A Sign Café is up and running in Tipperary, a resource that organisers and participants hope will be of significant value in the promotion of Irish Sign Language (ISL).

Designed to support the deaf community (for whom sign language is a primary medium) and those learning ISL, the Café is headed up by the HSE Tipperary Gold Star Disability Awareness in the Community Programme. Funded by the Adult Literacy for Life (ALL) scheme, it is administered by SOLAS in partnership with Tipperary Library Services. 

The aim of the project is to develop Tipperary as a Deaf Friendly Town.  ISL is a visual gestural language used by deaf people in Ireland, along with many hearing signers too. It was officially recognised by the Irish government in 2017.

Tipperary Shopping Centre was the venue recently for the initial Saturday morning Sign Café. The top floor of the Carvery Restaurant was taken over to facilitate people who are deaf to meet and sign with a group of enthusiastic students who have been attending ISL classes in Tipperary since September 2024.  The students are learning basic ISL to help grow the language and to be able to communicate with people who are deaf in Tipperary Town and surrounding area. 

Currently, some 60 people are learning ISL each week at classes held at Tipperary Library and at Spafield Family Resource Centre in Cashel.

Speaking at the Sign Café, Anne Bradshaw, HSE Disability Services Officer, Tipperary, said it was “wonderful that the ISL class students came along to enjoy coffee and cakes at the Carvery Restaurant and were helped and encouraged by deaf people, who are delighted to see the community coming together to learn their language. Deaf people can often be excluded from general participation in community events and this project is bringing about changes and raising deaf awareness.

“Thanks to Manager Darren Connor at the Carvery Restaurant, who kindly sponsored the tea and coffee for the event and allowed us to take over the upstairs of his restaurant on a busy Saturday morning. Thanks too to all the businesses and shops in Tipperary Town who are supporting the project. Many shops and service providers in the town are committed to sending at least one staff member to attend the ISL classes, to ensure their business can be inclusive and welcoming for all.” 

Anne added her “thanks to everyone who participated in this project and inaugural gathering. There has been amazing communication between everyone, young and old, and everyone is looking forward to the next Sign Café, which is one of many more planned to come.”

The next event takes place on Saturday 18^th January, from 11am to 1pm in the Carvery Restaurant, Tipperary Shopping Centre.