User:Belfastshane/Shane Gilchrist

Shane Gilchrist is a sign linguist, writer and deaf activist in Ireland and the Netherlands's deaf community.

Shane Kieran Gilchrist was born Peter Shane Gilchrist in 1977, into a Catholic farming family in Co. Down, 45 minutes south-east of Belfast.

Languages
While young, he learned Irish Sign Language from his father's cousin who used it with her deaf son. When educated at St John's School for Deaf Children at Boston Spa in England, he learned Belgian Sign Language and British Sign Language. When back to Belfast for his further education, he learned Northern Ireland Sign Language which has become his first language for over 15 years now. In the Netherlands, he uses Dutch Sign Language.

Education
He was educated in Holy Family Primary School in Teconnaught, Co. Down, then St Francis de Salles School for Deaf Children in West Belfast. It was decided that he was to board at St John's School for Deaf Children at Boston Spa. Later on, when fed up with oral education where he wasn't allowed to sign in classrooms, he decided to go to Doncaster College for the Deaf with his best mate. There he realised that he can see why his parents were not keen on deaf schools that uses sign language. In the 1980s, educational institutions that uses sign language often employed hearing teachers who cannot sign at all. However he was fortunate to have two excellent deaf teachers in Tony Boyce and Steve Gibson at Doncaster who were real inspirations for him.

After he left Doncaster, he came back to Belfast.

Politics
During his years at University College London, he was involved in Liberal Democrats, Young European Federalists and European Liberal Youth. He had to leave Liberal Democrats because he was disillusioned with the Lib Dems' lack of real action for student rights. Upon his second return to Belfast, he got involved with the SDLP, the party that his family used to vote for however while the SDLP, despite its suggestion that it is a Social Democrat party, it has become more conservative during his time there. Again, he changed parties to the Green Party of Northern Ireland. There he was active, promoting minority language rights and deaf rights. He was selected by the Green Party to run for the electoral area of Castle in Belfast City Council.

He is now active in GroenLinks, a left-Green political party in the Netherlands.

Sign Language Rights / Research
With Richard McFadden, a native of Derry City, he founded Sign Language Centre Belfast and Foyle Sign Language Centre. He is active in Northern Ireland Sign Language Research Group, a research initiative.