Renua’s Irish-language roadmap to nowhere
January 13, 2016
Last week, Lucinda Creighton’s Renua, a party unique in the history of Irish politics in that its name makes no sense in either official language of the State, launched its first election manifesto. I made straight for the Irish-language policy section like it was the next episode of Netflix’s Making a Murderer.
I had been waiting over a year for this.
You see, last January, on a rare slow news day in the dog-eat-dog world of online Irish-language journalism, I sent an email to Renua Ireland (then known, equally preposterously, as Reboot Ireland) enquiring about their language policy.
I received a prompt and cheery reply informing me that “all policies were being formulated at present” and that contributions were being sought “from interested individuals and groups in this process”. My details, I was told, would be kept “for future information on Irish language policy and initiatives”.
Impressed by the new political movement’s brazen ‘I dunno! You tell us!’ approach to policy development, I sat back and waited for the latest updates as promised.
They never arrived, and, in a way, I was glad that they didn’t, as last Monday, when Renua finally unveiled their Irish-language policy, I got to enjoy the same spoiler-free sense of excitement as everybody else.
“Our language, Our Heritage,” section 18.3 of Renua’s Rewarding Work, Rebuilding Trust, began auspiciously enough by pointing out that though Irish “is at a crossroads” we have the power to arrest “its slow downward trend towards extinction”.
A little dramatic maybe, but a bracing, matter-of-fact start nonetheless.
That sharp shot of realism was followed nicely by a defiant Obamaesque call to action: “Ireland can and will rediscover the pride it has for its native tongue and the great cultural and artistic history that goes with it.”
Is féidir linn, mar sin, but only if we look to the modern revival of the Welsh language, which, according to Renua, “provides a roadmap for a revitalisation of the Irish language”.
This was disappointing.
The ‘What Would Wales Do?’ approach to the Irish language question is a familiar and tiresome one, especially when its advocates refuse to answer their own question.
It’s true that the Welsh-speaking community have a better-funded television station than us and, in general, they appear to have fewer hang-ups about their language than we do about Irish, but apart from the Super Furry Animals, Gwenno and a more sensible approach to implementing language schemes in the public service, is there really that much to learn from the Welsh that we don’t already know?
What we call the Gaeltacht doesn’t exist in Wales, for example, so it’s unlikely that Renua’s Welsh ‘roadmap’ could offer much guidance in relation to the greatest existential crisis facing Irish – its decline in those areas where it is still the primary language of the community.
At this stage, the lack of detail about the Welsh solution was a cause for concern, along with my instinctive aversion to any talk of ‘roadmaps’ that don’t pertain to actual roads.
Next up was Renua’s “path” to restoring pride in our national language. Apparently the Welsh ‘roadmap’ was no more than a false start, and what the “first step” on this voyage of rediscovery really requires is “a fundamental rethinking of how we teach Irish in our schools”.
It is an old argument, but a valid one, and it is difficult not to share the party’s indignation about the generations of Irish teenagers who leave school “with little more than a smattering of vocabulary and grammar”.
The solution to this “appalling indictment” of our education system?
“To achieve real change, we must blend the traditional and immersive ‘living language’ elements of education with a renewed focus on grammar and accuracy.”
This was a little fuzzy (‘real change’, like ‘roadmap’, is one for the ‘bladar bingo’ card), but I found it interesting, nonetheless.
At a time when it is considered unfashionable, foolish and even dangerous, to use words like “grammar” and “accuracy” when discussing the teaching of Irish, the indifference to conventional wisdom was refreshing.
Were Renua about to surprise us with a proposal for a second, more challenging, Leaving Cert syllabus, one designed to meet the needs of native and fluent speakers, who are currently forced to debase themselves before the Sraith Pictiúr?
Sadly, it was not to be, and just a few ripe paragraphs and 169 words after it began, that’s where section 18.3 of Renua’s manifesto, “Our language, Our Heritage,” became Section 19 of Renua’s manifesto, “Foreign Policy and Defence”.
