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Irish language row erupts after Royal stamp of approval

New government plans to prioritize saving the Irish language in Gaeltacht areas

CATHAL DERVAN,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Friday, May 27, 2011, 8:21 AM

Updated Friday, May 27, 2011, 8:21 AM

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The junior minister with responsibility for the Irish language has announced government plans to prioritize saving the Irish language in Gaeltacht areas

A major row has broken out over the future of the Irish language – just days after the Queen of England and the President of America spoke their cupla focail (few words).

First, Queen Elizabeth drew gasps of astonishment when she opened her address in Irish to a state dinner in her honor at Dublin Castle.

Then President Barack Obama famously translated his ‘Yes We Can’ line into ‘Is Feidir Linn’ when he addressed thousands of well wishers at College Green in Dublin.

Now the junior minister with responsibility for the Irish language has announced government plans to prioritize saving the Irish language in Gaeltacht areas – much to the chagrin of opposition TDs in Ireland’s parliament.

They’ve slammed the proposals by Minister for State Dinny McGinley as elitist – claiming that the only hope to boost the number of native speakers from 80,000 to 250,000 in the next 20 years lies in a concentration on urban centres.

Junior Minister for Gaeltacht Affairs, McGinley has claimed the language may not last another 20 years in the traditional Irish speaking areas he controls.

“Developing Irish in the Gaeltacht is my biggest priority,” said the Fine Gael Minister as parliament debated a 20 year strategy for the language first introduced in 2006 which seeks to increase the number of daily Irish speakers to 250,000.

“US President Barack Obama said during his Dublin rally that broken Irish is better than clever English,” added McGinley.

His remarks were immediately castigated by various members of the opposition including Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and former Gaeltacht Minister Eamon O Cuiv of Fianna Fail.
Adams said: “We all own the language. It doesn’t matter about our political opinions.”

As for the words in Irish spoken in Dublin by Queen Elizabeth and President Obama, Adams remarked: “There is more Irish on the Queen’s website than on the Labor Party website.”
Independent deputy Catherine Murphy said: “Development of the language needs to be inclusive. The new avenues for revival of the language lie in urban areas, not in this government’s excusive emphasis on rural culture.

“There is almost an anti-establishment revival of the language at present. Many people who want a revival are not particularly interested in Irish dancing or Gaelic games but some people “believe Irish has to encompass all things or nothing.

“This creates a resistance in some people, which is not in the interests of the continued revival of the language”.

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seanomelbourne | May 29, 2011, 08:01 PM EDT

to many generations of no Irish in schools has made it difficult to pass on the language .We should never stop trying. The Lord Mayor of Belfast is a fluent speaker and an example to all of us.To loose your language is to loose pride in one's country.

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WoundedKnee | May 29, 2011, 11:38 AM EDT

"please don`t mouth off at me as if I am some ignorant English or American". Sounds like you're just some ignorant Irishman, Kilsally. If Irish has to be learned how come almost no one can speak it? And don't lie, you know very well that if you had the money and wanted to buy property in say Barna or Spiddal that no one could or would stop you.

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Kilsally | May 29, 2011, 10:18 AM EDT

You are just plain wrong George. There are several instances and you only have to use Google, where people are prevented from buying houses in Gaeltacht areas unless they speak Irish. The Irish language IS compulsory at school and in the civil service - The Garda have nly just changed their stipulation from having to have `Irish` to having a second language when I applied a couple of years back. So please don`t mouth off at me as if I am some ignorant English or American.

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GeorgeDillon | May 29, 2011, 10:01 AM EDT

kilsally: You're very uninformed. There is no longer any "Forced compulsory learning of the language". It has to be taught, but it doesn't have to be learned. As thousands of Irish teenagers show every year, they can spend a dozen years "learning" the language and emerge unable to count to three in it. I believe it's time to change the language's status on the curriculum in Ireland, and recognize that a large number of teenagers don't want to study it after about the age of 14/15. Your claim that there are "Laws banning the purchase of property in Gaeltacht areas" is just baloney. You're flatout wrong. I myself think that such laws should exist. In my own lifetime I have seen the near-death of an entire Gaeltacht (West Kerry) caused in great part by the uncontrolled influx of English speakers (and Polish speakers etc.) from outside. A sickly language is defenceless against the most powerful language in the world. Your final point "Irish as a prerequisite for Employment in the Civil Service" is wrong also, as you would quickly find out if you yourself had the ability to try to find an Irish-speaking Civil Servant to work with you on some issue. Try to learn more about the situation of Irish in Ireland before offering your ignorance here.

