NORTHERN IRELAND’S FIRST IRISH MEDIUM SCHOOL CELEBRATES 50 YEARS

The school was first housed in a one-classroom hut

The first Irish medium school in Northern Ireland has marked 50 years since it was founded by holding a tree-planting ceremony in the school grounds.

Bunscoil Phobal Feirste in West Belfast was founded in 1971 in the height of the Troubles and was housed in a hut with just a single classroom.

One of the school’s founders, Sean MacSeain, joined some of the others attending the ceremony yesterday at which he said, “As you look around now you can see the big changes, it's unbelievable.”

Current Headteacher Seamus O Tuama, a former pupil, expressed the appeal of the school, “These parents had a desire and a love for the language and a willingness that their children be educated through the Irish language... To walk through those gates with my own son every morning… It's a great feeling.” ]

400 pupils now attend the new facility

Today the school has over 400 pupils in a modern facility. Over 7,000 children across Northern Ireland attend an Irish-medium school. There are currently 35 primary, 2 post-primary and 40 nursery schools that are of Irish-medium.

From a small one classroom building in West Belfast in 1971 to the huge expansion of Irish-medium education across Northern Ireland in 2021, another sign that Northern Ireland is moving in the right direction towards a more inclusive society for all.