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Government ‘worst since foundation of State’ for supporting Irish

December 16, 2013

The Coalition may have been successful in exiting the economic bailout but it is the worst Government at promoting the Irish language since the foundation of the State, protestors have claimed.

Members of Conradh na Gaeilge and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) held a vocal and colourful demonstration outside Leinster House today demanding that the Government act on its legal obligations to give Irish language speakers equality in their right to engage with the State through Irish. Some demonstrators wore Santa outfits, all wore Santa hats, with red T-shirts bearing the legend: “Níl uaim ach mo teanga féin a labhairt” (All I want is to speak my own language). Red tape across their mouths represented the failure of the State to allow them to speak their own language. During the protest they shouted slogans including “Enda Kenny, end of Gaeilge” and “Cearta teanga, cearta daonna” (language rights, human rights).

Posters included “Act now on Irish language” and “Fine GAEL??? Tribe of the IRISH???” Feidhlim Seoige, USI vice president for the Irish language, said the resignation of the Irish language commissioner showed how unsupportive the Government had been. Previous governments had been “half successful” in their attempts at resurrecting the language. But “this is the worst Government towards promotion of the Irish language since the beginning of the State”. The campaigners said they had only two requests for Christmas – language rights and the language commissioner. They want the Government to meet Irish language commissioner Seán Ó Cuirreáin before he leaves office in February, after the surprise announcement of his resignation last week over the State’s failure to act on its legal obligations to the first national language. Conradh na Gaeilge general secretary Julian de Spáinn highlighted the commissioner’s warning about the Government’s plans for a maximum of 6 per cent of new public service recruits to have Irish.

It would take 28 years to increase the 1.5 per cent of people in the Department of Education who provide a service in Irish to 3 per cent and 3 per cent “would still be woefully inadequate”.
And he praised the Garda Síochána as a role model for all Government departments to follow for Irish language development. Mr de Spáinn said the Garda Commissioner met the Irish language commissioner to work out how they would recruit additional people with Irish “to come to a point where 100 per cent of gardaí in Gaeltacht areas will have Irish in a number of years”. Niamh Ní Chróinín, a Trinity College Irish student said Irish has not been treated as fairly as English even though both are our national languages. Ms Ní Chroinin is also president of the 1,200-member Trinity Irish language society, one of the largest student societies in the college. “The language commissioner is the person you go to if you have a complaint about the Irish language and without him we’ve nowhere else to go,” she said.

www.irishtimes.com

Gaelcholáiste to offer more first-year places

December 16, 2013

A Cork city centre gaelcholáiste is offering more first-year places next autumn, which could ease difficulties for some families disappointed by a one-third cut in intake at a northside all-Irish college.

The move by Coláiste Daibhéid, a Cork Education and Training Board (CETB) school, will see first-year enrolments rise from 40 to 58 for the coming year after the board decided to consider late applications, which will be accepted up to at least the end of January. It follows anger among families of children at northside gaelscoileanna and other primary schools at enrolment changes at Gaelcholáiste Mhuire AG at the North Monastery. It will enrol just two first-year classes with 58 students next September, having accepted three classes with more than 80 students in recent years.

The school, owned by Edmund Rice Schools Trust, said student numbers are up almost 100 to 445 since 2010 and there were overcrowding concerns. But a decision has yet be made on whether to seek funding for extra permanent accommodation to cater for the continued high demand. Coláiste Daibhéid principal Tadhg Ó Laighin said his school’s move to modern, fully-equipped classrooms at the CETB campus on Sawmill St in the last year enabled the board of management to take the decision last week. The school has more than 220 boys and girls enrolled and students come from gaelscoileanna across the city and county.

