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Jul 04

Become a Volunteer at the Hunt Museum and Join the Docent Programme

by richanthon in News 0 comments 1887

Become a Volunteer at the Hunt Museum and Join the Docent Programme

If you are interested in art and history and have some free time, the Hunt Museum would be delighted to invite you to join the Docent Programme. Docents are the front line ambassadors of the museum and are active members of the community, who volunteer their time to engage visitors in learning primarily about the museum’s collection.

Mairead Donlevy, one of the first directors/curators of the museum, started the Docent programme at the Hunt Museum. Mairead took the idea from museums doing it in the USA. The word docent means teaching from the Latin language. Docents are volunteer teachers and learners. The Hunt Museum Docents are a dynamic and motivated group and host lunchtime talks and highlighters to the public about the Hunt Museum’s three main collections – the John & Gertrude Hunt Collection, the Irish Contemporary Ceramics Collection and the Sybil Connolly Collection.

The Original Collection includes pieces from Greco- Roman to Medieval Times. The Modern Ceramics Collection is partially supplied by a ceramics exhibition every year and lastly, the Sybil Connolly Collection. Sybil was an Irish designer in the 50s and 60s. She designed clothes for many well-known people such as Jackie Kennedy. Sybil would export Irish materials, including handkerchief linens, all around the world.

Jill Cousins, Hunt Museum Director, told ilovelimerick, “We have an amazing docent programme at the Hunt Museum. We want to encourage more people to become a docent, and volunteer in the museum. As a docent, you learn about the objects, take tours and workshops, undertake research, write blogs, and inform people but you are also a part of a group of people who support and make the Hunt Museum function the way it does.”

The Docent Programme is a great way to meet a new group of people with similar interests and it is very rewarding. The Docents get involved in many activities including the Dementia outreach programme, the Kids arts and crafts programme and School Tours. Moira Dwyer, one of the Volunteer Docents, spoke about the Dementia Outreach Programme: “My particular favourite activity is the dementia programme, where we visit nursing homes and dementia villages with replicas of the collections. It is wonderful work and very rewarding.”

The Docents also invigilate at exhibitions held at the Hunt Museum, for example, the Lavery & Osborne: Observing Life exhibition. The exhibition will be on display at The Hunt Museum until Monday, 30 September 2019. A total of sixty-two pieces are currently exhibited featuring Irish artists, Sir John Lavery and Walter Frederick Osborne, both born in the mid-nineteenth century.

You are sure to fall in love with the Hunt Museum Collection and you also might find a new interest and passion. Margaret Walsh, Volunteer Docent found her passion, “I became a volunteer because I fell in love with the ceramics in the Hunt collection back in 1995. I loved ceramics so much that I went on to do a degree in Ceramics in LSAD. I used the objects in the Hunt collection as inspiration for my own work. There is an immense amount of things to do and to fall in love with as a docent. I hope you will volunteer and come pay us a visit at the Hunt Museum.”

The Docent programme enables these people to become experts in different things, including their own specific interests. For example, they get the opportunity to write blogs about what they are learning. These blogs can be found on the museum website.

Jill concluded, “Without the docents, this museum would not be as good as it is. We very much encourage new people to come in and become volunteers for the museum and help us make it work even better.”

What are you waiting for? To get involved in the Docent Programme contact Joni Roche, Volunteer Coordinator on 061 490083 / 061 312833 or email [email protected]

For more information visit

For more Richard Knows News go here

Jun 26

Social Media Influencers support Lavery and Osborne: Observing Life exhibition at the Hunt Museum

by richanthon in News 0 comments 1652

 

Social Media Influencers support Lavery and Osborne: Observing Life exhibition at the Hunt Museum

 

https://www.facebook.com/ilovelimerick/videos/341471859879928/

 

Social media influencers in Limerick have come together to support the ‘Lavery and Osborne: Observing Life’ exhibition which runs at the Hunt Museum throughout the summer until Monday, September 30, by selecting their favourite piece of art from the collection.

Amongst the social influencers who were involved were Richard Lynch, Celia Holman Lee, Meghann Scully, Patrick McLoughney, Leanne Moore and Sinead O’Brien. The six social influencers split into pairs, with each pair selecting a piece of the Lavery and Osborne collection that they admired the most.

Members of the I Love Limerick team were on location at the Hunt Museum to film short promotional videos of the social media influencers speaking in detail about their favourite pieces of the exhibition and why everyone should make sure to visit the exhibition before it departs the museum on Monday, September 30.

