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