“We are unusual in many ways as our catchment area is not defined by a physical boundary but by a language boundary, that is to say our potential students are any students who have Irish or who have the potential to operate through the medium of Irish,” Mr Ó Laighin said. With some local schools, particularly all-Irish primary schools, highly disappointed that their pupils are among around 50 turned down by Gaelcholáiste Mhuire for 2014, plans are being devised for a new gaelcholáiste in the area. But the Department of Education has told the Irish Examiner that it has no plans to provide any new second-level schools on the city’s northside. It can only sanction new schools after determining there is sufficient population growth and then after prospective patrons have had a chance to show demand for their type of school in an area.

www.irishexaminer.com

Keep Irish in schools

December 16, 2013

I see that some columnists and letter-writers constantly refer to the ‘ billions of euro’ that would be saved if the Irish language was removed from the curriculum of Irish schools – the pinnacle of what Irish patheticism seeks to achieve.

Unless the school day was made shorter, the teachers would still have to be paid the same; and if all Irish language teachers were dismissed, other teachers would have to be employed to fill the timetable. It costs no more or less to educate a child in Irish than in English, and I suspect that replacing Irish with Mandarin Chinese would actually cost more than teaching Irish. Ciaran Dunbar An Spideal, Co na Gaillimhe

www.independent.ie

Christmas wish list: language rights

December 16, 2013

Public campaign for language equality for Irish speaking and Gaeltacht communy

A group of 50 third level students gathered outside Dáil Éireann on Friday, 13 December 2013, with letters to Santa asking the Government for language rights this Christmas.
Today’s protest was organised by Conradh na Gaeilge and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) as a result of An Coimisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin’s announcement that he would be resigning from his role on 23 February 2013 due to the Government’s failure to implement language legislation at the level of the State.
The campaign has been set up by Conradh na Gaeilge to show the Irish language community’s support for An Coimisinéir Teanga’s stance and their disappointment with the Government’s approach to Irish language matters.
USI Vice President for the Irish Language , Feidhlim Seoighe, USI Vice President for the Irish Language said, “Language rights are human rights – all USI and Conradh na Gaeilge are asking for from the Government this Christmas is that the Irish language gets the equality it deserves from the state. We want the Government to give Irish speakers their basic right to use Irish when dealing with state agencies, not just lip-service, and to assist – not hinder – the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga in their work upholding the language rights of the Irish-speaking and Gaeltacht community”.
Based on recommendations made by An Coimisinéir Teanga and work currently underway, the campaign is calling on the Government to meet the following demands:

  • That the Official Languages Act 2003 is strengthened, not weakened in 2014; this includes the retention and strengthening of an independent Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga.
  • That a date is set by which employees of the State dealing with the Gaeltacht community must have fluent Irish, without condition or question – native Irish speakers should not be forced to conduct their business in English with state agencies.
  • That the recruitment quota for people with competency in both Irish in the public service is increased from 6% to 30% within the next 10 years – under the new system envisaged by the Government, it would take over 28 years to increase the percentage of staff with competence in Irish in the Department of Education and Skills from the current 1.5% to 3%.
  • That the derogation of the status of Irish as an official language of the European Union is done away with after 1 January 2017.
  • That the Irish-language and Gaeltacht community is recognised as stakeholders in the implementation of The 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010 – 2030 in the south and in the Irish-Language Strategy in the north. It is imperative that the crucial high-level structures between authorities and Irish-language community organisations is established immediately.

President of Conradh na Gaeilge , Donnchadh Ó hAodha, said, “It is a damning indictment of the Government that the ombudsman for language rights, appointed by the President of Ireland, felt he had no choice but step down from his office at a time where he felt that for every one step forward in the promotion of the Irish language in the public sector, there appeared to have been two steps backwards”.
“Conradh na Gaeilge and USI are calling on the Government to rectify the situation immediately by addressing the concerns of An Coimisinéir Teanga as a matter of extreme urgency this Christmas, and to uphold the language rights of the Irish-speaking and Gaeltacht communities across the country before Seán Ó Cuirreáin steps down in the New Year”.
A public meeting regarding the campaign and the listed proposals will take place in Dublin on 11 January 2014.

Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com

Gaelscoil enrolment policies discussed in Leinster House

December 16, 2013

Oireachtas Joint Committee recognises exceptional enrolment requirements of all-Irish schools

A meeting of the Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection regarding the Draft General Scheme of an Education (Admission to Schools) Bill, 2013 took place this week.

Representing the Irish-medium education sector were Gaelscoileanna Teo., An Foras Pátrúnachta, Cearta Oideachais and Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, as well as Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, Atheist Ireland, Presentation College Cork, and Inclusion Ireland which represents Down Syndrome Ireland, Irish Autism Action and The Special Needs Parents Association.

During the discussion, groups were given the chance to make recommendations regarding the proposals within the draft Bill and Irish language groups called for the protection of Gaelscoileanna language ethos under all circumstances and also that children from Irish-speaking households be prioritised. As the draft Bill currently stands, all-Irish schools will be permitted to give preference to children from Irish-speaking households as well as allow Gaelcholáistí to give preference to gaelscoileanna as feeder schools.

All organisations expressed concern regarding the lack of recognition given to early immersion learning within the draft-Bill, as this would prohibit gaelscoileanna from giving preference to children who attended Naíonraí or Irish language pre-schooling, an important aspect in the current enrolment process. It was recommended that Language practices and customs within the Irish-medium education sector must be protected by allowing primary and secondary schools to give priority to children from the Irish-medium education system including Naíonraí and Irish language pre-schools.

The committee was told that 22% of all-Irish primary schools and 29% of all-Irish secondary schools have no option but to refuse students due to excess demand. Where there is over- demand, some schools opt to undertake an interview process in order to assess the language ability and habits of a family during the enrolment process. This occurs only in exceptional circumstances and an interview is nothing more than an informal conversation or a game. As it stands, the draft Bill proposes the removal of any interview process with parents or children before enrolment, except in the case of boarding schools.

The importance of the interview process is paramount, according to the Irish organisations, as until the system can accommodate all children, all-Irish schools must be permitted to consider a child’s language background during the enrolment process. as it is the only way to ensure priority is given to Irish-speaking households. It was recommended that the exceptional case of all-Irish schools be taken into consideration, as in the case of boarding schools, and the decision be left at the discretion of schools’ boards of management.

Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com

Mistaken figures on the cost of translations

December 13, 2013

A point of information: European translation costs amount to €330m per annum according to the European Commission — in total

So Mr Barry Walsh (Letters, Dec 10) is deluded in thinking that €800m is spent on translating European documents to Irish.

He is also mistaken in thinking that if we revoked the status of Irish as an official language the teaching of Irish to schoolchildren would benefit in any way. Until we challenge the absolute ignorance and misinformation being spouted, the fundamental attitude towards the Irish language as a thorn in the side of our national expenditure and schooling system will remain.

This ignorance will continue to obscure the fact that Irish speakers are citizens of Ireland and Europe with every right to access services in their own language.

For example, I may not be a particularly sporty person myself, but that does not mean I begrudge every cent of my European tax money that funds sporting resources or amenities.

Síne Nic an Ailí
Gleann Bhaile na Manach
Baile na Manach
Co Átha Cliath

www.irishexaminer.com

Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com 13 Nollaig 2013

Irish Examiner – Litir chuig an Eagarthóir

For children with no baptismal certificate the school gates seem to be closed

December 13, 2013

Opinion: The State surely has a duty to offer parents access to secular education for their children

My son, who will be four years old in March, is not baptised. He has been rejected from all four national schools in our area – Dublin 6. I put his name down for all of them, two of them religious schools, when he was a baby.

The little Church of Ireland school, which is the nearest one to our home, has had his name on its application list since he was six weeks old. In its letter last month the board of management “regrets to inform” me that my application has been “unsuccessful”.

“Your child is currently number 177 on our waiting list … All offers of places were made in accordance with the school enrolment policy.”