Richard Lynch, founder of I Love Limerick, said, “I really wanted to get involved in supporting the exhibition at the Hunt. The Hunt Museum is the cultural gem of Limerick city and so I want everyone in Limerick to visit and support the exhibition, and more importantly the Hunt Museum.”

The ‘Lavery and Osborne: Observing Life’ exhibition features Irish artists, Sir John Lavery and Walter Frederick Osborne. Both born in the mid-nineteenth century, these renowned artists lived parallel lives as Irish painters who travelled overseas to develop their artistic talent. The exhibition places the two artists side by side for the first time. It is said that they never met, but both were offered knighthoods and both were subject to the same artistic influences including that of James McNeill Whistler.

A total of sixty-two pieces are being exhibited and the majority of them are from private collections travelling from the United Kingdom and the United States, with a few from other Irish galleries including the Crawford Art Gallery, Ulster Museum, and Limerick City Gallery of Art.

social media influencers

Pictured at the Hunt Museum visiting the Lavery and Osborne Exhibition are Naomi O’Nolan, Hunt Museum Head of Exhibitions and Collection, Jill Cousins, CEO Hunt Museum and Celia Holman Lee. Picture: Conor Owens/ilovelimerick.

Richard and Celia previously took part in a photoshoot project called VanGoYourself to promote the ‘Lavery and Osborne: Observing Life’ exhibition. They re-enacted Lavery’s painting, with Starsky, owned by Sinead Hutchison, ‘Stars in Sunlight,’ which depicts Maureen O’Sullivan and Loretta Young relaxing between scenes in Hollywood.

VanGoYourself is a European project which was co-founded by the European Commission to enable and promote the greater re-use by creative industries of cultural heritage resources.

VanGoYourself allows visitors to discover and enjoy art in a whole new way …Visitors to Exhibition can re-enact the painting for themselves. They can become the painting using their own visually creative take on the artist’s work. People visiting the exhibition can recreate an Osborne or Lavery painting, by taking a snap of their version of the painting, uploading it to VanGoYourself, which twins their image with the original artwork for sharing on social media, immortalising their artistic talent for all to see!

Meghann Scully, social media influencer and presenter, said, “This Lavery and Osborne exhibition is amazing and it’s only here until September 30, so whether you are around Limerick city or county, or even further afield, make sure to get here to the Hunt Museum and check it out, as this once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Share your experience at the ‘Lavery and Osborne: Observing life’ exhibition on social media by using the hashtag #vangoyourself and tagging the @huntmuseum.

Tickets for the ‘Lavery and Osborne: Observing life’ exhibition can be purchased here.

For more stories on the Lavery and Osborne exhibition, go here.

For more information on the Hunt Museum, go here.

For more Richard Knows News, go here.

Jun 14

Brown Thomas Gifting Bear donation for Children’s Grief Centre

by richanthon in News 0 comments 1619

Brown Thomas Gifting Bear donation for Children’s Grief Centre

Sr Helen Culhane, Limerick Person of the Year 2017, founded the Children’s Grief Centre in 2009 and it has been providing support services for school-aged children and young people affected by loss through death, separation, and divorce in Mid-West Region. The Children’s Grief Centre sees around 300 children every week, aged 4 to 18 years. 70 per cent of the children who attend has separated parents while 30 per cent has suffered bereavement. The services provided allow children to express themselves through play, art, and offering a listening ear in a safe, and non-judgmental setting.

Brown Thomas chose the Children’s Grief Centre as their chosen charity for 2019. As part of this, the Children’s Grief Centre is to receive raised funds from staff fundraisers throughout the year including the Christmas gift wrapping in December.

Last weekend, the children of the Brown Thomas Limerick team were asked to donate a teddy bear that they no longer need, as part of the Brown Thomas Gifting Bear campaign. The teddy bears were placed in the department stores famous window front and eventually will be donated to children who attend the Children’s Grief Centre. From Friday, June 14 until Sunday, June 16 as part of the Brown Thomas Gifting Bear campaign, the staff of Brown Thomas held a bucket collection outside the store and all funds raised will go to both the Children’s Grief Centre and also St Vincent De Paul Limerick.

The campaign raised €2,500 altogether over the two days, which will be donated equally between the two charities.

