Positive promotion of the Irish language must be central to Programme for Government 2011-2016
March 3, 2011
Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge extends its congratulations to all who were elected as Teachtaí Dála for the period 2011-2016. Now that the results of the election have been announced in almost all constituencies, a new Government will soon be established, and the Programme for Government will be confirmed. An Chomhdháil will work to ensure that Irish language issues are addressed within the Programme for Government.
The pre-election campaign undertaken by Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge centred around four distinct principles: The importance of the Irish language as part of our national identity; Protecting and strengthening the status of the Irish language; Promotion of Irish as a living language both inside and outside of An Ghaeltacht; and the right of each citizen to use Irish in every aspect of their life.
Prior to the election, An Chomhdháil submitted a list of demands to all political parties, and all independent candidates throughout the country, and An Chomhdháil intends to work diligently over the coming weeks to ensure this list of 10 demands is taken into account when the Programme for Government 2011-2016 is being prepared.
Pádraig Mac Criostail, Director of Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge said: “An Chomhdháil demands that the Irish language policy effected by the next Government have a factual basis and utilise the measures of best practice from the field of language planning. We will contact each member of the new Government to ensure that each of our 10 priorities for the Programme for Government 2011-2016 are fully implemented”.
Bring Irish back to its roots
March 3, 2011
I would like to make a cupla focal, or couple of comments, regarding your editorial, The future of Irish – A daunting challenge.
It is not often that your illustrious newspaper gives recognition to the existence of the Irish language, and its speakers, which in a way is sad, considering that communities of native Irish speakers still live on your doorstep in Cork and have been living there for hundreds, if not thousands of years, and their ancestors have left an indelible linguistic mark on the surrounding landscapes.
Yes, as you rightly point out, strengthening the use of Irish in the modern world is a daunting task. No more daunting, might I suggest and possibly less so, than restoring Ireland’s economy and finances to a sound footing; I don’t think you will write an editorial recommending that we throw in the towel because restoring the economy is a daunting task and will require difficult mandatory measures.
What has been missing in the debate about Irish, including your editorial, is the current state of the Irish language itself. Because of Irish State indifference, and possibly administrative contempt for the Irish language, a serious divergence is taking place between historic Gaelic and so called modern Irish which is undermining Irish Gaelic, and, in my opinion, is bringing the language into disrepute, especially in the eyes of its English speaking learners. This is mainly due to the huge influx of English derived words into Irish Gaelic and which is morphing Irish into something approaching a dialect of English. Examples abound.
For instance “usaid” use, “canbhas” canvas and of course the ubiquitous “sasta” satisfied. There are authentic Gaelic equivalents for nearly all of the English derived words in official State sponsored Irish. I believe that students of Irish in the schools recognise that something quite not right is being taught and they are turned off. If money will be spent cleaning up the language and bringing it closer to its Gaelic roots, then the “product” will be more acceptable to Irish language learners. Finally, despite your pessimistic prognosis for Irish, other languages have faced daunting existential prospects, possibly more so than Irish, for example Russian, Armenian and Hebrew, and successfully overcome the daunting challenge.
Micheal Ó Cathail
Sandycove
Co Dublin
Don’t force students to study Irish
March 3, 2011
FORCING students to “study” Irish up to Leaving Cert level is unfair and does little to revive the language in so far as the majority of the students are involved.
In the majority of mainstream primary and second-level schools the standard of written and spoken Irish has declined. I know this from my own experience in education for the past 40 years and from my experience in dealing with children and young people outside the school environment. The all-Irish schools and the gaeltacht schools are doing well principally because the parents and families are engaged with Irish and support their children in learning the language. They deserve to get every support possible and they do a great job.
However, in the other schools the interest may be there but the engagement of parents and the general population certainly is not . Could we not have an honest debate about how we might best hope to revive the language The pious aspirations of politicians will not bring about change and it is unfair to impose a subject on young people who do not choose it and have little interest in it and see little active support from adults, including the politicians. The Leader’s Debate does not reflect the situation in the Dáil and Senate. We need to respect our students and let them decide in the present unsatisfactory situation. By the way, I love and I am fluent in the language. I have written poetry and prose in Irish which has received some acclaim, I even promote the language where I get the opportunity, but I will not impose it on others.
Can we not have a national debate on where Irish is at, where we want it to go and draw up a realistic plan on how we can get there. There are many of us who would involve ourselves in this debate as we would dearly love to work with others in improving the situation.
David J Fitzgerald
Dun Laoghaire
Co Dublin
