The books, which come in sets of ten volumes, are aimed at primary
school children and contain stories with both Basque and Irish
versions. Each set comes with its own interactive CD Rom. They
were presented at a handing over ceremony on Friday attended by
representatives of St Mary's University College's Irish Medium
Resource Unit, Foras Na Gaeilge and the Irish language weekly
paper, Lá.
Speaking at the handover Gearóid MacSiacais of Foras Na
Gaeilge said: "These books are of the highest standard from
both a literary and production standpoint and the time and investment
which this involved leaves us very much in Gara's debt. We would
like to thank them sincerely for this very generous donation."
Hosting the handing over ceremony, which took place at the Andersonstown
News' Teach Basil office, was Ciarán O Proinntaigh, editor
of the Irish language daily Lá.
"Our counterparts at Gara are among the world leaders in
the field of minority language publishing, a fact amply demonstrated
by the standard and quality of these books," he said. "It
is vitally important that we here in Ireland build on this ground-
breaking project which was initiated by Gara for the Basque language
schools and which has now been extended by them to cover Irish
schools."
Distribution of the books will be handled by a t-Áis-Ionad
Gaeilge (the Irish Medium Resource Unit) based at St Mary's University
College. Its manager Pól MacFheidhlimidh said that the
books would prove a benchmark for those involved in providing
Irish language texts for use in the burgeoning Irish school sector.
"Gara have brought together the cream of Basque writers
for this project and have included one volume from renowned Fermanagh
writer and Lá literary editor, Séamus McAnnaidh,"
he said.
"All the books are illustrated to the very highest standard
and the inclusion of an interactive CD Rom and a presentation
box in the shape of a traditional Basque farmhouse provides an
overall package which will prove highly attractive for children."
Thanking his hosts, a very modest Gorka Altuna said that the
initiative was a "small step in helping Irish schools".
"We in Euskal Herria (the Basque country) admire what is
happening in Ireland in terms of the growth of Gaelic schools.
We very much hope that we can learn from each other and can continue
to cooperate on future projects.
"If these books are used in the Gaelic schools the entire
project will have been very worthwhile," he said.