Suzie O’Kelly, a counter manager in Brown Thomas, spoke about how their charity committee came up with the idea of the Gifting Bear.

Suzie said, “We devoted one of Limerick’s most famous windows for the weekend and asked the children of the Brown Thomas Limerick team to donate a teddy they no longer need. After the weekend, the teddy bears will then be handed over to the Children’s Grief Centre, to those who may be in need of a hug. On behalf of Brown Thomas’ charity committee, we are so proud to support the Children’s Grief Centre.”

Brown Thomas Gifting Bear

Louise Cooney, social influencer, also attended the Brown Thomas Gifting Bear event over the weekend.

Brown Thomas’ donation of teddy bears and bucket collection is timed well, as also on that day, Friday, June 14, the Children’s Grief Centre celebrated its tenth anniversary with their ‘Children and Loss Conference 2019’ at the Millennium Theatre at the Limerick Institute of Technology.

At the conference, the centre called on the government to fully fund its services as it has seen demand triple.

Sr. Helen Culhane, Founder of the Children’s Grief Centre, speaking at the conference to mark their 10th anniversary said, “We see the work we do as very important as we are supporting children who are impacted by loss due to bereavement, separation and divorce. The centre is unique in that it is volunteer-led and to-date we have seen over 1,300 children, two-thirds of which are referrals due to loss by separation or divorce. The remaining one third is referrals due to loss by the death of a family member or close friend for the most part. The conference will help raise awareness around bereavement and loss and the resultant emotional turmoil experienced by children. We are delighted to be celebrating our tenth anniversary since the centre’s foundation but we are running at full capacity and need a new building to meet the overwhelming demand from families of bereft children. We are lobbying the Government to help it build a larger, €4 million centre to cope with the extra demand. The annual estimated cost of running the service is approximately €150,000.”

For more information on the Children’s Grief Centre, go here.

For more news stories, go here.

May 31

#CALLITOUT Campaign Highlights the Harm caused by Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia in Ireland

by richanthon in News 0 comments 1724

Pictured at the #CALLITOUT Campaign event are, Stephen O’Hare, TENI, Piotr Godzisz, Call It Hate Scientific Leader, Ellen Murray, TENI, Richard Lynch, Founder of ilovelimerick.com, Dr Jennifer Schweppe and Dr Amanda Haynes, Directors of Hate and Hostility Research Group at UL. Picture: Alan Place

#CALLITOUT Campaign Highlights the Harm caused by Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia in Ireland

 


On Thursday, May 30 UL hosted an event for the Call it Out campaign team from Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI). Call it Out is a joint initiative of TENI and the Hate and Hostility Research Group at the University of Limerick. The initiative aims to highlight and address the harm caused by homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in Ireland.

The campaign was launched on Monday, May 20 by Brendan Courtney, Jack Murphy, Ellen Murray, and Maria Walsh. The campaign aims to shine a bright light on the sometimes visible – often hidden phenomena of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia and the corresponding impact on Ireland’s LGBT+ community. The campaign is one of a number taking place across the EU this year.

More than 80% of people who participated in a recent research survey, conducted by the University of Limerick’s Hate and Hostility Research Group, agreed that lesbians and gay men, bisexual people and transgender people should be free to live their own lives as they wish. Respondents also expressed high levels of comfort with having LGBT+ people as neighbours. Of the 1395 people who took part in the survey however, only a minority believe that LGBT+ people in Ireland are at serious risk of violence because of hostility towards their sexual orientation or gender identity. Just over a third of people (36%) believe that violence against the LGBT+ community is “a serious problem” in Ireland.

Despite many positive changes in regards to LGBT+ rights and acceptance, the University of Limerick found that the Irish underestimate the on-going problems. Ellen Murray, Spokesperson for Transgender Equality Network Ireland said, “LGBT+ people still live with a background of homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia as a result of their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. “For many, it feels like it is part of being who they are.”

The University of Limerick Hate and Hostility Research Group is led by Dr Amanda Haynes of the Department of Sociology and Dr Jennifer Schweppe from the School of Law. Amanda told ilovelimerick the importance of the campaign, “People significantly underestimate the degree to which violence, harassment, and intimidation on the basis of LGBT identity continues to be part of people’s lives in Ireland at the degree to which people modify their behaviour in order to avoid the risk of that type of hostility.”

