed. Elaine Grehan and Tracey Treanor were also involved.
Waterford City Council followed the steps of Monaghan County Council and Killarney Town Council. Thanks to Melissa Howlett for bringing it up in Waterford. It is our intention to have every county council approving the motion. We are in discussions with other counties at the moment including Cork City Council, Mayo, South Dublin County, Tipperary and Roscommon.
We know these motions do not bring immediate recognition but they will put added pressure on the government. We will prepare a general guideline and pass on to members of IDS if they wish to get their home counties to approve the motion.
Notwithstanding, we have a national cross-community group aiming for the recognition of Irish Sign Language and we have met twice – February and May. We will have another meeting in August. It is our intention to have an open meeting in September. We have prepared terms of references that will define this group. We have also agreed to use Irish Sign Language Awareness week instead of Deaf Awareness week this September which will link in with ISL recognition. The dates for ISL Awareness Week are Monday 23rd to Sunday 30th September. ISL Awareness Week aims to promote and celebrate ISL.
Each organisation in this group will organise events for ISL awareness week. We are more than happy if you or Deaf organisations wish to organise an event, no matter if it is small or big. We are also aiming to get someone employed for this group and the person will focus on research, lobbying and preparing the campaign. If we can find someone suitable for the job, the campaign will move to the next level. We are seeking funding from every organisation represented on this group towards the cost of employing this person and each organisation decides how much they can give.
We have been busy informing the Deaf community of how important this campaign is to them. We also presented information to several groups such as the National Council, the IDS AGM and Cork Deaf Club; and we also gave a presentation to the Deaforward peer advocates. As you can see we have been very busy in spearheading the campaign! We are more than happy if you want a similar presentation locally, for example in your local Deaf club or area.
With this in mind, we continue to consult with a number of politicians such as senators and TDs regularly, especially Senator Mark Daly who sponsors his private member’s Bill on ISL. Even though we have been extremely busy, we appreciate and value your continued support for this campaign that will benefit the Deaf community in a big way.
Lianne Quigley John Bosco Conama