A monument to our national failure
March 3, 2014
The Saturday Night Show (RTE1)
THE Irish language is a crucial national resource. There is no doubt about that. It stands there as the most towering monument of almost everything that has gone wrong in this country.
And if we could see it in that light, and if we studied how we managed to create such a thing, and if we resolved to do everything in a completely different way in future, it might nearly have been worthwhile.
In that sense, the recent resignation of the Irish Language Commissioner, mainly on the grounds that the State is no longer supporting the language, is obviously a good thing.
His objection to the way things are done these days, suggests that there has been a change of attitude on the part of the State. And any change is self-evidently bound to be good, or at least better than whatever was there before.
Unfortunately, the role of Irish Language Commissioner itself has not been abolished. But we are indebted to the old one for his complaint that due to the lack of civil servants who are fluent in Irish, it is now compulsory for most Irish speakers to speak English in their official dealings.
Yes we can carve that one on the monument, if we can find a bit of space. We who have had to do compulsory Irish or face the most serious consequences, are now invited to empathise with people forced into compulsory English on rare and relatively trivial occasions. Yes, it is a good one.
Undaunted by the immensity of this tragedy, Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh took the fight to Brendan O’Connor on The Saturday Night Show. Indeed quite a lot of people are taking their fights to Brendan O’Connor these days, with the result that The Saturday Night Show is becoming like The Late Late of ancient mythology, when everyone seemed to be fighting, and Ireland was the better for it.
Blathnaid went on a march recently, asking as an Irish speaker to be supported, “because I’m supposed to be supported”.
O’Connor mentioned little tokens of support such as the education system and the TV station, but Blathnaid still felt that she wasn’t being supported as she’s supposed to be supported.
It seems to have escaped her attention that these measures which she feels might ameliorate the situation, such as giving people jobs in the civil service because they speak Irish, have been tried. Dear God, they’ve been tried – indeed way back the Irish language movement came close enough to destroying RTE itself, with its efforts to make it an Irish-only service.
While that would have involved an element of positive discrimination, it would have been positive only for the privileged few, the Irish-speakers who did well for themselves, if not for the language that they espouse. For Ireland in general, this form of institutionalised discrimination has not been positive. It has been negative.
Just about everything that the Irish State has done about the Irish language has had a negative outcome, resulting in a failure so colossal, it is becoming apparent even to the language enthusiasts, who respond by urging the State to keep doing the things it used to do, only more so – Blathnaid would like the entire primary school system to be converted to Irish.
And yet we have such an opportunity here, to teach the world the lessons of this catastrophe – not just the superhuman scale of the failure in itself, but the way that the official bullshit in this area has flowed freely into so many other areas, feeding our sense of self-delusion, our ability to tolerate the ridiculous on an enormous scale.
If we can engage in a solemn process to ascertain the number of Irish speakers in this country, and we arrive at an official figure of roughly 1.7 million, it is hardly surprising that our numeracy skills in general and our maturity in dealing with certain unavoidable realities, have been found wanting. Yes we have created a monument here.
And if Blathnaid wants to chip away at that mighty structure, she might start by organising another march, starting in Parnell Square with a call for the abandonment of compulsory Irish in every conceivable form.
Perhaps then we can feel the agony of our gaeltacht brethren forced into paying their property tax in English – we don’t know how they do it.
www.independent.ie
Information Evening in Gaelscoil Mhic Aodha, Kildare
March 3, 2014
Gaelscoil Mhic Aodha is having an open evening in the school on Tuesday the 11th of March at 7.30pm. The address is Tower View, Kildare Town, and all are very welcome.
Bua seachas cúlú siar
March 3, 2014
Lá Dearg in Belfast
March 3, 2014
Following on from Lá Mór na Gaeilge in Dublin and the ‘Slán le Seán’ march in Conamara, ‘An Lá Dearg’ will take place on Saturday, 12 April, in Belfast.
