Actor Cillian Murphy and Professor Pat Dolan.Photo: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times, courtesy of the Irish American Partnership
Actor Cillian Murphy and NUI professor Pat Dolan released Ionbhá: A book of sympathy for IrelandThe book features essays by 89 contributors, including Irish President Michael D. Higgins, singer Hozier, U2’s The Edge and singer-songwriter Imelda May.
Published by Mercer Press and funded by the Irish American Partnership.His book will be available to all secondary schools in Ireland. The aim of this book is to reduce bullying, racial profiling and violence and increase young people’s sense of belonging in school.
In the words of Cillian Murphy, empathy “can embrace difference and bring connection to a disconnected world.”
The book’s concept comes from Activating Social Empathy, an interactive, student-centered social-emotional learning program developed by Dr. Ciara Boylan and Professor Dolan in 2017 as a post-primary resource tool. started.
“We are on the brink of developing empathy as a core part of our education system that will benefit not only young people but civil society as a whole,” said Professor Dolan, Director of the UNESCO National Center for Research on Children and Families.University of Ireland Galway
The Irish American Partnership supports this important and innovative program. As schoolteacher Hugh Fitzmaurice writes in an essay, the organization believes that “empathy education is not an afterthought. It is the heartbeat of our hearts and must be a priority for young people in the future. I believe there needs to be.
Ionbhá: A book of sympathy for Ireland Available on Amazon.