#callitout campaign

Pictured at the #CALLITOUT Campaign Event at the University of Limerick are, Ellen Murray, TENI, Richard Lynch, ilovelimerick.com and Dr Amanda Haynes, Co-Director of the Hate and Hostility Research Group at UL. Picture: Alan Place

At the event CEO at TENI Stephen O’ Hare highlighted some statistics including 1 in 3 members of the LGBT+ community have been threatened with physical violence and 1 in 5 have been punched, hit or physically attacked in public due to being LGBT+.

Stephen said, “It is a very important campaign for TENI because it is the first time that we have led a national anti-discrimination campaign that has focused on the LGBT community and we are very proud to do so. We are very proud of the support that we have received from LGBT organisations the length and breadth of Ireland and the engagement that people have shown in the campaign as it has rolled out. We are particularly grateful to the members of the LGBT community who put themselves forward to feature in the campaign, to tell their story, to talk about their experiences and to share what has happened to them and how they have grown and felt in relation to those things.”

A short film entitled “Have You Ever Felt?” written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Kate Dolan and featuring a host of emerging Irish actors from across the LGBT+ community will feature prominently on social media for the duration of the three-week campaign.

Richard Lynch, founder of ilovelimerick.com spoke about his own experiences of homophobia in his younger years and how that has affected him throughout his life. Richard said, “I started finding myself in New York, I struggled with drugs and alcohol in my twenties, I am not saying it was directly stemmed from me experiencing homophobia but there was definitely an element of it because even to this day I am still not one hundred percent comfortable with myself or my self-esteem.”

Richard continued, “I love working with people like all of you, you’re great inspirations to me because you are actually walking the walk and talking the talk and ultimately that is what this campaign is about, it is about each individual one of us, it has to start with the individual and a campaign like this cannot be successful if it doesn’t start with each one of us. This is everyone’s campaign.”

The campaign will run until Monday, June 3 and everyone is encouraged to #CALLITOUT if you witness or experience any form of homophobia, transphobia or biphobia. After the campaign let’s keep the conversation going.

https://www.facebook.com/ilovelimerick/videos/1096892163831770/

For more information about the campaign visit visit

For more News go here

May 02

MEEC Conference 2019 stresses the importance of Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment

by richanthon in Events, Inspirational, Learning, News 0 comments 1584

Nutritional therapist Olivia Beck, fitness expert Leanne Moore, style queen Celia Holman Lee, Dr Mary Ryan, Consultant Endocrinologist Bon Secours Hospital, Aoibhinn Garrihy, actress and founder of BEO, Mary Harney, Chancellor of the University of Limerick, hockey player Sinead Loughran, Richard Lynch, founder of ilovelimerick.com and Una Burns, Head of Policy and Communications Novas at the Midwest Empowerment and Equality Conference 2019 in University Concert Hall, Limerick on May 1st. Picture: Zoe Conway/ilovelimerick.

MEEC Conference 2019 stresses the importance of Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment

On Wednesday, May 1 at the University Concert Hall, The Midwest Empowerment and Equality Conference took place to empower, educate and encourage men and women both young and old to take better care of themselves. The conference was organised and presented by Dr Mary Ryan, Consultant Endocrinologist, Bon Secours at Barrington’s Limerick and Senior Lecturer at Graduate Entry Medical School (GEMS), University of Limerick and sponsored by Cleanmarine.

Key speaker, Professor Desmond Fitzgerald, President of the University of Limerick spoke about the progress of female empowerment and gender equality in Limerick saying, “In the University here it is a very important part of our strategy to ensure that we achieve gender equality and we‘ve done a lot in those terms, we are third in Europe amongst Universities for gender equality but we have a long way to go.”

Mary Harney, Chancellor of UL officially opened the conference giving an inspirational speech about the improvement of equality and empowerment within parliament saying, “Women have come a long way in Ireland, in Leinster House in 1977 when I was nominated for the Senate, virtually all of the women there were there by virtue of their connection to a former male politician, they were either daughters, widows or in one case a granddaughter of male politicians and the wonderful change that has happened in the intermediate years are that the women that are there now are there in their own right, and I think that is fantastic, even if we are only 22% of the parliamentarians in Leinster House today.”

Dr Mary Ryan educated the audience on the importance of hormones and how it interacts with lifestyle and why empowerment is so important in both men and women. Mary spoke about many issues regarding empowerment. She gave the audience tips on how to empower themselves, quoting Warren Buffett, “surround yourself with positive people, find mentors you can emulate and reach out to those who know more in order to be successful.”

