HAVING LEFT school at 12 with poor literacy skills Eileen Sheehan never thought she would one day stand in front of 70 people and read a story she herself penned.
Yet this is what the mother of three from Moyross in Limerick achieved yesterday at an event in the National Library of Ireland to mark International Literacy Day.
“To go from thinking I was just a nobody to standing up in front of all those lovely people was just amazing,” she said yesterday, four years after returning to education through the Moyross Adult Education project.
Aside from learning how to read and write, Ms Sheehan’s return to education also gave her a huge confidence boost. It also led to her writing a story as part of an RTÉ show that aired in May this year called A Story With Me In It.
Ms Sheehan was one of six participants in the show who read at yesterdays event, which was also attended by authors Sheila O’Flanagan, Peter Sheridan and Marita Conlon McKenna, who acted as tutors during the TV programme.
Clare McNally of the National Adult Literacy Agency said the experience of those who had read at yesterdays event inspired and encouraged others to do the same.
“One of the great barriers to returning to education is the stigma that exists around literacy problems. So when people share their stories and others relate to it the stigma is reduced,” she said.