Up to 10,000 people from all over the country, north and south, marched in Dublin recently to demand language rights and equality for the Irish language. ‘Lá Mór na Gaeilge’ was described as the beginning of a strong campaign and it seems as if that campaign is now in full swing with the march held in An Spidéal last week, and the march in Belfast taking place in April.
The organisers of An Lá Dearg say that the protest has been organised “to demand Equality, Rights and Fairness for the language and those who speak it”.
In January of this year, a report from the European Council Committee of Experts on the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages found that hostile attitudes persisted towards the Irish language in Stormont and, despite the Committee’s recommendation to implement comprehensive language policy in 2009, no steps have been taken towards any policy. The Committee also noted that the promotion of Irish in the six counties remained a contentious subject.
The demands of the campaign are:
- A comprehensive rights-based Irish Language Act for the North.
- That the State in the North fulfil their obligations to develop a comprehensive Irish-medium Education system.
- That adequate resources be provided for the Irish speaking Community.
Speaking on behalf of the campaign’s working group, Caoimhe Ní Chathail, “We strongly believe that people who choose Irish as their language should have the opportunity and right to use it. There will be public meetings throughout Ireland to attract support for this march and we wish to deliver a definitive, strong message to the authorities on this issue”.
“We ask the people of Ireland, both local people and those further afield, to stand with us for “Lá Dearg”.
The march will leave Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiach Saturday, 12 April, at 2pm and will finish in Custom House Square in Belfast City Centre.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
Ná bac leis na hOscair, seo chugaibh buaiteoirí Scléip 2014!
March 3, 2014
Lascainí do scoileanna le Scoil FM
March 1, 2014
Libraries celebrate as Gaeilge
February 28, 2014
Libraries around the county have a full programme of events line-up to mark this year’s Seachtain na Gaeilge (Irish week) in the first two weeks of March.
They are inviting anyone with an interest in Irish, whether as a fluent speaker or just thinking about learning a little, to view the programme, which has juggling workshops, storytelling, puppet shows, music, and more. Visit www.mayolibrary.ie for further information.
www.advertiser.ie/galway
Seachtain na Gaeilge – Gaelfest
February 28, 2014
Seachtain na Gaeilge – Gaelfest celebrates the language that St Patrick had to learn to make himself understood to the Gaels and gives the green light to events organized in the Mid-Ulster area for Ireland’s national day.
There will be opportunities throughout Seachtain na Gaeilge – Gaelfest for anyone with no knowledge of the language to become familiar with basic phrases and structures.
Anyone who is free at lunch-time on Wednesdays can call into Ranfurly House in Dungannon, where a series of talks introducing the Irish language will be held over the fortnight. Irish language officer, Séamus mac Giolla Phádraig will give the introductory talks about the language to try to explain why we speak the way we do.
The children haven’t been forgotten. Seal Spraoi children’s clubs in Cookstown, Dungannon and Coalisland provide Irish language after-schools activities and there will be an emphasis on song, music and dance over the fortnight during and after school hours. A special storytime Seal Spraoi will be held in Cookstown’s Burnavon Centre on Friday 7 March from 4.30pm until 6.00pm with Gearóidín Bhreathnach. The Burnavon will also host a family céilí in on Sunday, 9 March between 2pm and 4pm, with music by Raymond Loney.
Gearóidín Bhreathnach, twice winner of Corn Uí Riada, the ultimate prize in Irish sean-nós singing, will be in the Square Box Theatre on Friday night, 7 March. Gearóidín has a clear, easy singing style. She explains the events behind the songs she sings and puts them in context by telling something of the lives of those who composed them.
Regular Irish language events, such as the Ciorcal Comhrá conversation club, on the first Saturday of the month and Léigh Leat reading club are held in conjunction with Dungannon Library. These and their counterparts in Cookstown will be making special efforts to welcome people who would like to try out Irish words and phrases they know. Details are available at www.guthonline.org.
A fund-raising relay run the length of Ireland, called Rith 2014, will arrive in Dungannon from Cookstown on Thursday afternoon, 13 March before making its way to Coalisland. Runners will have completed the relay from Strabane to Cookstown the night before. Rith 2014 provides clubs with the means to raise funds for their own small Irish language projects. Groups can ‘buy’ a kilometre and find details of the route at www.rith.ie.