More a sketch of an idea for a policy than a policy, “Our language, Our Heritage” left us none the wiser about Renua’s views on any of the issues facing the Irish language.
Do they have a policy in relation to Irish?
Well, we know they’re ‘for it’, and ‘more of it’, if possible.
In their favour, Renua can’t be accused of promising anything they can’t deliver.
‘Real change’, whatever else it might be, is difficult to quantify.
Seán Tadhg Ó Gairbhí
www.irishtimes.ie
Launch of inaugural NÓS ‘Irish language’ Music Awards
January 8, 2016
Lovers of the Irish language will be delighted to hear that Dublin’s Sugar Club will host the first ever awards in honour of music ‘as Gaeilge’ this Friday, with a number of established Irish artists among the nominees. Organised by culture magazine nos.ie, Gradaim Cheoil NÓS 2015 (The NÓS Music Awards 2015) are the first of their kind to recognise and celebrate the burgeoning Irish language music scene, and will be presented in 7 categories and shortlists including everything from rock and pop to ska, shoegaze, rap and trad. Among the acts nominated for this year’s awards are Lisa Hannigan (for her song ‘Amhrán na Farraige’), former X Factor star Janet Devlin (‘Suantraí Meisciúil’), world music stalwarts Kíla and Youtube pop sensation Seo Linn. In addition to the more widely-known bands, a host of smaller Irish language singer-songwriters and newly-formed groups are also in the mix.
NÓS editor Tomaí Ó Conghaile declared that he was highly encouraged by the growing Irish language music scene throughout the country, with new singers and bands “emerging every year”. Citing Ed Sheeran’s recent recording of Thinking Out Loud in Irish, 2FM’s inclusion of Irish language songs on their official playlist, and the launch of the first ever Irish language summer festival, Ravelóid, in June, as evidence that music in our native language was “on the up”, Mr Ó Conghaile claimed that nos.ie thought it was the right time to “recognise all the great music that’s being created in Irish now and to bring all the acts together for a big celebration in one of the best music venues in the country.”
Artists performing at the event include Connemara rock band Rís, Donegal singer-songwriter Eve Belle, Monaghan punk-trad group Dysania, and Dublin’s Irish language funk project IMLÉ. MC or ‘fear an tí’ on the night will be none other than RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta’s Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí.
For further information on the event, and a full shortlist of this year’s nominees, visit http://nos.ie/gradaim/
Doors open at the Sugar Club at 7.30pm with limited tickets still available.
www.state.ie
Joe McHugh: Jump in and talk Irish like I did
January 4, 2016
I’m very proud that both my children will grow up fluent in our national language – Bernard Dunne
January 4, 2016
LA was, and is, full of many different nationalities, much like Ireland is today. When these people from different nations met with someone from their own country they immediately conversed in their mother tongue.
Naire – or shame – came upon me when I realised that I could not speak my own language.
Gaeilge is a funny thing. It’s our country’s national tongue and we start learning it from the age of five and continue learning it throughout our next 13 years in school.
Most, including myself, end up leaving school with little or no comprehension of the language. We would have a puzzled look on our face if someone spoke to us on the street with our own language.
We use excuses like it is too hard to learn, it’s not taught well, it’s rammed down our throats and that it is no good to you later for getting a job.
This last excuse is probably the most problematic for the language to thrive. When faced with the choice of learning the language of our ancestors for an increased sense of pride and belonging, or learning a language which will help one gain employment, it’s clear which choice people are making.
Pride, identity or a feeling of belonging is something we only start to feel when we get older.
It was in LA when I got this sense of lacking identity. What was it that made me proud to be an Irishman?
Humour
Was it that sense of community in our neighbourhoods, our humour, the fact that we have many famous poets and scholars, our lovely countryside or the way we punch above our weight internationally in sport? Or was it the fact that we are a resilient people, who, having faced many challenges still manage to raise ourselves up and smile?
All of these things make me proud to be Irish.
Our language though is as important as anything else to me and my identity as an Irish person.
It’s as much a part of our country as our music, Gaelic games, art and geography.
I had to travel the world to realise this.