The criteria according to which children can get in the queue are then set out. There are 11 categories, the first being “Church of Ireland children of the [local] parishes,” followed by “COI siblings/Protestant siblings” followed by COI children from outside the parishes. Next in are COI children from inter-church marriages, then other Protestant children, then other siblings, then children of inter-church marriages where the child is not COI, children of staff, Roman Catholic Children, Orthodox children and last, the category into which my son falls, “other children”.

This school will take any child of almost any faith from anywhere in the country before they will take an unbaptised child living around the corner.

The Roman Catholic school is a little further away. My son is 117th on the waiting list. His name has been down since he was a baby, but date of application is not relevant there, the principal told me. The letter turning him away from there said siblings of current pupils were prioritised. This is understandable and “all 17 such applicants are being offered places”.

“The remaining 17 places are being offered to Catholic children resident within the Catholic parish … We regret that we are unable to offer your child a place in our junior infant class for 2014.”

The waiting game

The other two other schools, one a non-denominational Gaelscoil and the other multi-denominational, should surely be more welcoming and as I had his name down with the multi-d since he was three weeks old I was hopeful. However when I called I was told he was “about 220th on the list”. The enrolment secretary told me parents travelled from across Dublin to enrol their children there, such is the demand. Again at at the Gaelscoil, with parents travelling from across the city to get their kids in, he’s 239th on the waiting list.

There is clearly huge demand for school places in Dublin 6, not helped by parents – including myself – applying to several schools, and this affects all families. What is also clear however is that denominational or faith schools’ enrolment criteria impact in a gross and disproportionate way on children such as my son, by excluding them simply because they have not been baptised. To be clear, these State-funded faith-schools – which account for 96 per cent of primary schools – are allowed to direct a religiously based exclusion at children as young as four. This is unacceptable. It is particularly heinous in a democracy which describes itself as a Republic.

www.irishtimes.com

Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com 13 Nollaig 2013

The Irish Times – Kitty Holland

Nothing wrong with Irish as EU language

December 13, 2013

Regarding Barry Walsh’s reply to my letter on Irish in the EU, may I point out that the EU has 24 official languages, including not only world languages such as English, French and German, but also smaller national languages such as Irish, Latvian and Maltese.

The total EU translation budget is less than €2 per EU citizen per year for all 24 EU languages. The figure of €800m per annum covers all 24 EU languages, not just Irish. This is a budget to which Ireland contributed before Irish became an official EU language and to which we would contribute if Irish were not an official EU language. There is no saving to be had here.

A cornerstone of the European project is linguistic and cultural tolerance and diversity. Because of this EU laws are made available in all EU languages. Cases in Irish are not uncommon in the Irish courts, especially the superior courts, and EU law is often invoked in these cases. The Irish texts are not museum pieces but part of the range of this living and working European language.

Conradh na Gaeilge campaigns on an ongoing basis to improve the teaching of Irish in schools. We seek better teacher training, that another subject such as drama or sport be taught through Irish to all primary pupil on a phased basis and the normalisation of Irish outside of the class room. Sadly the EU does not have provision for giving us €800m to this end. This is a matter of nation competence.

We also campaign for an integrated language curriculum and for teaching through third languages as immersion is the most effective teaching method. We support the EU’s Mother Tongue Plus 2 Barcelona declaration.

Sadly the Department of Education seems wed to an English-only mentality, but that can change.

Finally, Irish being an official EU language has caused an increase in interest in Irish and continental languages at third level. Were the derogation to lapse this would blossom further. English is no longer enough; negativity towards Irish saps morale, and opinion based on inaccuracy is dangerous.

Julian de Spáinn
Ard-Rúnaí
Chonradh na Gaeilge
Rath Garbh, Baile Átha Cliath 2

www.irishexaminer.com

Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com 13 Nollaig 2013

Irish Examiner – Litir chuig an Eagarthóir

All aboard for the Gaeilgeoir grenadiers…

December 13, 2013

Well, that certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons. You may remember — but you can be forgiven if you don’t, it is a busy time of the year, after all — that the dreaded topic of the Irish language was mentioned in iSpy earlier this week, following a row over the number of civil servants who can speak it.