Throughout the month of March, Dungannon Library will host an exhibition which has Irish writing systems as its theme. Examples of Ogham, the manuscript tradition, the invention of the printing press and modern computer fonts will be presented and discussed.
Dr Malachy Ó Néill will give a talk on the Ó Néill kingship on Thursday night, 13 March at 8.30pm in the Square Box Theatre. Dr Ó Néill examines Irish language sources for the O’Neill family story, reflecting the events which preceded the coming of Patrick to Ireland right up to and beyond the Plantation of Ulster, a period of some twelve hundred years. Máirín Hurndall will bring the official Seachtain na Gaeilge-Gaelfest celebrations to a conclusion with a talk the following evening at 8.00pm in the Burnavon Theatre, Cookstown, about the Gaelic Heritage of Protestants.
www.tyronetimes.co.uk
Irish language under threat
February 28, 2014
Sir, – I live part of the year in Wales, where you can hear more Welsh in five minutes than Irish in a year in nearly every part of Ireland (this is no exaggeration).
The unwelcome truth is that very few of us have any intention of ever speaking Irish. Instead we have long ago opted for cuplafocalarism, This consists of putting road signs, notices, documents and all the rest of it into Irish (even better if it can be done at European level) regardless of whether it is used or not.
Meanwhile, we blithely continue to speak our real native language, English. It shouldn’t fool a 10-year-old. But we are quite content with this nonsense and woe betide anyone who questions the emperor’s attire.
– Yours, etc,
DAVID HERMAN,
Meadow Grove
Sir, – In the course of my work, over many years, I travelled the entire island of Ireland. I know very little Irish, but that was never a problem. No one I ever met had any difficulty in speaking to me in English.
In fact, everyone I met or did business with spoke English. This also applied to shops, theatres and pubs. The only other languages to be heard, mostly in the high season, were, Spanish, French, German and some East European languages.
So I would like to challenge any one of the letter writers who accept the accuracy of the 2011 Census (which states 1.77 million speak Gaeilge on a daily basis), to stand with me on the main street of any large town or city in Ireland (apart from Galway) to hold a short conversation with passers by, as Gaeilge. Any takers?
– Yours, etc,
NIALL GINTY,
The Demesne,
Killester, Dublin 5.
A chara, – I agree with Revd Patrick G Burke (Letters, February 25th) that “the so-called financial experts” destroyed the Irish economy. And they were ably aided and abetted by a lot of our politicians and developers. In fact its arguable whether we own our country any more. We own the Irish language, but it seems a lot of our people do not value it very highly. Maybe our new immigrants – the Poles, the Lithuanians, the Nigerians – might succeed where we have failed. “Níl tír gan teanga”.
– Is mise,
BEAIRTLE O CONGHAILE,
Cúirt an Choláiste,
Dún Dealgan, Co Lú.
www.irishtimes.com
Normalise our native language, or lose it
February 28, 2014
Myles Duffy (Letters, Febraury 26) miss-es the point. The Irish language has never been nurtured by the State. On the whole, the language has been an ornament atop a monoglot anglophone system.
Where a language is excluded from pub-lic or official business, that language goes into decline. This has nothing to do with the survival of the fittest, but is a matter of policy .The Dutch language has thrived in Belgium since the normalisation of its use in public life there was achieved. The same Dutch language is dying out just across the border in Dunkirk, where it was the ma-jority language for centuries, because of its being banned from official spaces by the French state.
Seán Ó Cuirreáin, the Official Languages Ombudsman, resigned in December in frustration at the lack of progress on end-ing the systemic marginalisation of Irish. We need to normalise our language. The comparison with the GAA is not well made. Languages need active speakers with am-ple opportunities to use the language and pass it on to their children. There is no comparison with training for an hour once a week or cheering on from the sidelines.
Dáithí Mac Cárthaigh BL
An Leabharlann Dlí
Baile Átha Cliath 7
www.irishexaminer.com
