Thomas Mayor’s book, Finding Our Heart, is a June 2020 children’s story based on the 2017 Uluru Statement that called for a First Nations voice to the Australian Parliament and a commission to take part in ‘agreement making’ and to support ‘truth telling’ about the past. The Statement from the Heart won this year’s Australian international peace prize, the Sydney Peace Prize, from 200 nominations.
The Sydney Irish community gathered in support of Mayor’s two publications on the topic – a version for children and a version for adults – with a special launch at the Gaelic Club on May 27. Thomas Mayor, a Torres Strait Islander man born on Larrakia country, Darwin, was the special guest on the night. The book’s illustrator Archibald Prizewinner Blak Douglas has an Indigenous father and an Irish-Australian mother.
Tomás de Bhaldraithe, a native Irish speaker living in Sydney, and Maelíosa Stafford, internationally known Irish actor/director did an Irish language reading of Finding our Heart on the night in response to Mayor’s reading. De Bhaldraithe provided the Irish language translation under the title Ag Aimsiú ár gCroí.
Here are the publishing details for the children’s version and the adult version:
https://www.booktopia.com.au/finding-our-heart-thomas-mayor/book/9781741177176.html
https://www.booktopia.com.au/finding-the-heart-of-the-nation-thomas-mayor/book/9781741176728.html
Tinteán 
Gday, and thank you for publishing our story. Just a quick fact tweak – in the last paragraph, it was Thomas Mayor who read in English/as Bearla. Maelíosa Stafford and Tomás de Bhaldraithe shared the reading in Gaelic, as Gaeilg/e. It was lovely to watch them all reading together.
Here’s the link to review draft1 of the video and to suggest ideas, comment, etc: https://vimeo.com/user1281375/review/560186453/38339d0256.
Thank you. Go raibh maith agat
Shirley Lewis Always was always will be….