06.05.2022
Pictured at the festival launch in Kilmallock Library were, Patrick Fitzgerald, LCM, Margaret Murphy, National Learning Network, Mayor of Limerick City and County Council, Cllr. Daniel Butler, Eimear Brophy, Limerick and Clare Education Training Board and Michael MacCurtain, Limerick Chamber. Picture: Alan Place
Limerick’s Lifelong Learning Festival returns for a 12th year this May with a comprehensive choice of events on offer for anyone interested in acquiring a new skill, learning a new talent, or just expanding their knowledge.
Taking place from Monday 23 to Sunday 29 May, this year’s festival theme is “Learn Something New in 2022” and has over 130 free events and activities taking place throughout the week both online and in-person.
The 2022 festival will feature an array of interesting and diverse topics ranging from Art to Open Forge Blacksmithing, IT Skills, Language Taster Sessions, Entrepreneurship, Transition to Higher Education and much more. Across the week the public can enjoy Open Days, Guided Tours, Job-Seeking Skills workshops, Diversity and Inclusion discussions, Family Learning activities and Exhibitions.
At this year’s festival launch event held in Kilmallock Library, County Limerick, children from first class in Scoil Mocheallóg, Kilmallock attended a workshop hosted by Enterprise and Community Engagement staff at Mary Immaculate College.
This involved an interactive activity for the children based on the book Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw and explored scientific concepts to create simple engineering solutions to design challenges.
Speaking at the launch, Mayor of the City and County of Limerick, Cllr Daniel Butler said: “I’ve no doubt that the list of events taking place over the course of the festival will be of interest to people in communities the length and breadth of Limerick city and county, and of course further afield. We are particularly delighted to welcome the return of in-person events to the festival this year, following the last two years of the festival being a fully virtual one.”
“I’m confident that the engagement from our local communities and from members of the wider public, both from Limerick and beyond, will be as high as previous years. This is a mark of the commitment to promoting lifelong learning in all its forms and the interest in lifelong learning across all groups in our society.”
This year’s flagship event is a celebration of the Irish Network of UNESCO Learning Cities and will take place at University of Limerick City Centre Campus, Sarsfield Street, on Thursday 26 May. Featuring guest speakers from the Irish Network of Learning Cities, cultural performances, and a tour of the Fab Lab, this promises to be an excellent opportunity for Learning Limerick to network with colleagues and visiting speakers, and to showcase Limerick’s commitment towards Lifelong Learning.
Eimear Brophy, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board and Chair of the Learning Limerick Steering Group said: “The festival also celebrates Limerick as a UNESCO Learning City-Region. The Learning Limerick Steering Group is a proud member and award winner of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC). Learning Limerick is also an active member of the Irish Network of Learning Cities (INLC). We enjoy a close collaboration with the Irish Network and support each other’s festivals and key learning events. We look forward to welcoming our Learning City partners to Limerick.”
A complete list of this year’s festival events is now available on Limerick.ie/lovelearning
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