Love for Irish language
March 14, 2013
I am writing in response to RTE1’s episode of ‘Prime Time’ aired on the night of Tuesday, March 12.
The topic discussed that interested me most was regarding the Irish language. I was delighted to see that quite a few people still have a great ‘gra’ for our native language and that it holds an important place in the lives of many. However, I was absolutely disgusted to hear the comments from Declan Lynch, who insisted that the Irish language is not part of us. These comments infuriated me, to say the least!
As a native Irish speaker who came from one of the Gaeltacht areas around the country, Irish has been a huge part of my life growing up and has had a massive role in shaping the person that I am today. Irish will always remain part of my life, my culture and my heritage.
I cannot express the annoyance I felt when Mr Lynch had the cheek to dismiss our native tongue. There are many people, young and old, working actively to keep the Irish language alive.
Take a look back over the past two weeks, events have been held nationwide to celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge 2013, all of these embracing and celebrating our native language.
I may not use Irish every day as I did when I was a child – working and studying away from home does not allow me to use Irish in my everyday life any more. But I do not intend to lose something so important to me. Irish is part of my national identity and I know that there are a lot of people out there who feel the same.
Katie Ni Leallaidh
Baile Ghib, Co na Mi
www.independent.ie
