Lá Mór na Gaeilge – February 15th 2014
January 28, 2014
Coláiste beo beathach
January 28, 2014
Junior Spider Internet Awards
January 27, 2014
Closing date for applications to internet awards for school students extended until 7 March 2014
The Eircom Junior Spiders will take place in the RDS in Dublin on 1 May 2014. The internet awards recognise the work of students and teachers in primary and secondary schools across the country.
Among this year’s categories, is a category for Irish language or bilingual websites, ‘Suíomh is Fearr’, sponsored by Foras na Gaeilge. Websites or blogs can be entered in this category and can be based on any content, but must use the Irish language in a creative and innovative way.
The awards are divided as follows: MEGA for primary schools; GIGA for years 1-3 of post-primary schools; and TERA for years 4-6 of post-primary school. Each classification is then subdivided into distinct categories based on content and type.
Last year’s Irish language winners were Coláiste Íosagáin, Dublin, in the TERA category for their site, ‘Níos Aclaí Anois’ and St. Colman’s College, Mayo in the GIGA category for their site, ‘Irish Exam Guide’
The competition will be open for applications from schools and students until 7 March 2014 and a shortlist will be announced on 28 March 2014. The award ceremony will take place on 1 May in Dublin’s RDS where each of the shortlisted candidates will have the opportunity to display their site.
Further information in relation to this competition is available at www.juniorspiders.ie and a poster which can be printed out and displayed in your school is available at the link below: School Poster
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
Stinging European criticism highlights need for Irish Language Act
January 27, 2014
IT’s now time to set a date for the introduction of an Irish Language Act, according to a local Irish language group.
The call comes in a week that the Stormont Executive came in for stinging criticism over how it promotes Irish here and in a week when some of the North’s leading Irish language groups lost key funding (see story above).
A report by the Council of Europe – a human rights organisation with 47 member states – said that more should be done to promote Irish, including in the courts, education, the media and in the Assembly. Every three years the Council uses information provided by various governments to compile a report on the state of minority languages. However, despite repeated requests, the Northern Ireland Executive has been unable to reach a consensus on its submission regarding Irish.
Reacting to the report, Janet Muller, CEO of Pobal, the umbrella organisation for the Irish language community in the north, said the report strongly urged that the Irish Language Act be introduced.
“It is in our opinion time to publish an agreed target date for its introduction and more forward” she added.
Agreement
Culture Minister Carál Ni Chuilín said she is committed to bringing forward legislation for an Irish Language Act.
“An Irish Language Act was agreed as part of the St Andrews Agreement, however this continues to be blocked by the unionists,” she said. “I am continuing to seek all party agreement around the Executive to bring forward the legislation as that is the only way it will be successful. The continuing growth of Irish medium education and the cross-community success of the Líofa initiative has shown that there is a demand for the rights of the Irish language speakers to be recognised and safeguarded in law. I will continue to work for an Acht na Gaeilge.”
West Belfast Sinn Féin MLA and the party’s spokesperson on the Irish language, Rosie McCorley, said the Council for Europe report highlights unionist “intransigence” when it comes to Irish.
“The Council for Europe report is saying what we already know. unionist politicians refuse to accept the rights and needs of the Irish language community,” she said.
Niall Comer, president of Comhaltas Uladh of Chonradh na Gaeilge, said he welcomed the support of the Council of Europe for the use of Irish in the courts and on bilingual street names in the north.
“The lack of political consensus on the Irish language and the persisting hostile climate in the Assembly, as noted in the report of the Council, has long hindered the development of a much-needed Irish Language Act to protect the rights of Irish speakers on this island,” he added.
Andersonstown News
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
‘Irish language policy risks being seen as a sham’
January 27, 2014
Only six of the 16 officers responsible for the use of Irish in Government departments can speak the language themselves, the outgoing Irish language commissioner has said.
