KERRY DEAF RESOURCE CENTRE UPDATE 8.11.10

www.kerrydeaf.com

HANDS ON IS BACK
The Deaf magazine television programme, Hands On, will return to your
screens on Sunday 14th November, 12.05pm on RTE1 for 10 programmes. This is
the 15th series of Hands On and once again it promises to be entertaining,
enthralling, explorative and educative.

In Week 1 viewers will meet three brave volunteers, nominated by Deaf family
and friends to take on the ISL challenge. Can they transform themselves from
novices to proficient ISL users in the space of 14 weeks?! Their progress
will be shown throughout the series.

There is a new feature: Hands On: Rewind. In this section the programme will
return to some of Hands On’s most popular and controversial items over the
years, such as government promises about Irish Sign Language recognition,
the difficulties for Deaf people trying to contact the emergency services
and the landmark case taken by Joan Clarke, challenging the decision to
exclude her from Jury Service on the grounds of her Deafness.

Don’t miss it!

SIGN LANGUAGE MASS IN CORK THIS WEEK
There will be mass in ISL at the Cork Deaf Association, 5 MacCurtain Street,
on Tuesday 9th November at 8pm. Tea/coffee will be provided after the mass.

ARE YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE?
City and county councils now allow you to check if you’re registered to vote
through the online eReg service: www. checktheregister.ie. You can check if
your name is on the register and that your details are correct from November
1st to 25th. If there is any incorrect or missing information contact your
city or county council immediately using the RFA1 form which you can
download from the website.
FIRST ADDRESS IN SIGN LANGUAGE IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Deaf European Parliament member, Adam Kosa (Hungary), made his first address
to the European Parliament in July 2009. This was the first time that Sign
Language was used to address the Parliament by a member

The text of his address is as follows:
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I feel deeply moved as I stand here in
the European Parliament as the first Deaf person able to address you in my
mother tongue, Hungarian Sign Language.
I do so not only for myself and the Deaf community, but also for every
disadvantaged person. I am now beginning to feel that I belong to a European
community where even minorities can achieve success. Just take Robert
Schuman as an example, who was from Alsace-Lorraine and went on to become
the founding father of the EU 50 years ago.
Around the end of the EU’s outgoing Czech Presidency, a turn of events
unfortunately took place which I would also like to bring to the attention
of the EU’s incoming Swedish Presidency. Two weeks ago the Slovak Parliament
adopted a regulation which will seriously restrict the rights of the
minorities living in that country to use their own language. As a user of
sign language, I feel it is my duty to stand up for the rights of people in
Europe to use their own language and for the importance of this. This is the
reason why I am going to be working here in the European Parliament.
However, I want to give a message to every European citizen. I want a Europe
where everyone is guaranteed the right to live their life to the full and
fulfil their potential. I want a Europe where deaf people represented by me
or any person living with a disability, for that matter, really do enjoy
equal opportunities. I would like to say a particular word of thanks to
Joseph Daul, Chairman of the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian
Democrats), for giving me the opportunity to address you on this special
day. This also proves that Europe really is about diversity, tolerance and
equal opportunities.