Italian-Irish Exchange:
On Friday October 2nd St. Aidan’s welcomed eight students on their first ever exchange to Ireland. They travelled from Collegio Vescovile Barbarigo located in the town of Padua near Venice which would be better known to us as the birthplace and burial site of the famous St. Anthony. They were accompanied by their school Principal Fr. Giancarlo Battistuzzi and Sr. Angela Gheda who is their English teacher. The exchange is organised by Fr. Kevin Donohoe St. Aidan’s chaplain who visited the school in Padua some years ago and kept contact which has now resulted in what is hoped to be an annual exchange. He is assisted by Angela Flanagan and together they have planned an extensive programme for the week which will incorporate educational, cultural, social and sporting activities which will give our Italian visitors a holistic flavour of Ireland.
In the course of communication with the school prior to the visit it emerged that the school had a link with Cootehill which they were unaware of. Bellamont house and estate in Cootehill is a Palladio style building and one of the finest of its kind in Ireland. Palladio the architect was born directly across the road from the school of our visitors and this year the area celebrated the 500 anniversary of his birth. On Saturday October 3rd the entire group visited Bellamont and were given a very comprehensive tour of the house by its owner Mr. John Coote and treated to refreshments afterwards.
On Sunday both the Italian and the Irish students actively participated in the Sunday Mass at St. Michael’s church reading prayers and scripture readings.
On Monday morning the Italian Students who are Marco Bonoro, Allesandro Magno, Benedetta Malacarne, Pietro Piloto, Enrico Saiani, Giacomo Sartori, Gabriele Virgis and Elena Zaffin gave a PowerPoint presentation to the entire senior year group on their School and education system as well as their local area and places of interest in Italy. The presentation was given in English as all the visiting students have a three year proficiency in the language.
This was followed by a similar presentation by St. Aidan’s host students who spoke about their school, the Northern troubles, famous Irish citizens, writers, sports personalities and business people as well as the history of Irish dance and culture and of course the history of its patron Saint.
The host students are Laura Rogers, Cormac Roche, Stephen Donnery, Elaine Clerkin, Conor Moynagh, Liam Keane, Blaithin Hughes, Matthew Pepper, Taylor McCann.
Later on in the week the students made a cultural visit to Dublin where their visit included Trinity College and the book of Kells, The National Art Gallery, Dail Eireann and Senate Eireann kindly organised by Senator Joe O’Reilly a past pupil of St. Aidan’s. The group also visited The City of Armagh and receive a comprehensive guided tour of Belfast visiting areas on both sides of the divide during the troubles. In the afternoon they visited the impressive Stormont building, home of the Northern Ireland Parliament.
On Friday October 9th they returned home and we hope this will be the first of many trips to our country.
Our Italian visitors had a very pleasant week visiting our school and experiencing the Irish education system as well as the cultural aspects of our county and country both north and south through their visits to Dublin and Belfast.
It is envisaged that this inaugural exchange will now become an annual event and further bond our schools and give a better understanding to our students of the commonalities we share as European Citizens.
Below are some photos from the visit
