Gerry Adams to launch exhibition on pioneering Gaeilgeoirí who ‘attempted the impossible’

GERRY Adams will launch a groundbreaking new exhibition celebrating the transformative social activism of the Irish language community. 

The former Sinn Féin President and West Belfast MP will give the keynote address at the GaelStair project’s latest exhibition, which will launch at the Conway Mill at 12pm on Thursday as part of Féile an Phobail. 

‘Saol Trí Ghaeilge – Saol Gan Bochtanas’ unveils an exciting chapter in the North’s history when Irish speakers became a driving force for profound social and economic change. 

It will encapsulate the lived experience and determined vision of the pioneers of the contemporary Irish language revival, who strove to build a resilient community founded on solidarity and dignity. 

Spórtlann na hÉireann chair Pilib Ó Ruanaidh explained: “This exhibition will reassert the historic role of the Irish language community in transforming the society around them from the 1930s onwards. 

“The Belfast leaders of the contemporary Irish language revival were acutely aware of the need to tie their efforts to the need to uplift the people around them. In working class districts devastated by unemployment, poverty and alienation, Gaeilgeoirí were often the first to extend the hand of solidarity and to lead the way in tackling these issues. 

“Gerry Adams will provide the keynote address, outlining remarkable achievements of the Gaeilgeoirí who became trade union leaders, founders of community enterprises, political activists, and champions of the downtrodden.

“We invite people to hear how they fought for language rights as well as economic justice and became pivotal figures in the struggles of the unemployed and in trade union battles. The exhibition will celebrate the remarkable power of community spirit in the rebuilding of Bombay Street and the innovative, often radical approaches to economic self-determination through worker-led cooperatives and community-focused shops and services.

“Thanks to our funders The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we will pay pay tribute to the ethos and efforts of those who attempted the seemingly impossible; a life lived through Irish, a life without poverty – Saol Trí Ghaeilge, Saol Gan Bochtanas.”