Minister for European Affairs launches ‘Caoga Bliain ag Fás’ at North Dublin Muslim National School

The Minister for European Affairs, Peter Burke, was delighted to launch ‘Caoga Bliain ag Fás’ - a newsletter compiled by third class pupils at the North Dublin Muslim National School, Navan Road, Dublin 7.

The publication was made possible through a grant under the Department of Foreign Affairs’ annual Communicating Europe Initiative, with this year’s focus on EU50, Ireland’s 50 years membership of the European Union.

Speaking at the event, Minister Burke said that he was:

"very pleased the North Dublin Muslim National School has been able to leverage the Communicating Europe Initiative funding so effectively to create such a meaningful programme to celebrate and explore EU50. The ‘Caoga Bliain ag Fás’ newsletter, put together by the pupils themselves, explores how the Islamic community in Ireland has changed over time and how the children of North Dublin Muslim National School are active EU and Irish citizens."

Notes

As part of the Communicating Europe Initiative, the pupils of Third Class at North Dublin Muslim National School (NDMNS) have been working on a project to celebrate Ireland’s 50th anniversary as a member of the EU. ‘Caoga Bliain ag Fás’ explores how the Islamic community in Ireland has changed over time and how the children of NDMNS are active EU and Irish citizens. The students started the project with a keen interest in researching how the Muslim community has grown in Ireland over the past fifty years, as the first mosque in Dublin opened 47 years ago. Pupils learned about the evolution of Ireland as a place of acceptance, and one that celebrates diversity during that time. They visited Dublin Mosque and how the first state funded Muslim school came to be.

Pupils worked collaboratively on art work that showcases the link between their multicultural classroom and what it means to be European. This was then accompanied by poetry, which the pupils translated into Gaeilge and Arabic. Pupils explored how the EU works, and talked, debated and recorded some of their ideas for the future, and how they hope the EU will develop and evolve in the coming years. Gender equality is one of the main principles of the European Union so they took the opportunity to look at some inspirational Muslim women working in the EU. Sharing their research with others was a key aim. They visited the Muslim National School in Clonskeagh to present what had been explored, as well as teaching other classes in their own school about the EU. All they experienced and explored through this project has been collated into the magazine, ‘Caoga Bliain ag Fás’.

The Communicating Europe Initiative provides funding to projects to deepen public awareness of the role that the European Union plays in our daily lives, and improve the quality and accessibility of public information on European issues, at local, regional or national level. Funding of over €170,000 was provided this year through the scheme, including a grant of €5,000 to the North Dublin Muslim National School for this project.