Seán Ó Cuirreáin pointed the fact out to TDs and senators who he addressed about his decision last month to resign from the job in February. He said he is stepping aside two years ahead of schedule because he can do no more for the language rights of Irish speakers and Gaeltacht communities. After 10 years in the role, he said Government policy on Irish is in danger of being seen as a sham with inadequate access to public services and departments self-auditing compliance with legal requirements. The job was advertised publicly last week, but Mr Ó Cuirreáin told the Oireachtas sub-committee on the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language the same problems will exist for his successor.
He said the amalgamation of the work of his office later this year into the Ombudsman’s office was never discussed with him before being announced two years ago. Mr Ó Cuirreáin said there is no possibility of success for a new system to increase the number of civil servants fluent in Irish; and the system to develop language plans or language schemes in State bodies is in a sorry state because of ineffective implementation. He said it is more than two years since a review of the Official Languages Act began, but first steps to amend it have not yet been taken by publishing heads of a bill, now due before the summer.
“If the State can not provide assurances, when the legislation is being amended, that it will ensure that it can communicate in Irish with Gaeltacht communities without terms and conditions, and that it will have adequate staff in public administration with proficiency in Irish, then I believe that its policy will be viewed as a sham,” he said. He said the 16 officers nominated by Government departments to implement the act and liaise with his office were all very talented and diligently carry out their responsibilities. But only six out of the 16 officers in question have Irish themselves, he said. Sinn Féin senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh said this was scandalous when there are people in the public service with Irish who would be happy to use it in their day-to-day work but do not get the chance.
Mr Ó Cuirreáin said it was no good if a department returns a call with someone who can speak Irish but has no knowledge of the subject the caller wanted to discuss. Sub-committee vice- chair, Fianna Fáil’s senator Labhrás Ó Murchú, said minister of state Dinny McGinley will be given a chance to respond when he appears before it soon. Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóibín said they should also bring in secretaries general of each department and Education Minister Ruairi Quinn. The commissioner said two cases investigated by his office caused concern about the Department of Education’s attitude. In one, the department had directed a Gaeltacht primary school to appoint a teacher from a panel of teachers up for redeployment who said they did not have enough Irish to teach there. In another case, he said the department refused to provide the option to study subjects through Irish up to Leaving Certificate at a school in the Donegal Gaeltacht. Mr Tóibín said it was disrespectful to the commissioner and to people in the Gaeltacht that there was no Government TD at the hearing. The absent coalition members were committee chair Michael McCarthy and Kevin Humphries (both Labour TDs), and Fine Gael senator Hildegarde Naughton.
www.irishexaminer.com
Aip dhátheangach d’Eamhain Mhacha
January 27, 2014
Oireachtas Sub-Committee deliberates Language Commissioner’s resignation
January 27, 2014
Seán Ó Cuirreáin tells some home truths
A meeting of the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language welcomed An Coimisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin, to discuss the commissioner’s resignation due to take place on 23 February 2014.
Seán Ó Cuirreáin announced his resignation to the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions in December as a result of the Government’s failure to implement language legislation at the level of the State. The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht announced this week that expressions of interest are now being accepted for the role of An Coimisinéir Teanga.
During today’s meeting, Seán Ó Cuirreáin detailed the marginalisation of the Irish language by state authorities. He said that while he believes there are those within the State sector who support the language, “there are stronger and more widespread forces in place who have little or no concern for the future of our national language”.
The absence of all Government representatives at today’s meeting was sharply criticised by TD’s and Senators in attendance.
Regarding the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language, the Commissioner stated that the Government’s attitude towards the Irish-speaking and Gaeltacht communities is “speak Irish among yourselves, but don’t speak it to us”.
The Strategy was published by the Government in 2010 with the aim of increasing the number of people who speak Irish outside of the education system from 83,000 to 250,000 and to increase the number of daily Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht by 25%. Nine distinct areas for proposed initiatives are set out in the Strategy.
The Sub-Committee which met for the third time today were informed by the Commissioner that there is no independent audit or review being conducted on the implementation of the Strategy, a process of “self-assessment” is how he described it.
Deception
Referring to a talk given by Seosamh Mac Donncha, NUI Galway, a t last year’s Tóstal na Gaeilge, the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht was described as a “sub-section located far from the centre of power”, and according to the Commissioner, a organisation which is “operating in those circumstances could not protect or preserve what is left of the Gaeltacht, and we are only fooling ourselves if we think it could”.
