TY students drum to a different beat

Transition Year can be a very busy time, and on one recent day the TY students in Cross & Passion College switched between sessions of West African drumming to a talk from a diplomat on the workings of the EU in relation to small countries.



The drumming experience took place in Kilcullen Parish Centre (maybe because they were afraid of distracting the hard-working students in other years?). It was under the direction of Tom Quinn from Tribal Spirit Drumming, an organisation which offers an experience of community music, using drums, chant, and simple ritual as tools for 'healing, personal growth, and empowerment'.

"We had to deal with four sets of 25 students in the day here," Tom said. "So we spent the first half of each session introducing them to the basics of the drums, and the second half getting rhythms going with them."



All that sounds rather rushed, but in fact the natural musical interest of young people seemed to take to the whole business very quickly, and pretty soon there was not just straight skin-bashing, but complex interweaving rhythms floating from the room.



In fact, the sound was so good that a herd of cattle in Nolan's Field at the back of the centre soon gathered at the fence, all gazing intently in the windows.

"There's huge advantages in drumming. It teaches the young people things like spatial awareness, and communication skills that they mightn't know they have. It also brings all sorts of diverse people and cultures together, breaking down the barriers of their differences"

The chanting is also quite interesting, with specific chants from all over the world being used. The organisation holds weekly classes and day workshops in Limerick, Ennis, Galway, Dublin and Wicklow.



The EU talk was given by Kanta Sh Adhin, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, pictured (third from left) with Glenda Carey, Daniel Cady, Rebecca Browne, CPC Principal Paul Tyrrell, and deputy Principal Noel Clare.

"Sometimes the EU and its institutions can seem very abstract, so I try to get it across as a giant, but a friendly giant there to assist its members coping with problems that they cannot solve by themselves," she said. "I come from a country very like Ireland, with an open economy depending on exports, and we know the need for countries to work together."

Brian Byrne.

(This article originally appeared on the Kilcullen page in the Kildare Nationalist.)