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Slam Filíochta West Belfast slam inspires Irish language poets.txt
New generation of slam poets inspired by the Irish language30 August 2025ShareSaveHayley HalpinBBC News NIShareSaveBBCOrganiser Caoimhe Ní Cathail says the Slam Filíochta has "inspired a whole new generation of slam poets"Poets from across the island of Ireland have what is a full house in pokergathered in west Belfast for an Irish language poetry slam competition.The event was initially set up nine years ago in response to the "big need" for a platform for slam poets to be able to perform through the Irish language, event organiser Caoimhe Ní Cathail said. Taking place in the Cultúrlann venue as part of the Liú Lúnasa festival, the Slam Filíochta - Irish for "Poetry Slam" - happened last week."It's really inspired a whole new generation of slam poets through the Irish language," Ms Ní Cathail told BBC News NI.1:33The new generation of slam poets inspired by the Irish languageWhile English language poetry slams often pop up across the island, Ms Ní Cathail said "there was no such platform for poets, and slam poets especially, through Irish"."We thought it would be a great idea to start a competition," she said.Slam poetry is competitive and performative style of spoken word. "I think when we think of Irish language poetry, maybe we think of some of the great poets of years gone by and of present day, but a lot of that poetry is to be read by ourselves and to be consumed as something personal," Ms Ní Cathail said. "Whereas the big difference with slam poetry is that it's a very public event, you're standing in a circle in the middle of a crowd of people, reciting your poem in Irish."Each year of the competition has seen a different winner. Pádraig De Cléir was crowned the winner of the competition this year This year's winner was Pádraig De Cléir who performed a poem about artificial intelligence helping him as he struggled to reach a deadline.He lived in London for a number of years and felt he had "pretty good Irish" but did not feel comfortable using it before moving to Belfast. The Slam Filíochta has challenged - and helped - his Irish language."I generally write in Irish," he told BBC News NI."There's enough stuff going on in English and Irish is more fun."Mr De Cléir added he was "very proud" he could express himself creatively through the language. "It allows me to be silly in a structured way, which is good fun," he said. Ciara Ní é has taken part in the event for the past eight yearsCiara Ní é was the 2024 winner and judged the event two years ago.She has been running a bilingual spoken word event around Ireland for the past 10 years."People were asking me, 'Oh, why are you going up tonight? Sure you won last year you're probably not going to win again', but it's really not about winning," she said. "It's about being in a room of people who also read Irish language poetry, who, if I perform a poem, they're not only going to know the words, they're going to know the references to other literary pieces and just to the references to the things that happened in Irish language culture this year."People gathered at the Cultúrlann in west Belfast for the Slam Filíochta Ms Ní é said there was a "shared wealth of knowledge to be in the room with the rest of the poets and the audience"."It's very special to learn Irish and be able to understand it and then it's a whole other level to be able to use the language creatively, express yourself in it," she added.Not all cultures have "such a poetic tradition" intertwined in it, she added."It's really, really, normal in Irish language circles to write a poem," she said."You could just be writing a poem for a friend's birthday or a jokey poem, or just something to express yourself if somebody died and that's really normal and that's something that's been in our culture for thousands of years and it's still alive now."Seeing more young people using the language to express themselves and connect with one another is "really brilliant", she added.Irish language 'a place for everyone'Séamas Mac Eochaidh, who began learning Irish aged 11, said he had his eyes on the Slam Filíochta for the past five years but only this year built up the courage to perform. "In my opinion, words come quicker in Irish and flow easier," he said. "For me, at 31 years of age, thinking back 20 years ago, thinking I would ever say that is crazy."For Mr Mac Eochaidh, the arts is for everyone."The language is a place for everyone as well, so it's nice when they come together," he said.BelfastNorthern IrelandPoetryLiterature