While discussing the language planning process, the Commissioner stated that the Gaeltacht Act “placed liability for language planning on Gaeltacht communities who never sought that responsibility. Economic planning would not be left to such local communities nor would they be given responsibility to decide locally on matters concern housing, roads or the environment. But when it comes to the language, well, that’s another story”.
The Department of Education and Skills’ attitude towards the Irish language, and it’s official stance throughout two investigations undertaken by oifig an Choimisinéara Teanga, is clearly a matter of deep concern for the Commissioner, particularly due to the emphasis placed on the education system in the Strategy.
In one case, a Gaeltacht primary school had been directed by the Department to appoint a teacher from a panel of surplus teachers although neither the teachers themselves, nor the school authority in question, believed that any of the available teachers had sufficient Irish to teach in a Gaeltacht school.
In another case, the Department refused to provide the option of studying the subjects of the curriculum through Irish up to Leaving Certificate level to students in one of the strongest Gaeltacht regions remaining in Co. Donegal. The Department put forward legal and practical arguments in both cases. The Commissioner believes that “the root of our problem is that we have never made an adequate connection between the learning of Irish and its subsequent use”.
Parting words
If the Strategy is to succeed, the Commissioner believes that the starting point must always be based on reality, and the truth, rather than on a presumption based on unfounded hope. “Groupthink has no place in matters as important as the survival of a language”, he said.
With the end of Ó Cuirreáin’s reign in sight, the Government’s position on this issue remains more critical than ever.
“I would say to you with certainty here today in the Houses of the Oireachtas, that it is with heavy hearts that the people of the Gaeltacht and the Irish speaking community in general will approach the centenary of the 1916 Rising in two years’ time if our national language is to be merely a symbolic language, and rather than being an integral part of our culture and heritage, that it is pushed aside, marginalised and left in the in the halfpenny place in the life of this nation”.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
Tráth na gCeist Bórd Feachtas i gColáiste na Coiribe, Gaillimh
January 24, 2014
Irish language ‘being driven to margins of society’, commissioner asserts
January 24, 2014
Seán Ó Cuirreáin: “Language rights are permanent rights.”
Irish Language Commissioner Seán Ó Cuirreáin has said the language is being continuously driven to the margins of Irish society in a process accelerated by the inaction of Government, the civil service and the public sector.
Mr Ó Cuirreáin announced late last year that he would be stepping down from his position as Coimisinéir Teanga in February because of Government and public service inaction in preserving and promoting the language.
He used his last appearance yesterday before the Oireachtas sub-committee on the 20-year strategy for the Irish language to roundly condemn of the State and Government’s attitude.
Mr Ó Cuirreáin said he believed there was “no possibility” that a new system to increase the number of civil servants fluent in Irish would succeed.He said he had calculated that the scheme would take some 28 years to increase the number of fluent speakers in a core Government department for Irish to just 3 per cent from its present rate of 1. 5 per cent.
‘No importance’
Nobody knew if it was being implemented, because its progress was measured by self-assessment, and “no importance” could be attached to this, he said.
He gave as an example a claim by the Revenue Commissioners that a third of their press releases were being issued in two languages. But when his office checked, it emerged that they were being issued in only one.
Then, once a year, it was getting four months’ worth of press releases translated in one go.
While acknowledging that some progress had been made in the 10 years since the enactment of the Official Languages Act, Mr O Cuirreáin pointed to the fact that 10 of the 16 Irish language officers nominated to implement the Act across Government departments do not speak Irish themselves.
He said the State had two simple choices – to look back at Irish as our lost language, or forward with it as a core part of our heritage and sovereignty.
“It is with heavy hearts that the people of the Gaeltacht and the Irish-speaking community in general will approach the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising in two years’ time if our national language is to be merely a symbolic language … that is pushed aside, marginalised and left in the halfpenny place in the life of this nation,” he said.
“The support required for the Irish language within this country’s public service should not and could not be viewed as an optional extra,” he said.
