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.
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Irish language under threat
February 27, 2014
A chara, – While there may be some merit in the views expressed by Eanna Coffey (February 25th) regarding the Irish language, I would have to take issue with some of his remarks.
How can a language be described as “functionally useless” when it is still the first language of many citizens born in this State, be they located in Iarthar Ciarraí, Conamara or Gaobh Dobhair or elsewhere on this island? Presumably these citizens can still communicate with each other in their language of birth? I agree with his assertion that the policy of compulsory Irish has failed. It is a beautiful, sophisticated language and is wasted on those who do not appreciate it. Set the Irish language free and teach it to the willing. – Is mise,
ROB Mac GIOLLARNÁTH,
Sandyford View,
Simonsridge,
Sandyford, Dublin 18.
A chara, – Éanna Coffey’s letter (February 25th) contains the writer’s derogatory comment on a literature written in a language which he deems to be “detested by students, who are force-fed second-rate poetry and literature out of some absurd national pride”. Then he urges us to see Gaelic games, Irish dancing , traditional Irish music as being worthy substitutes for language – the prime signifier of the Other. As a prose-writer who has written 10 works of fiction in my native language, ie, Irish, I find this attitude hard to take.
Mr Coffey dares to speak for others while he detests the Other that my native language has become in my native country. Furthermore, Mr Coffey, I presume, is aware of the fact that there is an Irish speaking enclave 40 miles from his own doorstep in west Kerry, where I come from. The fact that I received my secondary education in Killarney where I was force-fed English and its oftentimes second-rate poetry and literature, deemed worthy and first-rate, out of some absurd cultural-imperialist pride, is probably of little or no significance to him. – Is mise,
PÁDRAIG Ó CÍOBHÁIN,
Bóthar na Ceapaí,
Bearna, Co na Gaillimhe.
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Sparánachtaí taighde ar fáil ó COGG
February 27, 2014
Éiríonn Ó Cuirreáin as a chúram mar choimisinéir
February 27, 2014
Irish language under threat
February 27, 2014
A chara, – While Eanna Coffey (February 24th) is more than entitled to his opinion, one feels he may be coming from rather a limited viewpoint.
As someone who has managed this far to receive all education through Irish (up to Masters level), and who communicates professionally and personally through Irish every day, nobody told me that “the Irish language is functionally useless in the modern economy, and as such the money spent is an extremely poor investment”. I believe I may be the antithesis of Mr Coffey’s rather unfounded sweeping statements, along with many others who contribute to Ireland’s modern economy, and who have managed, thus far, to stay in employment since leaving university. I may be part of a minority, but I prefer this to being part of the majority still leaving Ireland to find employment. – Is mise,
AILISH BHREATHNACH,
Baile na hAbhann,
Co na Gaillimhe.
A chara, – They say you can use statistics in an attempt to prove anything and Eanna Coffey’s letter criticising the use of the Irish language (February 24th) certainly gives credence to that. According to Census 2011 the main statistic concerning the use of the Irish and Polish languages stated that 1.77 million people speak as Gaeilge on a daily basis here, while 112,811 speak Polish. This fact should put the rest of Mr Coffey’s letter in some perspective. – Is mise,
EFFANNING,
Whitehall Road,
Churchtown, Dublin 14.
A chara, – Perhaps Eanna Coffey is mistaken about the simple demands made by muintir na Gaeilge in the past few weeks. Far from demanding that Irish replace English in Ireland, an aspiration given up on by the government in 1965, fair and equitable treatment by both governments is all we seek. It would seem from Brian Mac a’ Bhaird’s letter that far more resources were squandered by Revenue in trying to dissuade him from using Irish than simply fulfilling its own legally binding commitment as laid out in its own language scheme. The Iarchoimisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin has stated that the structural changes needed to provide these services would be “cost neutral”. It is not a matter of money. It is a matter of practice, recognition and respect. While we all agree, especially muintir na Gaeilge, that changes need to be brought in to the curriculum, hyperbolic accusations that children are “force-fed” like foie gras Gaeilgeoirí are not representative of reality or of the attitudes of all young people. Mr Coffey should ask the thousands of young people who gave up their Saturday at midterm to march for language rights their opinion rather than speaking for them. – Is mise,
MAITIÚ de HÁL,
Páirc na Canálach Ríoga,
Baile an Ásaigh,
Baile Átha Cliath 15.
A chara, – According to Eanna Coffey “the Irish language is functionally useless in the modern economy, and as such the money spent is an extremely poor investment” (February 25th). Even were that true, why should we value things only on their economic utility? And, given that the country has been economically wrecked by following the wisdom of the so-called financial experts, I see no reason to think that investing in our culture and identity isn’t a sound idea; even if it doesn’t bring money rolling in, at least it won’t end up with us owing foreign banks and investors vast fortunes. – Is mise,
Revd PATRICK G BURKE,
Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny.
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Irish language under threat
February 25, 2014
Sir, – I fully support the Revenue Commissioners’ reluctance to communicate with Brian Mac a’ Bhaird (February 21st) “as Gaeilge”.
