Russian native, Dr Victor Bayda, appointed as Irish Language Planning Officer
Comhchoiste Gaeltachta Uíbh Ráthach have announced that Dr. Victor Bayda has been appointed as the Irish Language Planning Officer for the south Kerry Gaeltacht. Dr. Bayda, a native of Moscow, Russia, was a lecturer of Irish in the Lomonosov State University in Moscow for 15 years. He is the tenth Irish language planning officer that has been appointed under the language planning process in the Gaeltacht in recent months. Although Welsh and Scots Gaelic piqued his interest it was the Irish Language that grabbed his full attention.
It is a privilege and a honour for me to be appointed as an Irish Language Planning Officer for the picturesque area of south Kerry.
Dr. Bayda will be responsible, in collaboration with the community and organisations in the area, for the implementation of an Irish Language Action Plan that has been prepared for the South Kerry Language Planning Area. Comhchoiste Ghaeltacht Uíbh Ráthaigh were chosen as the lead organisation for Irish Language Planning in the South Kerry Gaeltacht at the end of 2014. The language plan they prepared with the support of the community was approved in early 2018 and funding of €100,000 has been approved to support the implementation of the plan.
Victor Bayda referred to his appointment, “It is a privilege and a honour for me to be appointed as an Irish Language Planning Officer for the picturesque area of south Kerry. I am extremely grateful for the warm welcome I have received over the past few days and I am looking forward to starting to work with the community to promote not only the Irish Language but the area itself also. We have significant challenges ahead certainly but it is very important to keep a positive focus on the Uíbh Ráthach area and to grasp all opportunities presented to the area has with both hands in the years ahead.”
Áine Ní Bheoláin, Manager of Comhchoiste Gaeltachta Uíbh Ráthach said “We heartily welcome Victor Bayda to our beautiful corner of the world and wish him all the best in the challenging work he has before him. We are delighted that he showed an interest in undertaking the challenge of Irish language planning here in Uíbh Ráthach. There are some very interesting years ahead of us here in south Kerry with the imminent publication of the Interagency Taskforce Action Plan for Uíbh Ráthach as well as the implementation of the Irish Language Action Plan. The challenges must be faced in different innovative ways and that is what we undertake for the years ahead.”