15: Events 2003 - 2012

The first decade was a difficult period for the Association.  Membership continued to fall and activities were limited because of lack of people capable and prepared to carry them out.  However not everything was negative. The Association began to use new technology such the internet and social media.  Regular meetings in Dublin were more interesting because of the presence of people from abroad living for a time in Ireland.  Several people visited Ireland using the Passport Service. 

2003:  This year a new committee was elected.  Liam Kirk became honorary president on account of this long service for the Esperanto movement in Ireland.  The Chairman was Lorcan MacMeanmain; Secretary/Treasurer Joy Davies; Information: Maire Mullarney; Librarian: Christopher Fettes; Members: T. Hayden, K. Keable, G, McKay, D. O’hEalaith.

Notices about Esperanto appeared in the consecutive issues of ‘Cara’, the official magazine of the airline Aer Lingus, provided on all aircraft.  Regretfully it attracted no new members.  Several members of the Association attended the World Congress in Sweden.

2004:  For three weeks in April an exhibition on Esperanto was shown in the library of the ILAC Centre in Dublin.  It contained posters on several aspects of the Esperanto Movement in Ireland and abroad.  From time to time Maire Mullarney spent a number of hours in the library to answer questions. Two free lectures were also given in the library.   Maire Mullarney spoke on lifelong learning and Girvan McKay spoke on language problems in the European Union and how the introduction of Esperanto as a bridge language would reduce costs.

A new book by Maire Mullarney was published, ‘Maire Mullarney argues about language’, a collection of lectures which she had made over the course of recent years.

2005:  An exhibition was held in Tullamore, using the materials prepared for the previous year’s exhibition.

Daithi O’hEalaith set up a discussion group in ‘Yahoo groups’ and published there information each month on the Saturday Circle.

2006:  ‘Irish Examiner’ newspaper published an article on Esperanto, which resulted in a radio interview with Dr Sean O’Riain.  Girvan McKay published an English language translation of the ‘Infana Raso’ (Infant Race) by William Auld on the website of the then Esperanto Literature Academy.  He also translated it into Scottish and Scottish Gaelic.  The members of the Association attended the World Congress in Florence.

2007:  Christopher Fettes took on the role of chief delegate in Ireland for UEA, the World Esperanto Association.

2008:  This was a very sad year for the Association as it saw the death of  Liam Kirk and Maire Mullarney.  Both were faithful members and worked very hard for the Esperanto movement in Ireland.

In a popular radio programme Dr Sean O’Riain was interviewed about the current state of the Irish language.  In the interview he mentioned Esperanto and how much its use as a first foreign language makes subsequent learning of other languages easier..

Although little else took place in Ireland, members look part in international events. Three attended the World Congress in Rotterdam, two the Scottish congress and one the International Esperanto Youth Congress and the Catalan Congress.  The Association launched its own page on the social website Ipernity, which people abroad had begun using for Esperanto communications.

2009:  The Association was somewhat inactive.  There were regular meetings of the ‘Saturday Circle’ but with few participants.

2010:  This year was the 100th Issue of Nova Irlanda Esperantisto / New Irish Esperantist, the official bulletin of the Association, edited by Joy Davies.  In addition to the usual various items there were special articles by Girvan and Maire McKay.

2011:  In the spring Domenique Vieira,  a Brazilian living in Dublin, led a weekly course at  Siomra Spraoi for six weeks.   The students were mainly people from abroad temporarily resident in Dublin.  However by the end of the course only one was attending.  After the summer break we restarted the course, only one person attended but progressed well and stayed on till the end in November.  

In the name of the Tullamore Esperanto group Maire McKay planted a tree in the town park celebrating Amnesty International.

2012:  The most important event of the year was ther congress of the European Esperanto Union in Galway.  The Lord Mayor of Galway attended the opening and welcomed the participants.  A number of article appeared in the local papers The event was organised by a professional company and was a great success.  EAI members assisted in translating and as guides.

This year for the first time an esperanto speaker took part in the Dublin marathon.   Marco Trevisan had lived in Dublin for several years and been a member of  EAI.   He has been living in Spain but returned to Ireland for the competition. 

The web pages have been given a more modern look and additional content.  The Association now has its own page on Facebook which accepts content in Esperanto dress.  It can also be reached via the EAI website.   

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