Meath teacher bringing singing Irish language books to Gifted

A Meath secondary school teacher who has designed singing Irish language books for children will be in the national spotlight at Gifted – The Contemporary Craft and Design Fair ­- in the RDS from December 1-5.

Risteard MacLiam, from Kells, created the range of My Irish Books to provide an accessible way for parents to introduce the Irish language to their children, regardless of their own level of fluency.

“The books play the songs at the push of a button, which takes the pressure off parents who might have cúpla focal but are not completely fluent,” said Risteard.

“The songs in the books are performed by six young Irish children aged 8 – 15, including the well-known Ó Scolaí family who have won 15 All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil medals.

“From the beginning, we always had accessibility at the forefront of our design. The books play the songs at the push of a button, which means the child can interact with the book easily from anywhere.”

Gifted is the ultimate destination for anyone interested in craft, design, unique independent brands and artisan food producers and will attract an expected 35,000 visitors over five days.

More than 500 designers, makers and artisan food producers will be featured at Ireland’s largest Christmas gift shopping event, set to provide a crucial boost to the sector after the pandemic forced its cancellation last year.

Over €5 million will be spent at the Fair on contemporary Irish jewellery, fashion, accessories, ceramics, interiors, art, photography and children’s gifts.

“The Fair is a huge boost to the independent creative sector, it is vital to the industry as a whole and it is estimated that it generates enough business to keep most of the exhibitors busy for at least four months of the year,” said organiser, Patrick O’Sullivan.

“At the onset of lockdown last year, we immediately moved to supporting our exhibitors through the giftedfromireland.com site – and that has been a very successful sales outlet for them.

“However, so many of our exhibitors are overjoyed at news of the return of Gifted because they have missed the human interaction of the selling process.”

Gifted also hosts the spectacular Christmas Food Emporium with over 100 artisan food producers, where you can meet the experts who can help you source the tastiest festive fare.

Gifted, The Contemporary Craft and Design Fair, takes place at the RDS Main Hall in Dublin’s Ballsbridge from December 1-5. Full details and booking at www.giftedfair.ie. Special 10% discount on all purchases on December 1