Translating government documents into Irish is a complete waste of time and money. Government spending on teaching Irish is estimated to cost about €1 billion per annum. While gaeilgeorí may hate to hear it, the Irish language is functionally useless in the modern economy, and as such the money spent is an extremely poor investment. It is also widely detested by students, who are force-fed second-rate poetry and literature out of some absurd sense of national pride. While the argument is often made that Irish is an integral part of our culture, culture can survive quite well without unwanted and unnecessary state coercion (see the GAA, Irish dancing and traditional Irish music as some examples).
According to the 2011 census, Irish now lags behind Polish in numbers of speakers who use the language daily outside of school. The fact Irish is not even the second most widely used language despite decades of State policy and funding towards propping it up should prove that the Irish language experiment has been an utter failure. This pandering to gaeilgeoirí has gone on for far too long. The Irish language is never going to become a widely used language in Ireland and the sooner this is accepted the better. – Yours, etc,
EANNA COFFEY,
Fossa, Killarney, Co Kerry.
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Why are Irish language groups protesting?
February 24, 2014
Several Irish-language organisations, led by Conradh na Gaeilge, have organised large rallies, including one in Dublin attended by 10,000 people.
The latest was held in Connemara yesterday to coincide with the last day in office of the Coimisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin. He resigned early as language commissioner because of his frustration with the State’s commitment to the first official language. Ó Cuirreáin and the Irish language movement believe this Government – and the “permanent government” of public servants – have displayed a marked indifference to the language’s fate. They argue that Irish as a daily spoken language is in grave peril and that we are nearing the day when then the last of the native speakers is born.
What is the basis of those criticisms?
There are a number of grounds. Outside of the education sphere, the State’s approach to the Irish language encompasses two documents, one legislative and one political. The legislation is the Official Language Act, introduced by former minister Éamon Ó Cuív, which gave a statutory basis for the first time to the rights in respect of the language enshrined in the Constitution. In short, anybody who wishes to engage in Irish with the State or any of its agencies or bodies is entitled to do so. Some provisions of the Act – such as the requirement for bodies to translate into Irish annual reports and other important documents – became the subject of harsh criticism. As far back as 2004, Fine Gael’s John Deasy was identifying huge translation costs for documents that were never read in the Irish form.
However, one of the roles of the Coimisinéir Teanga was to ensure the Irish language obligations were being honoured. Among the more egregious cases he highlighted were the absence of Irish-speaking gardaí in the Donegal Gaeltacht of Gweedore (subsequently fully addressed by An Garda Síochána) as well as Revenue’s practice of having press releases translated into Irish in batches every three months to save costs, which rendered them pointless. The Act has seen some positive developments, particularly in relation to signage (and some documents). Both TG4 and Raidió na Gaeltachta are important contributors, and new movements such as Gaelscoileanna and Irish language activity on social media have become so widespread that they cannot be ignored at the political level.
The second document was the 20-year strategy for the Irish language, now in its third year of operation. Its aim is to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000. Mr Ó Cuirreáin said recently that after the first three years that “it would be difficult to meet anybody who thinks the target is realisable”. How does the Government compare with previous administrations in its attitude to Irish? Unlike previous governments, the Minister with responsibility for Irish, Dinny McGinley, is a junior rather than a senior minister. A lack of interest is evident across Government. A recent decision by the Department of Public Expenditure to end the 6 per cent bonus for Irish in Civil Service entrance exams was portrayed as a further nail in the coffin. Ó Cuirreáin has argued that under current rules it will take 28 years to increase the percentage of Irish speakers in the Department of Education (a key department) from a miserly 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent. Allied to that is a programme for Government commitment to consider getting rid of obligatory Irish for the Leaving Cert and a sense among language activists of antipathy towards the language within the public service. So was yesterday’s march important?Irish language groups, such as Conradh na Gaeilge, say that the Irish speaking community is getting angry at its second-class status.
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Irish language under threat
February 24, 2014
A chara, – As a Gaeilgeoir I prefer to communicate with government departments and State agencies as Gaeilge, but am coming to the conclusion there is an unofficial policy at Government level to discourage this. The following examples illustrate the point.
In the first year of the Local Property Tax, I wrote to the Revenue Commissioners requesting that all correspondence between them and me in that regard be done as Gaeilge, including explanatory booklet and bill. The request was ignored and I had no choice but to invoke the assistance of An Coimisinéir Teanga (the Language Commissioner).
I estimate that more than a dozen letters were written before that simple matter was successfully concluded – by me, by An Coimisinéir Teanga and by the Revenue Commissioners. Stout resistance was encountered from the last of those.
Recently I again had to invoke the assistance of An Coimisinéir Teanga to obtain the Irish language version of Form DD1 which applies to exemption from VAT and VRT for those with adaptations to their vehicles to suit a driver or passenger with a physical disability. Twice I wrote to Revenue for the form to be provided as Gaeilge but my request was ignored in favour of the English language version. The requested one finally arrived, as Gaeilge.