I pointed out that if you want to learn and use Irish with like-minded people, then good luck to you — after all, learning another language can never be a bad thing. I also, as it happens, pointed out that TG4 is undoubtedly the finest, most innovative channel on this island and, against all my predictions at the time, has gone on to be a massive success. In fact, TG4 is one of those occasions when it’s nice to be proved wrong and the Little Broadcaster That Could has done more to make the language more relevant than any number of educational drives ever could. But I also believe that it is not the Government’s business to be hiring and training more civil servants to speak the language.

This isn’t merely an economic argument, although that is compelling in itself.

No, the real objection stems from simple common sense — if you can find a civil servant who can conduct business in Irish, then good for you. If you can’t, simply use English.

Irish is not, and never will be, anything more than a hobby in a country where English is the spoken language. Not being accommodated in your quest to speak Irish is an inconvenience, not a blatant act of discrimination. Not that you would think it from the furious emails which came in demanding I be hoisted above the roof of the Indo and made to publicly recite chapters 1-5 of Peig. The common thread to all those complaints was a sense of hysterical grievance and hilariously disproportionate anger that is now the modus operandi of any rights lobby whose feelings are hurt.

So let’s get a sense of perspective and stop debasing the meaning of the word ‘discrimination’. Irish speakers are not persecuted in this country, no matter how loudly they may claim otherwise and, as I said, the worst thing they face is mild inconvenience which, let’s face it, is hardly some act of ethnic or cultural cleansing.

The levels of paranoid absurdity reached new levels of hyperbole when someone complained bitterly about “an English language journalist” belittling their mother tongue, while another bleated that: “We have the right to be here. You can’t take that way from us.”

Jesus, who was saying that Irish speakers don’t have the right to be here? Obviously, nobody was, but these florid, self-righteous claims of persecution are par for the course when people are complaining — be they gay advocates, Travellers’ rights groups or Muslims or… well, the list of people ready and waiting, poison pen (or worse) at the ready to start demanding someone’s head seems to grow by the day.

We’ve become addicted to grievance and the Irish language lobby is well versed in the art of claiming discrimination. But as much as my interest in the language itself is minimal, and I don’t have any animosity towards it, I was surprised and quite gratified by the number of respondents who actually placed themselves in their own stereotype.

I was, I’ve been told repeatedly over the last few days, a “disgrace to Ireland”, which was one of those febrile rhetorical flourishes that these people like to use, while another angrily condemned me for not caring enough about Northern Ireland, while more than one email contained 800 years’ worth of injustices to the Irish language.

One after the other, these people were quicker to force themselves into a narrow, lazy definition of what it means to be ‘ truly’ Irish than I ever could have been. Yet in amongst all the furious responses from people who really, really want to see themselves as a persecuted minority were the missives of support. These tended to come from people who simply see no sense in wasting millions to keep a language on life support.

None of them were calling for the Balkanisation of the Gaeltacht, nobody is suggesting that Irish speakers should be made wear a sign identifying themselves (a shamrock, instead of a Star of David, perhaps) and nobody is denying anyone the right to learn the language. But it is absurd to expect the Government to foot the bill.

As one angry woman wrote: “Irish is a language in a precarious position. But she’s not dead yet. What she needs is a government that upholds its promises to protect and promote it.” No, that’s not what we need.

In fact, if Irish dies out, then so be it. Call it survival of the fittest, but it is not the job of the State to ensure the survival of anything — that is the job of the people who are interested in it. But I do hold my hands up to one factual error.

I mistakenly said that Seán Ó Cuirreáin was head of an Irish language organisation, Teanga. In fact, he held the post of commissioner for the language.

If only somebody had been around to translate into English for me. Now, where do I got to complain?

www.independent.ie

Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com 13 Nollaig 2013

Irish Independent – Ian O’Doherty

Futa Fata Newsletter

December 13, 2013

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