{"id":196094,"date":"2025-12-17T07:35:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T07:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/196094\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T07:35:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T07:35:08","slug":"im-saying-thanks-to-the-bus-driver-not-something-i-hear-in-london-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/196094\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019m saying thanks to the bus driver … not something I hear in London\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is part of Letters home for Christmas<\/a>, an Irish Times series exploring views about Ireland among young emigrants<\/a> as the year draws to a close<\/p>\n

Despite living in east London<\/a>, home is never entirely out of reach for Tipperary native Emily Bourke. The 26-year-old is speaking a day before she is due to teach a beginners\u2019 Irish class at a London<\/a> pub, part of her efforts to promote the Irish language<\/a> and build a sense of community in the city.<\/p>\n

For decades, London has attracted Irish nurses, teachers and unskilled labourers. These days, creatives like Bourke are among those making the journey across the Irish Sea. She moved in 2023 after finishing a textile and surface design course in National College of Art and Design (NCAD), Dublin. It was the \u201cnatural next step\u201d for a career in her industry, she says, with most of her class making the same journey to the city, \u201cbar one or two\u201d.<\/p>\n

These days, she is working as an assistant for a fashion brand and models for life-drawing classes. Her biggest passion, however, is Cro\u00ed na Gaeilge<\/a>, a grassroots collective for the Irish language which she founded shortly after arriving in the city. <\/p>\n

She hosts meet-ups, pub quizzes, speed-dating evenings and \u2018Pints and Caint\u2019 evenings \u2013 casual gatherings where Irish speakers and learners can converse over a pint. Through this, Bourke has built a network that brings a piece of home to a city that can feel isolating for young Irish migrants.<\/p>\n

London can \u201cswallow you up\u201d, notes Bourke, with the Christmas<\/a> season feeling \u201cway busier\u201d than in Ireland. \u201cNever mind the crowds that will be on Grafton Street coming up doing the Christmas shopping, London is so busy. There\u2019s a lot of madness in central London.\u201d <\/p>\n

London \u201cwouldn\u2019t have the same familiarity or cosiness that you get at home\u201d, Bourke says. She misses the feeling of going into a pub and seeing someone you know around Christmas time. <\/p>\n

She finds herself searching for this sense of connection in small gestures. \u201cI\u2019m trying to say thanks to the bus driver,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s not something I hear [in London], or even saying hello to the bus driver. It\u2019s just so fast-paced, it can become kind of isolating in a big city.\u201d <\/p>\n

It was during the initial period of adjustment that she came up with the idea for Cro\u00ed na Gaeilge. The experience took her back to times when she struggled with mental health as a teenager, when going to the Gaeltacht during the summer would help her feel better. <\/p>\n

Feeling she should connect with the Irish language again, Bourke began putting up posters around her area advertising a meet-up for Gaelgeoirs and created an Instagram<\/a> to further its reach. She held her first Irish language meet-up in March, 2023, and since then, has regularly been hosting events for the Irish community. She emphasises that all levels of Irish are welcome. <\/p>\n

\"ItIt was during the initial period of adjustment that Bourke came up with the idea for Cro\u00ed na Gaeilge <\/p>\n

The response from Irish emigrants has kept her going through turbulent times, and has allowed her to see the project as \u201csomething far beyond myself\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Huge demand\u2019 for Irish language classes as adult learners return to school decades onOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

She keeps a close eye on developments in the Irish language at home, saying she would have liked to attend September\u2019s Ag\u00f3id N\u00e1isi\u00fanta na nGael<\/a>, which saw thousands protest in Dublin for greater funding and equality for the Irish language and Gaeltacht. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt made me really proud of being Irish and being really proud that so many people care\u201d, she says. <\/p>\n

\"EmilyEmily Bourke (second from right) at a Cro\u00ed na Gaeilge event in London. Photograph: Trix Eden Breuls <\/p>\n

Bourke feels hopeful about Ireland\u2019s future, but is careful to not look at the country \u201cthrough rose-tinted glasses\u201d from afar. As a Gaeilgeoir, she says the election of President Catherine Connolly<\/a>, who focused much of her campaign on the promotion of the Irish language, felt like \u201ca really great step in the right direction\u201d . <\/p>\n

But Bourke says Ireland is \u201ca very tough place for young people right now\u201d. <\/p>\n

She is particularly concerned about the lack of housing in Gaeltacht areas. \u201cSo many houses there now are Airbnbs or holiday homes, it\u2019s kind of pushing people that want to raise families through Irish out of the Gaeltacht.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hopes to move home one day and senses \u201ca really amazing energy coming from young people that are in Ireland right now\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen so many amazing grassroots initiatives and creative projects and new spaces that are being created for young people \u2013 things like Dublin Independent Fashion Week<\/a>, giving platforms to upcoming emerging designers and talent.\u201d <\/p>\n

For now, she is enjoying the London life, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s a really amazing city that has a lot to offer.\u201d <\/p>\n

Bourke will escape the hustle and bustle of city life for her town of Borrisoleigh, Tipperary, this Christmas, where she will spend a week at home with family. <\/p>\n