It is interesting to note that the Revenue Commissioners have an impressive website that pretends there is a choice of either official language but, on closer examination, it transpires that there are serious discrepancies.
By contrast, those in charge of collecting the household charge had no difficulty in doing the entire matter as Gaeilge and without fuss.
Many of my friends are Gaeilgeoirí but, sadly, several of them have abandoned their efforts to deal with the State as Gaeilge. They cite numerous examples of obstacles being placed in their paths.
Is it any wonder that Seán Ó Cuirreáin has resigned as An Coimisinéir Teanga?
Saturday’s march in Dublin shows there are many in this country who believe in the value of our uniqueness of language and richness of identity and also that most of those whom we have elected to lead us are not remotely interested.
– Is mise,
BRIAN Mac a’ BHAIRD,
Carraig Mhachaire Rois,
Co Mhuineacháin.
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Protest over Irish language rights held in Gaeltacht
February 24, 2014
The Government’s failure to protect linguistic rights of Irish speakers was denounced in the State’s largest Gaeltacht yesterday, when hundreds of people braved southerly gales for a demonstration in Connemara.
The “Slán le Seán” protest, as it was titled, was held to mark the last day in office of the first Irish language commissioner Seán Ó Cuirreáin, who announced his resignation late last year over the State’s lack of commitment to providing adequate services in Irish for Irish speakers.
Yesterday’s event – coming just a week after an estimated 10,000 people marched in Dublin – is part of a nationwide campaign to seek equal treatment for Irish speakers on both sides of the Border.
Anybody who wishes to engage in Irish with the State or any of its agencies or bodies is entitled to do so Why are Irish language groups protesting?
Reiterating that they were “dearg le fearg”, or “red with anger”, the demonstrators, represented by Colm Mac Donncha of Tuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta, presented a letter of tribute to Mr Ó Cuirreáín at his office in An Spidéal.
Mr Ó Cuirreáin said he was humbled by the level of support from Gaeltacht communities and Irish speakers across the island. “I always found it to be ironic that the State, which requires all students to study Irish up to Leaving Certificate level, it then fails to facilitate them, and in fact actively prevents them from using that language in dealing with State bodies,” he said, emphasising that his recommendations had all been “cost neutral”.
“To continue to do this over the years and generations is a folly which has pushed the language to the margins of society,” he said.
Mr Ó Cuirreáín said he wished his successor – the incoming Coimisinéir Teanga, Rónán Ó Domhnaill – “every success in meeting the challenges of protecting and promoting Irish language rights”.
A minute’s silence was held in memory of Éanna Griallais, a young man from Indreabhán who died over the weekend, before the participants then set out on foot from An Spidéal to Department of the Gaeltacht offices at Na Forbacha with banners and loud-hailers.
On arrival, actor and Fíbín theatre company producer Darach Ó Tuairisg read out a letter addressed to Minister of State Dinny McGinley, which was then presented to one of the department officials.
The letter calls for repeal or amendment of the Acht na Gaeltachta 2012 to ensure it sets the boundaries of the Gaeltacht according to linguistic criteria, and implementation of a clear policy throughout the Civil Service to ensure State services are provided through the medium of Irish.
Former Gaeltacht minister Éamon Ó Cuív and Sinn Féin senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh were among politicians at the demonstration, along with representatives from communities across the Connemara Gaeltacht.
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Irish language under threat
February 19, 2014
A chara, – I congratulate Rónán Ó Domhnaill on his nomination to the post of Language Commissioner (Pól Ó Muirí, February 11th). But I do not envy him.
Although the language and the Gaeltacht are cultural and economic resources which can, and do, benefit all on this island, and belong to all, both are under threat. The Gaeltacht is a rural area, and contact with the State is pervasive and frequently intrusive. The outgoing commissioner has documented and demonstrated that, despite the rhetoric, the State has long imposed compulsory English on the Gaeltacht for those who must avail of its services to live.
The Official Languages Act was intended to stem that erosion. However, it has been undermined by a niggardly implementation or by being ignored. The Act has been under review for two years now – and is likely to be further weakened when amended. Indeed, the Government has already announced the dismantling of the language commissioner’s independence by subsuming the office into that of the Ombudsman – one of the offices subject to oversight by the commissioner, and an important one at that as it deals with the public. As I believe the Gaeltacht and the language are important to the future of this country and State, and are part of all our heritage which deserves to be invested in to the benefit of all, I took part in Lá na Gaeilge on Saturday to urge the Government to reconsider and invest in rather than further erode the Gaeltacht.
I was heartened to find myself in a crowd of thousands, which I see as encouragement for the incoming language commissioner in his task of vindicating the rights of Irish speakers, by ensuring that government departments meet their legislative commitments generously and sensibly. I hope too that the Government will also take heed, and implement its promises in the 20-year strategy in a sensible and effective manner. – Is mise, le meas
AONGHUS Ó hALMHAIN,
Páirc na Seilbhe,
Baile an Chinnéidigh,
Co Chill Mhantáin.
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