“Language rights are permanent rights; they are not concessions or privileges granted at times of prosperity.”
No TD or Senator from either Government party attended the meeting.
Irish Times
Jobs to go as Foras cuts northern funds
January 24, 2014
Two leading West Belfast Irish language organisations have reacted angrily to a new rationalisations plan that will result in them losing key funding.
Foras na Gaeilge, which was set up after the Good Friday Agreement to promote the Irish language has said it will cut the number of Irish language groups to whom it provides core funding across Ireland from 19 to six. However, none of the six organisations that will continue to be funded are based in the north.
The changes will come into effect in July with Pobal, Iontabhas Ultach, Forbairt Feirste and Altram set to lose a significant portion of their budgets.
Pobal, the advocacy organisation for the Irish language, says that as a result of Foras na Gaeilge’s decision, it will lose four out of five full-time posts.
“The result of the ending of Pobal’s core funding will mean a loss of services and support for Irish speakers and a loss of expertise and experience,” said the group’s CEO Janet Muller.
“None of the organisations Foras na Gaeilge has selected for continuing funding do the work Pobal does, and none of them have the crucial expertise around legislation, rights, equality, special-needs and whole range of other areas affecting the development of Irish in the North.
“Not one single organisation selected by Foras na Gaeilge is based in the north. None of them have the long-standing relationship with the same variety of key players that we have. Whilst Foras na Gaeilge says the six organisations will have to employ some people in the north, the reality is that there would be fewer jobs than at present. Many more people will be laid off than will be re-employed”.
“There will be a massive drop in the authoritative directorial roles for norther workers, which means it will be very difficult for them to determine or influence organisational policy, to negotiate with politicians and service providers or to structure a work plan according to the specific needs of the north. All these things will be decided in Dublin.
“In recent months, all 19 core-funded organisations have condemned Foras na Gaeilge’s proposals because they will severely damage the language throughout the country. Pobal believes that the worst effect will be felt in the north. We have always carried out co-ordination research and project work on an all-Ireland basis, but we believe that both parts of the island need expert approaches because in the north the infrastructure is less developed and the social political and legislative position of the language is completely different from that in the south. As well as that, there is a vibrancy to the community in the north, yet Foras na Gaeilge has selected only Dublin-based organisations to survive the axe”.
Forbairt Feirste Director, Jake Mac Siacais told the Andersonstown News that the Irish language community’s infrastructure in the north will be ‘decimated’ by the Foras decision.
“If the bald truth be told, it has been a rationalisation and cuts agenda which Foras has been slavishly following in recent years whilst all the while adding to its own wages bill”, he said. “And it is a cuts agenda which they will be implementing under these arrangements without any regard to the impact and the implications for the Irish speaking community across the island, but mos particularly here in the north where the Irish language community’s infrastructure, skills base, experience, investments and painstaking partnership building will be decimated by the Foras approach”.
“Back in 2003, when the 26 county government initiated this policy of cuts with a savage 11 per cent cut in the Foras budget, the board of Foras na Gaeilge issued a strong statement saying among other theings, that Board members agreed that the status and repurations of Foras an Gaeilge as a cross-border agency had been weakened and the credibility of the Foras as an all-island language body was in doubt”.
“Ten years further on it is difficult to give any credibility to the Foras contention, made without a hint of irony, that this latest move heralds a new era for the Irish language when the status and reputation of the Foras as a cross-border agency is weakened and when there is now, more than ever, doubt about the credibility of Foras na Gaeilge as an all-island language body”.
“Having said that, Forbairt Feirste has long been engaged in pioneering work, creating an approach to using the Irish language as a regeneration catalyst which is unique on the island and we will endeavour to secure this work of driving forward the development of the Gaeltacht Quarter and the continued underpinning of the development of the Irish language community in Belfast.
“It is much too important to be allowed to go the wall and much too important to be left to the mercies of Foras and its new funding arrangement which are lacking in both the experience and imagination necessary for the work in hand”.
Raidió Fáilte and An tÁisaonad, both based on the Falls Road and which also receive funding from Foras na Gaeilge, will continue to be funded under separate arrangements.
Andersonstown News
