IRISH AUSTRIAN SOCIETY

  The Centre for Irish-German Studies proudly presents a day of Austrian, German and Irish Music, Literature and Culture. Please join us for a day full of cultural events, including a concert of the Irish Chamber Orchestra with the music of W.A. Mozart and K. A. Hartmann, conducted by the new principal conductor of the ICO Thomas Zehetmair.   Location University of Limerick Castletroy Ireland   Date & Time December 1, 2022, 1:00 PM     https://www.eventcreate.com/e/a-day-of-culture  

    Please check out this event by the Ski Club of Ireland 8-9 October. Please click on picture above for full details.  

Frau Haider and Ulrike Schoeller Since 2019, Austrian company SONNENTOR sponsor the Irish Austrian Society and their German language essay competition. SONNENTOR was founded in 1988 to market and sell herbs and spices from 100 percent organic farming, sourced from farmers locally as well as globally working according to sustainable farming practices. SONNENTOR are based in Lower Austria, at the Waldviertel region in the north of Austria. Based in the small rural village of Sprögnitz, the company are one of the major employers in the region with approx 370 staff. During a recent trip home to Austria, Ulrike and Reinhard (who hails from a village nearby), took the opportunity to visit SONNENTOR at their headquarters in Sprögnitz, where we were welcomed by our lovely SONNENTOR host Frau Petra Haider. To start, we were given a tour of the place and warehouses where we learned about sustainable farming principles, some of the local farmers working with SONNENTOR, production and the history

    In mid July a group of us again gathered in Balbriggan for a Summer BBQ, hosted by Peta Taaffe at her magnificant garden. The weather on the day was wonderful to allow us enjoy this spectacular space in all it's glory. Thank you Peta for hosting us again at your place.

  On 29 June the Austrian Ambassador Dr. Thomas Nader together with his wife Ingrid opened the doors to their residence to host a Garden Party for the Irish Austrian Society. After a 2 year break, this was a happy return and wonderful to see so many friends as well as a couple of new friends and members, who we welcome very much to our Society. Vice President Ulrike Schoeller thanked Thomas and Ingrid on behalf of the Society for their generosity to once again host this garden party. To see the joy on everyone's face, follow along to the photo album here .

During the award ceremony this week , German Teacher Martina O'Reilly from CBS High School in Clonmel looked back at 25 years German Language Essay competition and has kindly shared her impressions with us: Celebrating 25 years of the Essay Competition It is hard to believe or as the Austrians would say "es ist kaum zu glauben" that we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the essay competition. It seems like only yesterday when I encountered Herr Dr. Glaser for the first time - a kind, gracious, smiling man who made everyone feel special - a true gentleman in every sense of the word. The legacy he left behind goes far beyond just winning an essay competition. He wanted young Irish people to be immersed in the German language and was very much an advocate of promoting the language. He firmly believed that "one language sets you in a corridor for life, but two languages open every door along the way". Anyone can travel to a country and passively attempt to