{"id":393451,"date":"2025-09-03T02:37:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T02:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/393451\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T02:37:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T02:37:11","slug":"former-loyalist-paramilitaries-and-orangemen-sign-up-as-numbers-learning-irish-increases-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/393451\/","title":{"rendered":"Former loyalist paramilitaries and Orangemen sign up as numbers learning Irish increases \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Irish language classes in east Belfast have attracted members of the Orange Order and former Loyalist paramilitaries – as numbers swell so high they\u2019re running out of the space.<\/p>\n

Speaking from her office on East Belfast\u2019s<\/a> Newtownards Road, Linda Ervine, of the Turas Project told the Irish News that so many people have applied for the upcoming enrolment of their Irish language classes that they are struggling to find space to sit them. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe classes have been growing in popularity every year. Last year was our biggest ever, with about 700 people signing up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegistration is still open for this, we\u2019re on track to reach a similar number this year.<\/p>\n

\"Dublin<\/a>\"Former<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, due to lack of space, we\u2019ve had to close some classes, which we don\u2019t usually do. We really don\u2019t have enough room for everyone, so unfortunately, we have to turn some people away as there just isn\u2019t enough space.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the types of students who are taking part in the classes, she said that they come from all backgrounds and even include participants who would not traditionally have supported the Irish language.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe participants are very mixed,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we started 13 years ago, they were mostly from the unionist community, and that remains the majority. Most attendees come from east Belfast, greater east Belfast<\/a>, Castlereagh, and North Down, areas without much access to Irish classes. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur classes attract people from all walks of life. Some have only basic qualifications, while others hold PhDs. The diversity in socio-economic background, tradition, and experience is remarkable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had participants from all political and community backgrounds, including the Orange Order, DUP, Alliance, UUP, police, and army. Even individuals who were involved in the conflict have attended.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if she meant former paramilitaries who had been involved in the conflict she said: \u201cOf course, these are people who live among us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Ervine, is the sister-in-law of former PUP leader David Ervine, and insists that the organisation has not received the same backlash in the area as other projects such as East Belfast GAA.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally, there\u2019s no trouble, most people are supportive. Occasionally, there\u2019s minor aggravation, but the classes are largely positive,\u201c she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur project tends to avoid controversy that other cultural organisations sometimes face. We are based in the Methodist community, with many staff and participants who are Protestant. This makes us seem less threatening to some. We are not regarded as outsiders.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Irish language classes in east Belfast have attracted members of the Orange Order and former Loyalist paramilitaries –…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[2378,73833,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-393451","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-belfast","9":"tag-east-belfast","10":"tag-technology","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115138045662040769","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}