Cairde na mBeann was created because we understand that education does not exist solely within the walls of our school. We feel that our children and adults can learn in any environment when the correct resources are available to them through delivering classes, lessons through music, the arts and culture. Our motto is: “An lae nach bhfoghluíonn rud éigin úr is bocht an lá é” – “A day you don’t learn is a day wasted” Children who attend our Naícoil agus Gaelscoil are the main beneficiaries of our group. Their lives are enriched through bilingualism. We instil important values which include, respect for differences in races and religions, love for culture and arts, appreciation and acceptance of oneself, their neighbours and friends regardless of ability, sex, colour. We support, staff, carers/parents. This support encourages other members of their families and the general public to participate in events funded by Cairde na mBeann. It encourages the children as they get to see other family members and friends learning through the medium of Irish. There are 84 children currently receiving Irish medium education within Gaelscoil and 24 registered in Naíscoil. These figures have grown year-on-year, it is very humbling to see that what started out nearly 13 years ago as a small mother/toddler group has emerged into the great established school that we have today. We are growing every year and because of our growth we are currently seeing a demand for more support for school resources as we have out-grown our current location and resources, however due to restraints from the EA the cairde group are doing what they can to support students and staff with what is available.
Cairde na mBeann run a range of fundraising activities and events through the year in order to raise funds for resources required and to support the families and build a community within the school setting. These include; fun days, raffles, support at school events, social meet ups, collections etc…
We have classes on Monday and Wednesday nights, there are currently more than 20 adults availing of these classes.
Any monies we receive through sales or donations are funnelled back into Irish medium education locally through the purchase of resources, funding for travel, musical tuition and other events and projects.
We work closely with other community organisations to reach our organisation’s aims, namely Páirc na Mara, Annalong the Irish cultural community centre who provide us with a space to use to run our events and offer support and guidance with our fundraising efforts.
We can demonstrate these benefits through the resources and support we are able to offer the school. This organisation is managed by parents and interested people from the community who have an interest in the advancement of Irish medium education and resources in the Mourne area. We will conduct feedback resources and distribute these to assess if we are meeting the needs of the community and use this feedback to assist with planning and goal setting for future projects.