Vice-President of the European Parliament Mairead McGuinness MEP was one of the guest speakers of the day. Mairead spoke about where we are all going astray and losing the narrative regarding empowerment. She said, “Children are more open, more willing to challenge you, to ask you questions and give you advice. I often wonder, why is it we lose that connectivity and sense of the world when we are children as we grow into adulthood. It is because the sense of empowerment isn’t deep enough in us, I think doctors would be out of business and that we would have healthcare it would be about health and wellbeing, keeping people well not treating people who are sick.”

There were two discussion panels at the MEEC Conference 2019 featuring guests from the fields of business, sports, entertainment, health, and academia. The first panel included children’s author Fiona Dillon, Professor Linda Coates, Margaret O’Connor, MD Quigleys, actress and founder of BEO Aoibhin Garrihy, style queen Celia Holman Lee, Tony O’Riordan, CEO of Midlands Simon Community, hockey player Sinead Loughran, and nutritionist Olivia Beck. During this panel discussion, social issues affecting the empowerment of both women and men were raised such as male suicide and equality in sport and media coverage.

 

Eight transition and fifth-year students from schools across the Midwest each gave five-minute presentations on the topics of empowerment and equality. Victoria Cottrell student from Ursuline Convent Thurles gave an amazing speech, touching on how she was affected by bullying. Victoria said “it was not until I decided that their horrific behaviour was their problem, not mine, that I could be free, I took back the power. Empowerment is feeling good about yourself, empowerment is taking control of your mental health, empowerment is not being afraid to stand out, empowerment is being able to say no in everything we do, empowerment is key!”

The second panel included, Minister Patrick O’Donovan, fitness expert Leanne Moore, Winifred Ryan, Head of Communications in the HSE, Ann Marie Gill, Chairperson of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, PhD student Eoin White, Motivational Speaker Sean Dwan, Sean Hoolan of the HSE Health Business Services, Fiona Brennan, transformation and mindset coach and Maryanne Lowney, post-primary teacher in Colaiste Geann Lí, Tralee. These panellists spoke about mindfulness, communication skills, mental health and sexual consent.

Each of the student’s presentations was judged by an esteemed panel of judges including Dr Ita Richardson, Head of Gender Equality UL, Prof Deirdre McGrath, Head of Gems Medical School and Dr Marie Connolly, Head of Quality and Diversity UL. Mary Harney presented the winners with their prizes. The 1stplace winner was Katelyn Diggins from Causeway Comprehensive School and Colaiste Na Sceilge Cahirciveen, 2nd place was awarded to John Moriarty, John the Baptist Hospital and last but not least, Anna Powell from St Mary’s Nenagh won 3rd place. All participants also received a plaque to commemorate their achievement.

All proceeds from the ticket and raffle sales at the MEEC conference 2019 will be going towards Novas and the Children’s Grief Centre. Novas is a voluntary organisation who work with vulnerable people and provide support for the homeless. The Children’s Grief Centre is a free and voluntary organisation that supports children between the ages of 4 and 18, where parents have separated, divorced or where there has been bereavement.

Mary Harney concluded her inspirational speech by thanking Dr Mary Ryan, saying, “She is an example of a woman that is certainly empowered that certainly strives for equality, that certainly knows how to deal with crises and adversity and I think she is a very efficient person to be organising this event today.”

For more information about Novas visit

For more information about the Children’s Grief Centre visit

For more stories about Empowerment and Equality go here

To find out more about Cleanmarine visit Cleanmarine.ie

 

Apr 19

Volunteers and sunshine out in force for Team Limerick Cleanup 5

by richanthon in Awareness, Community, Inspirational, News 0 comments 1966

Team Limerick Cleanup 5 – Richard Lynch, ilovelimerick (far right) pictured with the founders of Team Limerick Cleanup, JP Mc Manus, Paul O’Connell and Helen O’Donnell celebrating the 5th birthday of TLC5. Picture: Conor Owens/ilovelimerick.

Volunteers and sunshine out in force for Team Limerick Cleanup 5

The sun shone brightly on Team Limerick Cleanup 5, as a record-breaking near-21,000 volunteers took to the streets of Limerick city and county for Europe’s largest one-day tidy-up.  

