Celebration of diversity and multi-culturalism

Cahir was one of three towns that formed part of a pilot programme run by the not-for-profit Together Ireland initiative set up in August 2018. The aim of this new integration initiative is to promote and enable greater integration in Irish towns and communities through positive local action. Cahir was chosen for the pilot as almost 30% of the population of Cahir is made up of people with non-Irish nationalities according to the last census. Many of these groups are employed locally in food manufacturing. The other two towns that were part of the national pilot included Fermoy and Mitchelstown.

This led onto the establishment of Cahir Social Club International and weekly cooking classes with Irish and international themes supported by Tipperary Education & Training Board’s (TETB) Community Education Programme. Veronica Crowe, Community Education Facilitator with TETB became involved in the pilot as one of the primary purposes of Community Education is to foster community empowerment through adult education.

TETB Community Education programme supported “A Taste of Home” evening cookery classes, facilitated by Cookery Tutor Carmel Phillips. Participants focused on various countries traditional meals, learned how to cook them and got to enjoy tasting foods from different countries.

Graham Clifford, of Together Ireland said: “This is the latest initiative being undertaken by the Cahir International Social club made up of people from Ireland, Romania, India, Hungary, Poland, Brazil, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Italy and a number of other countries. People who have chosen to make Cahir their home and want to work together to make it into a truly welcoming, diverse and caring community. There’s such a strong spirit in this town already and greater community integration can only reinforce that. In many ways Cahir are leading, and we hope other towns will soon follow.”

Cahir Social Club International agreed to hold an event that would bring together all the different cultures and traditions and show off the beautiful backdrop of Cahir Castle.

“A Taste of Cahir” took please in the Inch Field on Sunday 25^th August and was supported by TETB along with other partners. The event started with a picnic and included live music, a boat race, children’s story time and fairy tales.

TETB staff who attended the Chair Food Fair on 25^th August. L to R Lavinia English, Carmel Phillips (TETB Cookery Tutor), Veronica Crowe (Community Education Facilitator) and Tina Looby (VTOS, Cahir).

As part of the day’s celebrations, Veronica Crowe from TETB Community Education programme organized a drumming circle which was enjoyed by adults and children alike. Well done to Andrew Spearpoint, TETB Tutor, on running such an interactive and fun event. An International Bake Off competition was also held on the day, with a variety of cakes and breads on display from various countries. Judges for this competition were Carmel Phillips, TETB tutor, John Hayes, Former Irish and Munster rugby player and food blogger Sinead Delahunty. Well done to all the entrants for preparing such amazing cakes and breads. Congratulations to all the organizers, partners and volunteers on a fantastic event, and we look forward to next year’s event.