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Former Belfast GAA club to become Irish language academy

Sinn Féin culture minister Carál Ní Chuilín
Sinn Féin culture minister Carál Ní Chuilín Sinn Féin culture minister Carál Ní Chuilín

AN IRISH language academy is set to be opened at a former GAA club in west Belfast.

Sean McDermott's Gaelic Athletic Club wound up and closed its Falls Road social club in 2014.

But there are now plans to transform the former social club into an Irish language academy.

Stormont culture minister Carál Ní Chuilín outlined the proposals in the assembly on Tuesday.

She said the academy was needed to improve teaching and learning resources following the "remarkable growth" in the Irish language in recent years.

"A scoping and consultation exercise on the Irish language or GaelAcadamh project has led to six recommendations, which I am accepting, subject to some further work being undertaken," she said.

"One of these is that a GaelAcadamh should be provided in a central location, with Belfast's Gaeltacht Quarter as the preferred location.

"Other recommendations focus on the community, economic development and on making sure that adequate pathways are available to further study and employment through the Irish language."

Founded in 1932, the GAA club was named after Seán MacDiarmada, one of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising and a signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.

One of Belfast's oldest clubs, it moved to its Falls Road site in the late nineties but was wound up after members found it was "unsustainable".

Ms Ní Chuilín also detailed plans for the development of an Ulster-Scots academy at the Corn Exchange in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter.

She said both academies will "enhance communities and help build a modern, tolerant and compassionate society".