Celebrating what is a milestone year for the much-loved community event, sponsor JP McManus and ambassador Paul O’Connell led the army of volunteers, who came from every town in Limerick and this year featured members of the victorious 2019 All Ireland Limerick hurling team, Munster rugby legends, community/residential groups, businesses, charities and well-known faces locally.   

Team Limerick Cleanup 5

JP Mc Manus and Paul O’Connell visited Tait House Community Enterprise for TLC5 2019. Picture: Conor Owens/ilovelimerick.

Declan Hannon, Dan Morrissey and Aaron Gillane were among the All Ireland champion hurlers to help tidy their local communities, as well as rugby referee, Joy Neville; while ahead of Munster’s huge semi-final clash with Saracens tomorrow, Heineken Cup winners Jerry Flannery and David Wallace also participated in the clean-up, which is sponsored by JP McManus Benevolent Fund and managed by Limerick City and County Council. 

Commenting on Team Limerick Cleanup 5, Paul O’Connell said; “It’s amazing to break the 20,000 volunteers’ number and I’d like to thank every person who gave up their time today to help make Limerick a cleaner place. It’s been quite a journey over the past five years and Team Limerick Clean-Up has so much potential beyond just a one-day tidy-up. I’m hugely excited to see what the next five years will bring.” 

Sponsor JP McManus echoed O’Connell’s words and reflected on an amazing 12 months for Limerick city and county. “To think this time last year, we were out tidying, and Limerick hadn’t won an All-Ireland since 1973. You can really feel the extra energy and excitement about the place here today, particularly with the hurlers out in force, too. It’s been an amazing effort by all volunteers and I extend my thanks to everybody out here today.” 

This year, Team Limerick Cleanup 5 stresses the sustainability message more than ever – prevention is the best cure when it comes to littering and looking after the community. In the lead up to today’s event, Team Limerick Clean-Up ran the ‘Design A TLC Bottle’ competition for primary schools across the county. All entries were on display at the Hunt Museum, Limerick city centre and Team Limerick Clean-Up will be pressing ahead with further sustainability initiatives in the months ahead.  

JP McManus visited several areas in Limerick to see the tidying efforts first hand, including Tait House Community Enterprise, St Munchin’s and Moyross Community Centres, and Our Lady of Lourdes.  

Team Limerick Clean-Up is an initiative sponsored by the JP McManus Benevolent Fund and supported by Limerick City and County Council. Endorsed by Paul O’Connell, the official partners include Mr Binman, the Limerick Leader, Limerick Post and Limerick Live 95. 

For more information on Team Limerick Cleanup 5 click here 

For more stories featuring Team Limerick Cleanup, click here 

Apr 15

VTOS Open Day 2019 helps long-term unemployed return to full-time education

by richanthon in Community, Education, Learning, News 0 comments 1648

Pictured at the VTOS Limerick 2019 open day is style queen Celia Holman Lee along with artists from across Limerick. Picture: Conor Owens/ilovelimerick.

VTOS Open Day 2019 helps long-term unemployed return to full-time education

By ilovelimerick correspondent Chloe Reidy

The Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme Limerick Open Day 2019 was a great success for Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board at the Further Education and Training Centre, Kilmallock Road Campus. The open day took place on Thursday, April 11, from 11 am to 2.30 pm and was part of the Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival 2019.

The open day was a big success, with visitors and prospective learners having the opportunity to visit information stands and hear about the courses on offer at the centre.

Patricia Kennedy, the coordinator of VTOS tells me, “The day was such a great opportunity for the public to visit and see what courses that we have on offer. We have brilliant facilities and the staff are wonderful, and dedicated to supporting the students.”

Events that took place on the day included the Portrait Artist Festival, The Irish Revolution 1919-1922 and ‘What is Social Enterprise?’.

Jayne Foley who teaches the Art, Craft, Design class said, ‘The Portrait Artist Festival gave students of the Art, Craft, Design class and members of the public an opportunity to create a portrait of Irish model, fashion stylist and television presenter, Celia Holman Lee. Celia was so much fun and so enthusiastic and kind to the artists. What a lady!”

Celia said of the event, ‘I’m delighted to have the opportunity to take part in such a wonderful event that encourages lifelong learning. I believe we never stop learning and should always strive to learn and grow to the best of our abilities, so to be able to contribute in this small way is a great privilege’.

The Irish Revolution 1919 – 1922 lecture was a discussion about the Civil War, in honour of its 100th anniversary held by historian Frank Noonan.