Young children in school should be immersed in and taught in the Irish language.
I’m talking about kids from five to 12 going through primary school with Irish. After that they can decide what they want to do but they will be fluent, so the studying of it in secondary school could become a specialist study.
This immersion in the language will help give young people a sense of pride in their language, culture and country.
Three years ago I did a show called Brod Club.
It was a national campaign aimed at trying to encourage others who, like myself, had little or no Irish but wanted to improve their vocabulary even a basic level.
To this day I still get people coming up and trying to talk with me with whatever Irish that they have. And the big theme from most of these conversations is that they wished they had worked more on their gaeilge.
Des Bishop did fantastic work with the language when he made the programme In the Name of the Fada.
Moving to a gaeltacht for a year, he demonstrated that even a man who did not have to study Irish in school could learn the language.
Sometimes I think our hang-ups about the language are more drawn from the past and stories that kids grow up hearing.
I believe that we have to look to the future with not just our language but also our identity.
There are now many new ethnic groups in Ireland and many languages spoken by these new Irish citizens.
Irish identity is changing and maybe so too is our relationship with our language.
We need to try to encourage the language to move along with this change.
Our young people need to be given more chances to use their language. A 40-minute class a day or every second day isn’t enough to encourage young people to speak it.
They need inspiration from social events where the language can be used.
Language can help people identify more with the cultures of this country. But they need to be exposed to the language in a fun and engaging way.
I understand there are those who feel the language is not needed as part of our schools, our lives or our identity.
It’s different strokes for different folks I suppose, as I feel our language is hugely important to us as a nation.
I take pride in the fact that both my children will grow up fluent in our national language and I believe that it is a gift that will keep on giving in their lives.
It’s about preserving our culture, our history, and our identity. I feel that I am doing something, however little, to try and help this.
(Gaeilge) Gaeil na Gaillimhe CLG – macasamhail ‘na Gaeil Óga’ le bunú i gCathair na dTreabh
December 16, 2015
(Gaeilge) Taighde bliana faoi staid na Gaeilge foilsithe ag Conradh na Gaeilge
December 16, 2015
New website for Futa Fata
December 15, 2015
We are delighted to finally have our new website up and running this week (despite a few glitches!) .
This version is mobile friendly and can be viewed on iPads and all mobile devises for perfect browsing.
If you haven’t already seen it, pop over for a visit and pick up some gifts this Christmas. To celebrate our new website we are offering a 30% discount on ALL titles until the 21st December. www.futafata.ie
(Gaeilge) Aighneacht ón ngrúpa Meánscoil Lán-Ghaeilge do Chonamara á scrúdú ag an Roinn Oideachais
December 15, 2015
SF minister gives £160k to Irish language centre Read more: http://www.newsletter.co.uk/what-s-on/sf-minister-gives-160k-to-irish-language-centre-1-7110760#ixzz3u0qGl7yI
December 11, 2015
Stormont’s culture minister has announced an “Irish language cultural hub” for part of Belfast.
Caral Ni Chuilin said that the project, in the upper Springfield area of west Belfast, will be created with the aid of £160,000 from her department, with Belfast City Council and Irish language group Ciste Infheistíochta Gaeilge each providing up to £112,000.
The minister said the new centre will be for the Glór na Móna Irish language organisation, and will be named Ollionad na Carraige.
It will be situated next to Whiterock Leisure Centre.
The minister said in a statement: “This is an excellent day for the Irish language in the Upper Springfield area…
“Learning and everyday usage of Irish is on the increase right across Ireland and nowhere more so than in Belfast’s own Gaeltacht.
“The addition of a new centre for Glór na Móna will help the organisation to inspire and empower a new generation of young Gaels and indeed encourage them to truly live their life through Irish, known as gaelsaolaíocht.”
www.newsletter.co.uk
(Gaeilge) 150 focal i dtuarascáil Roinn an Taoisigh faoi 5 bliana den Straitéis 20 Bliain – ‘léiriú ar easpa dáiríreachta’ an Rialtais
December 11, 2015