merrion street

Minister for the Gaeltacht, Dinny Mc Ginley TD officially opens Oireachtas na Samhna 2011 in Killarney, County Kerry on Thursday 3^rd November, 2011. The Oireachtas festival this year, will take place in the Gleneagle Conference Centre and it is anticipated that between 10,000 and 15,000 people will visit Killarney during this coming weekend.

Speaking at the opening Minister Mc Ginley said, "The Annual Oireachtas na Samhna Festival is an integral part of the Arts scene in Ireland. This festival is the longest running Irish arts festival in the country. It was originally started by Douglas Hyde in 1897 in the Rotunda, in Dublin. That year 1,000 participated in the festival. And, this year, for the first time Oireachtas Canada took place and was such a resounding success that it is scheduled again for July 2012.

Nowadays, Oireachtas na Samhna has a much wider audience through the medium of TV, with RTE, TG4, and this year ‘Youtube’ also screening some of the competitions and recitals. This is the kind of coverage you simply cannot buy and it is a wonderful platform to showcase our uniquely Irish culture. From children to adults of all ages you can hear the rhythms and beat of the ‘music box’. Musicians, Singers, story tellers, sean nós are all here ready to entertain and be entertained."

During the Festival weekend Minister McGinley will also launch two new websites, www.scríobh.ie and www.nascanna.com. These new sites will be valuable tools for those who work or study through Irish. The new sites provide a summary of the useful computer programming and internet resources that exist that relate to the writing of the Irish language. They will also be useful tools and prove a significant asset to those who are researching on the internet.

Minister McGinley, thanked the President of the Festival Una Ui Lachtnáin and the Festival director Liam Ó Maolaodha. "Oireachtas na Samhna continues to develop year on year under the stewardship of Una and Liam and I want to acknowledge their hard work all year round to achieve this standard of excellence. Indeed, I very much look forward to welcoming you all in 2012 to Donegal where I am confident the Festival will be equally superb" added Minister McGinley.