Welcome to The Future of Europe Podcast. Europe is at a crossroads and there are many predictions as to what direction it will take and in this podcast, we will look at key issues that will affect the European sphere in the next decade. Our podcast covers the big topics that will affect the future of the nations that inhabit the European continent. We will also bring an uniquely Irish perspective, and address how the smaller European states are going to progress by using Ireland as benchmark. Our guests will be from many different walks of life and backgrounds, each bringing their perspective on how the Europe of today will become the Europe of tomorrow. 

This series is presented in cooperation with the The Communicating Europe Initiative. The CEI was established in 1995 to raise awareness about the European Union and to improve the quality and accessibility of public information on European issues. You can find out more about the CEI by visiting our website at TheEuropeanNetwork.eu or logging on to the dfa.ie 

In this episode, we will be discussing the future of language in Europe and Ireland with guests, Dr Francesca La Morgia and Síne Nic an Ailí.  Dr Francesca is the founder and director of Mother Tongues which is an organisation that focuses on learning, research and policy development across education and the arts. Francesca has an MPhil in Applied Linguistics from Trinity College Dublin and a PhD in bilingual language acquisition from DCU and has lectured in language development from 2010 to 2021 across various universities, including the  University of Reading, Trinity College, Ulster University and Maynooth University.  Síne Nic an Ailí is a former Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant and a passionate Irish speaker. She has over 14 years' experience in grassroots advocacy, cultural diplomacy, facilitation, community outreach, education, and communications. As director of Cultúr Club, she developed Irish-language and culture resources to strengthen a sense of Irish identity among children of the diaspora. She currently sits on the board of Mother Tongues and has helped the social enterprise to formulate a long-term strategic vision for multilingualism in Ireland.  

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