Ireland+Rusty+Broughton

= = = IRELAND = By: Rusty Broughton      Ireland's History Ireland is an island that consists of 32,000 square miles, 4 provinces and 32 countries. The land was originally settled on by hunters and fishers during 6,000 B.C. Between the years 600 and 150 B.C., Celtic-speaking people began to live on the land. During the time of Christ, there were five kingdoms of Ireland, which were also known as "The five fifths of Ireland. Later in 400 A.D., Ireland consisted of 7 kingdoms that were constantly raiding each other. During the time of these casual raids, a young Irish native, who would later be known as St. Patrick was captured for 6 years. During these years, Patrick found religion and eventually escaped from captivity to pursue studies of theology and finally return to Ireland to convert the land into a country of Christianity. After years of viking attacks, which ruined Irish monasteries, Danish people began settling, the four provinces of Ireland were created and the Danish people joined forces with the Gaelic people and formed a United Church. Ultimately, Pope Adrian IV had a problem with this, the English invaded Ireland and disrupted the Irish structures of society and politics.  In the centuries to come, Ireland continued to have outside settlers from England, which caused about three centuries of struggle between the Catholic and Protestant religions, with the constant attempt by English law to correct these issues. While the issues of religion continued to affect the laws of Ireland in 1840, the potato famine occurred and within the next two years Ireland's population went from 8.2 million people to 6.6 million people. This drop in population was caused by starvation, disease and the people of Ireland emigrating, mostly to places in America. Later on, during the 20th century, the religious problems were finally solved by dividing the island into two groups: the Catholic people and the Protestant people. To this day, Northern Ireland is filled with Protestants and is part of the United Kingdom, while the remaining part of Ireland is known as the Republic of Ireland and belongs to Europe.

 **__Artist Profile: ENYA__**  media type="youtube" key="_-TacpA09Vo" height="417" width="624" ENYA is a singer, musician and songwriter who was born on May 17, 1961 in a north-east county of Ireland, known as Donegal. Originally studying piano and classical music in school, ENYA was part of a musically-talented family. Her family, which consisted an additional 4 sisters and 4 brothers, are known for participating in and winning numerous music competitions. After leaving a family group called "Clannad", which had her brothers, sisters and uncles as band members, ENYA was tired of being treated like the little sister and went off to live with a studio engineer and was eventually given the chance to compose music for the movie //The Frog Prince//. After this opportunity, ENYA continued to work out of her home, where she was fortunate enough to have a music studio and earned her way into the music business after working for the BBC, which released a cd of hers that made it to the music charts. After the success with the BBC gig, ENYA released her own CDs and later won 2 Grammy Awards and numerous nominations for her production of songs for hit motion pictures. Comprised of two additional people, a sound engineer and a lyricist, ENYA's traditional sound is made up of synthesizer and her voice, which is doubled over numerous times.

   **__Arts Council of Ireland__** <span style="background-color: #ff9a00; color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 150%;">The Arts Council of Ireland was started in 1951 with the attempt to stimulate the public's interest in arts appreciation, with the help from 12 volunteer members who are appointed every five years.Although the government pays for about half of the necessary funding for education in Ireland, parents must raise money through different kinds of charity events and bake sales to attempt to fill the void of the remaining half of funding needed. In addition to this, the arts council is the main source of funding for the arts throughout Ireland. They consult with the government on a regular basis and support to constant growth of arts education in Ireland.In an attempt to inspire the use of arts all across Ireland, the Arts Council supports 56 major festivals and 114 smaller festivals that fall into three different categories: art form-specific festivals; multidisciplinary arts (MDA) festivals and emerging (small) festivals.The different types of art programs that the Arts Council touch upon are:visual arts, film, architecture, dance, music, literature, opera, theatre, traditional arts and circus, street art and spectacle. <span style="background-color: #ff9a00; color: #00ff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 360%;"> <span style="background-color: #ff9a00; color: #00ff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 360%;"> <span style="background-color: #00ff00; color: #ff9a00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 360%;">**__Teacher Training__** <span style="background-color: #00ff00; color: #ff9a00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 360%;"><span style="background-color: #ff9a00; color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 50%;">Training for teachers is very similar to the training that goes on in the United States. To teach at a institution of secondary learning, a person must complete a primary degree at a university and receive an additional degree from a university of higher learning. To teach at a institution of primary learning, a person must receiver a bachelors of education from one university and proceed to finish a program of teacher training at one of five places that conduct these 3-year classes. <span style="background-color: #00ff00; color: #ff9a00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 360%;">

<span style="background-color: #00ff00; color: #ff9a00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 360%;">**__Conclusion__** <span style="background-color: #00ff00; color: #ff9a00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 360%;"><span style="background-color: #ff9a00; color: #ffffff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 50%;">I was surprised to see that arts education is dispersed throughout the different levels of primary education in Ireland in a similar way to the way in which arts education is taught in the parts of the United States that have funding. The arts are part of the key curriculum all throughout the first 2 stages of education and if you choose to continue your artistic skills through secondary education, a person has the opportunity to attend specific universities that offer specialized art programs. In the end, the process of arts education for students and the training of teachers in Ireland is extremely similar to the process of education and arts training I have experienced throughout my years of study in America. I was pleased to find that there was an organization like the Arts Council of Ireland that has been supporting the expansion and funding of arts throughout Ireland since 1951. Ireland is very fortunate to have a kind of organization that keeps in such close contact with the Irish government, generous donors and the community of a arts throughout the island of Ireland. <span style="background-color: #ff9a00; color: #00ff00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 200%;">Citations [] [] [] [] <span style="background-color: #00ff00; color: #ff9a00; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 360%;">