What is Pinoy Craic?
Your Home
This is where the pearl meets the emerald, where the Philippines and Ireland open up to each other in an international context, where you hit two birds in one stone as a “Global Filipino-Irish”.
Your Hub
PinoyCraic is an information centre that links the Philippines and Ireland through news and events. This website will give you the latest news, migrant-related information, community events and the much needed assistance to bi-cultural integration.
Where Pearls and Emeralds Combine into an Inspiring Synergy
The Philippines is known as the “Pearl of the Orient Seas” while the Republic of Ireland is called the “Emerald Isle.”
Synergy is the cooperation of two or more things that, when working together, creates a combined power that is greater than the total product achieved by each functioning separately. It is when two different people bring all their personal experience and expertise together to produce far better results that they could individually. It is when we learn and gain jointly with others new insights we are much less likely to discover by ourselves. This creative learning process is what is all about. It opens up Filipinos and the Irish to each other’s influence within a global environment.
Pinoy Craic is an online information centre that seeks to engage overseas Filipinos to their Philippine roots and the Irish cultural heritage, giving form to their identity as “Global Filipino-Irish” and at the same time promoting the Philippines & the Republic of Ireland. It enlightens on what is truly Pinoy and genuinely Paddy in an international context. It is also the Filipino-Irish Voice on matters affecting Filipino migrants in the Philippines and Ireland by arming them with inspiring tools in order to cope with changes taking place globally and in their host and home countries, which directly impact their sociocultural and economic lives.
It empowers the Filipino community in Ireland by campaigning for migrant rights and celebrating the unique and indispensable Filipino work ethic and skills which are a crucial contributor to the labour workforce in Ireland and the rest of the world.
Through Filipino and Irish music and relevant migrant-related web content, PinoyCraic provides overseas Filipinos and other interested online users continuous updates on community and international events, latest immigration information, and the much-needed assistance on cultural integration.
So Why “PinoyCraic”?
“Pinoy” is an informal term referring to the Filipino people in the Philippines and their culture as well as to overseas Filipinos. The word is formed by taking the last four letters of Filipino and adding the diminutive suffix -y in the Tagalog language (the suffix is commonly used in Filipino nicknames: e.g. “Ninoy” or “Noynoy” for Benigno Jr. and III respectively], “Totoy” for Augusto, etc.)
“Craic” or “crack” is an Irish term for news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent in Ireland. It is often used with the definite article – the craic – as in the expression “What’s the craic?” (meaning “How are you?” or “What’s happening?”)
Vanda Brady
Vanda, the developer of PinoyCraic, is originally from the Philippines. She moved to the UK in 2005 to work as a Business Development Manager of a fitness franchise in Surrey then as a Training Coordinator of Lewisham College in East London for 7 years where she met her husband Shane. They relocated to his hometown in Mullahoran, Co. Cavan to build their own Filipino-themed house in his parent’s farm. With over 25 years experience in marketing and communications and graduate of top universities in the Philippines, Vanda is the 2021 Philippine Presidential Banaag Award Recipient, Radio Host of “My Journey Home” on Shannonside Northernsound FM, Manager of Cavan Volunteer Centre, and Cultural Champion of Cavan County Local Development.