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sirpeter | May 29, 2011, 05:15 AM EDT

Go raibh maith agat Seano ;))

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seanomelbourne | May 28, 2011, 11:57 PM EDT

Maith on fear laith Sirpeter.

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Kilsally | May 28, 2011, 06:38 PM EDT

Forced compulsory learning of the language over the last several decades has seen nothing but decline of the language. Laws banning the purchase of property in Gaeltacht areas unless you speak Irish have not halted the decline. Irish as a prerequisite for Employment in the Civil Service has not halted the decline either......

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Realist | May 28, 2011, 02:06 PM EDT

hancock: I guess beggars can't be choosers eh? If the Irish decide to spend their British money on resurrecting the corpse of their national language rather than sorting out their economy - well, I suppose you lads know best....good luck with that by the way...lol.

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hancock | May 28, 2011, 10:26 AM EDT

The English don't go in their pocket without a reason. Seems they need the Irish a lot more than they let on.

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Realist | May 28, 2011, 05:58 AM EDT

It's truly heartbreaking but let's face it, the Irish language has been on life-support for some years now. In a decade or two it will only exist on paper or road signs. On the bright side, even in the digital age, some people still play vinyl records. As for both state visits - I think they went very well....particularly that of Her Majesty the Queen. Relations between the UK and the Republic of Ireland have been at last normalized and the Irish received the 3 things they value above all others: attention, sympathy, and a high interest loan from the British exchequer. Everyone’s a winner.

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GeorgeDillon | May 28, 2011, 02:15 AM EDT

jacersagain (What a stupid ID): Of course Cork is Queen's County, you chimp. Didn't you hear? Her Britannic Majesty awarded the title (it had lain vacant for a century) as a recognition of Cork's obsequiousness during her visit. Why can't you keep up?

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Jamcelt | May 28, 2011, 02:01 AM EDT

I wholeheartedly agree that the language has to be saved, as well as more widespread. I would suggest that schools stop forcing kids to learn poetry and verse, which the kids hate, and concentrate on keeping it real, teaching them Irish they can actually use.

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bonjouryall | May 27, 2011, 09:54 PM EDT

AS in Ireland, in southwest Louisiana, everyone can speak English but it's ony the older people who speak Cajun French. The younger ones just don't bother to learn anything but the cuss words. There seems no point to it to them. I knew more French than my cajun wife did. There are efforts to revitalize the language but it's mostly up to the cajun music industry, local civic and esp. tourist entities, with a smidgen of all French classes in the schools in the heart of the region. I don't see it lasting here another twenty years. It takes a major effort to keep a language going against the grain of more people speaking a different langauge, especially if they intermingle.

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sirpeter | May 27, 2011, 09:31 PM EDT

The language has to be practiced.To me this is the problem.I play cards every week with six guys.Two of us can speak fluent Irish.One night I said let's play cards as gaeilge and the others said they wouldn't have a hope of doing it.But playing cards when it comes to the game itself you don't need that much Irish.Within two weeks of practicing they knew a hell of alot more Irish then they thought they did.The basics were already in there.Pronouncing Irish seemed to come natural.They surprised themselves and were delighted.In every true Irish person I reckon there is an Irish speaker trying to get out.Of course there are some who are born and bred in Ireland and have only contempt for all things Irish,they are even on IC *Shock Horror.English values are what they aspire too.Jealous of our rich and beautiful culture they want to embrace but can't.But they are West Brit's and they are more to be pitied then mocked.But they are the enemy of Irish culture within both North and South of this island. A sad bunch of mental mongrels who live in Ireland with an incurable dose of Hibernophobia.A much more toxic and potent silent form of it's sister disease Anglophobia.

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seanomelbourne | May 27, 2011, 07:03 PM EDT

Jacer we seem to have a similar educational background although I must add we did Latin through Gaelic (St. Vincents Glasnevin). I believe to loose your language is to loose part of your self. Some posters on IC seem to have a hate of anything Irish.

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