A special awards ceremony took place at Ballykisteen Hotel outside Tipperary Town recently to celebrate a group of 15 people who successfully completed the Irish Sign Language (ISL) tutor training course. 

15 students graduated on Friday evening, 29 May 2026, at a proud and joyful occasion from the Tipperary Town Sign for Future project.

This programme was funded by SOLAS through the Adult Literacy for Life Collaboration and Innovation Fund. It builds on earlier work in 2024, when over 60 people took part in ISL training in the community, and was led out by the HSE, Disability Services Gold Star Project, working with people with disabilities to raise disability awareness and working towards a universally accessible community for all. 

That programme showed there was a need for more trained ISL tutors. In response, partners came together again in 2025 to offer this new course, again through a successful funding application.

The course was delivered through strong partnership work. The HSE Disability Service South Tipperary, Tipperary ETB (Education and Training Board), Tipperary Library Service, and Tipperary Town Community Services Centre all played an important role.  Deaf Communications Ltd., delivered a high-quality and supportive course.

We would like to congratulate all the participants. Each person showed strong commitment by attending regularly and working hard throughout the course. This success is a great achievement, and everyone should be very proud.

15 students registered to undertake the course and all 15 students graduated. 

Well done also to Maggie Owens, who spoke so well on the night about her experience of participating. It was especially poignant when she said, “this is my language. ISL is our language”. This comment shows the importance that Irish Sign Language has as the third official language of Ireland.

The awards ceremony was a warm and uplifting event.

A highlight of the evening was a performance by the Hands in Harmony choir. Their singing helped create a celebratory atmosphere for everyone present.

The evening was shared with families and friends who supported participants during the course. This encouragement made a real difference on the night and during the course.

This programme shows what can happen when organisations work together and when people are given the chance to learn and grow. This was highlighted by Stephen Bates of the Irish Deaf Society, who spoke on the night. 

We look forward to the next step on the journey with Tipperary FET College: QQI Level 6 in Training Delivery and Evaluation.

Well done to everyone who took part and helped make this event such a success.