Professor Enlli Thomas FLSW, one of our Fellows, will represent the LSW at the ‘Agile Cymru’ session of the annual Ireland-Wales Joint Ministerial Forum in Bangor on 20 October.

Irish and Welsh ministers will meet stakeholders who are working together on the Agile Cymru programme and Irish Sea Framework. Agile Cymru ‘aims to deliver cross-border and international economic co-operation across shared interests’, while the Framework is ‘an informal framework to increase economic co-operation across the Irish Sea region’. The intention is for ministers to gain a sense of the cooperation between Welsh and Irish partners, its real-world impact and its relevance to policy priorities.

Professor Thomas will be presenting the ‘language’ element of Agile Cymru together with Aran Jones, CEO of the Welsh-language learning course Say Something in Welsh.

The Learned Society of Wales’ involvement with Agile Cymru is already well established. We are currently organising the Agile Cymru Grant Scheme. This will offer up to £12,500 to a joint Welsh-Irish research project that explores issues relating to language, culture and heritage with a particular focus on indigenous, minority and lesser-used languages. The successful applicant for that grant will be announced shortly.

“We are delighted to be so closely involved in efforts to deepen the relationship at all levels between Wales and Ireland,” said Professor Helen Fulton, the LSW’s Vice-President.

“The involvement of our Fellows and the ability we have to promote and run the Agile Cymru Grant Scheme, as well as our membership of the Celtic Academies Alliance all show how embedded we are in these vital relationships.”