The last event ‘What is Social Enterprise?’, gave local social entrepreneurs the opportunity to meet one another and speak about how to make a positive social impact on our society.

Earlier that week, on Tuesday, April 9, VTOS Limerick held an Intercultural Day for others to experience the great diversity of cultures at the Kilmallock Road Campus, with global food stands, tribal drumming and plenty of music on offer.

The VTOS Open Day 2019 was a chance for the Further Education and Training Centre to show to the public what courses they have on offer. The centre offers both the Junior and Leaving Certificates, with nine subjects to choose from for the Leaving Certificate, which is studied over the course of one year, instead of typically two. Other courses on offer, are Career Pathways, English for Work, Retail Sales, Healthcare Support, Office Administration, all ranging from QQI Major Award Levels 3-5.

VTOS is designed to help long-term unemployed return to full-time education without losing their social welfare benefits. VTOS will help participants make the transition back into paid employment or back to further education and eventually leading to paid employment. Participants will make new friends; acquire valuable education qualifications in an adult friendly environment.

The centre also provides many other benefits, which include, books and equipment being supplied, assistance with the cost of childcare/creche, examination fees paid for, free parking on campus, state of the art facilities and meal and travel allowance, including a direct bus to the city centre.

The Lifelong Learning Festival ran from April 8 -14 and is the culmination of work by various partners in promoting learning for all ages throughout the Limerick region in what is promised to be a week of fun and engaging activities, which are free and open to everyone.

For more information on VTOS Limerick, go here.

For more stories on VTOS Limerick, go here.

 

Apr 01

Thomond Community College Multicultural Day 2019

by richanthon in Awareness, Education, News, School 0 comments 1776

Richard pictured at the multicultural day with student Jennifer Ikponmwosa, Sr. Bridget O’Connell, teacher and organiser Siobhan Conway, Principal Norma O’Brien and student Aisha Garba. Picture: Orla McLaughlin/ilovelimerick.

PHOTO & VIDEO – Thomond Community College Multicultural Day 2019

Thomond Community College Multicultural Day 2019 was held Friday, March 29 and there were plenty of colourful photo opportunities available with participating students in national costume. Richard Lynch was honoured to be the Master of Ceremonies again for the eighth consecutive year. Previously, the event was held at the Salesians School before it closed three years ago and every year the event is organised by an amazing teacher named Siobhan Conway.

Thomond Community College Multicultural Day 2019 was a hugely worthwhile, inclusive event, which gave each and every student the opportunity to showcase their home nation and educate their fellow students. To see the pride of students in their native traditions and language is just wonderful. So many students can truly find a voice through this event and all in attendance, students, staff, parents, and guests, learned so much – it truly is an education for all. The day created a real opportunity to celebrate both diversity and integration.

Thomond Community College Multicultural Day 2019

Pictured at the Multicultural Day 2019 is the Thomond Community College Choir. Picture: Orla McLaughlin/ilovelimerick.

Teacher Siobhan Conway said, “Thomond Community College Multicultural Day 2019 gave a well-deserved forum to the citizens of the new Ireland, and a real opportunity to share heritage. This is a unique event across the schools of the Limerick-Clare E.T.B., and indeed further afield, attracting praise from Limerick migrant rights organisation Doras Luimni over the years. This initiative was running for almost 10 years in Salesian Secondary School and was called Salesians Multicultural Day– Integration through Education. Following amalgamation and the establishment of Thomond Community College in September 2016, there was no hesitation in continuing with an event of such enormous popularity and previous success. At a time when it was never more important to demonstrate leadership in integration this event really is a worthwhile initiative.”

Countries that were showcased at Thomond Community College Multicultural Day 2019 include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Lithuania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Morroco, South Africa, Poland, Nigeria, The Congo, The USA, and Syria to name just a few! Each country had a visual display of all that makes their individual cultures unique and interesting, including fun facts, history and weather information. Many of the students also wore traditional costumes for the day. Delicious food, prepared and cooked by the students and their families, further reflected the intercultural theme.

An afternoon of international music and dance attended by the whole school brought the celebrations to an end. The afternoon’s acts included members of the Rusangano Family as part of Music Generation Limerick, trad group Gale Force, dancer Tara Ludden and singer Michelle Grimes accompanied by the school choir.

For more information on Thomond Community College, click here

For more stories featuring Thomond’s Multicultural day, click here

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