32 Comments

• 6countybrit | Mar 07, 2013, 09:20 AM EST

  Why don't Irishcentral come in Gaelic? That's right, cos the language is as dead as the chance of a United Ireland. LOL.

• seanomelb | Jun 27, 2012, 09:08 PM EDT

  love your 99% Ciara if you don't know the % don't make it up. I never passed any comment on the "visit" other than to say McGuinness would greet her in Gaelic and I was right and you bagged the idea of an Irish greeting and I'm out of tune. As for Betsy been queen of Australia I can assure you it was nothing to do with me I can also assure you that millions of Australia don't want her.You should stick to your west Brit "comfort zone" I have more knowledge of the "felling on the ground" than you think.Tell me is the screen on your computer pink when you don your rose tinted glasses?? Maybe we'll call it "the world according to Ciara" insular and naieve.

• ciaradexy | Jun 27, 2012, 11:28 AM EDT

  Seano, this meeting got a fantastic response here today. Maybe you should check out Irish sites like the journal and see how people are reacting. 99% of the people on there must be west Brits according to you living all the way over there in the Commonwealth with Queenie as your head of state.

• ciaradexy | Jun 27, 2012, 11:25 AM EDT

  Better travelled? Youre an old man Seano so Id hope so! You certainly have no idea what the felling on the ground is in Ireland which is the country youre commentng on constantly. Ankavker, why do you say Im being disagreeable? Theres nothing in my post thats arguing for arguments sake. I seem to be one of the few Irish on this site. You know the ones who live here and know whats going on in the country rather than those who get their 'news' via this site. If I got all my news about the US from Fox or CNN Id get a very skewed version of the news just like Americans do of Ireland from looking at this site.

• Beedee | Jun 27, 2012, 09:49 AM EDT

  WoundedKnee. I think you are smart enough to know what I meant. Think 'Dialect', then come back and tell me I am wrong

• seanomelb | Jun 26, 2012, 08:36 PM EDT

  Your ignorance is underwhelming Ciara I do not see the world through your west Brit rose tinted glasses and I bet I'm better traveled than you and in tune with current affairs. As for the idiot Dean Jackson the IRA has existed since 1918 and this stupid "modern IRA" clause is fanciful and childish.

• barneyjo | Jun 26, 2012, 05:09 PM EDT

  @DeanJackson - my apologies if my grasp of the history of my own country is not what I thought it was. I foolishly thought that the Provisional IRA was born out of a split (almost north/south) when the Official IRA opted to go the route of diplomacy. I foolishly thought that Sinn Fein had been active at periods throughout the history of the Irish State. But there you go you never know when you are going to learn something new about the history of your own country. Most grateful I'm sure :)

• ancavker | Jun 26, 2012, 04:30 PM EDT

  ciara: DO you ever get tired of being so disagreeable? And who appointed you as the spokeswoman for how all the Irish feel on any topic?

• ciaradexy | Jun 26, 2012, 06:55 AM EDT

  Seanomelb, you spend so much time reading about history that you have no idea whats happening now! You have no idea how people in Ireland feel now! Get your head out of the books and live in the real world. I read a crime novel a few weeks ago. It doesnt convince me that the US is full of murderers and rapists now does it? Real world Sean, try living in it. Bunker. ''Americans always think in terms of being equal''? What utter cr@p! The US is the most unequal society in the first world! Put down the spliff and cop on man!

• barneyjo | Jun 26, 2012, 05:29 AM EDT

  My reading of history tells me that the party was formed in Dublin at the end of the 19th Century, with the amalgamation of several pro-separatist groupings coming under the Sinn Fein Banner. Mind you the new name for this grouping (ie Sinn Fein) was coined at the inaugural meeting in Wynns Hotel, Lower Abbey St, by the lady who was acting as Minute taker; one Maire Butler by name. Of course she was a first cousin of Edward Carson, who went on to be regarded as the "Father of Ulster Unionism" so perhaps there was an "Agent Provocateur" in their midst after all, even from the early days :)

• seanomelb | Jun 25, 2012, 06:55 PM EDT

  Pooor old Deano can't get any traction from his conspiracy theory.LOL

• Seanmor | Jun 25, 2012, 05:23 PM EDT

  Last year before the queen visited Dublin and other places in the South, the "Belfast Telegraph" had many articles about the event. Beneath 4 or 5 of these articles were comments by me that suggested the English monarch be given "a hearty Céad Míme Fáilte". When she visits the other part of my homeland in the near future, I hope that McGuinness will greet her in similar fashion. Not only is the queen the head of the British state, she is also the head of the Churh of England, with which the Church of Ireland is in Communion with. That church is the only denomination that takes it name from the whole Irish nation and it- and all other Christian denominations - regard all of Ireland as a single entity.

• Bythebay | Jun 25, 2012, 02:02 PM EDT

  It's not called Gaelic, it's called Irish.

• bunkerhill | Jun 25, 2012, 10:05 AM EDT

  Wow! Ciaradexy is a "commoner," in her thinking. Americans always think in terms of being "equal" to everyone, the credo our beautiful country was founded on. We do not understand the thinking of "commoners," feeling often they have no choice. But now I know that for some reason there are people with a "commoner" mentality. To each his own as they say.

• IrelandNorth | Jun 25, 2012, 09:03 AM EDT

  Judging by HM's cupla focail in Dublin Castle, EIIR was speaking the Connacht Gaelic. She might find the Ulster dialect initially disconcerting. Martín McG: "A Dhaoine Úasal agus a cháirde. Tá alán sásta óram da meach na sé chóntae arais linn arís! Tá alán cíos ar dhiol." Éilís a dó: "Cád atá a rá agát, a Mhairtin? Thúg mó Sheansaleir na Bhreatan STG£32m (miliún phunt Sasanach) chun na 26 chontae rialtanais nuair a bhi me ansin an blian seo caite, an tuigin tú - go dtí Eireann Aontaithe. Nach bhfuil a fhios agat!" Mhairtin: Gabh mó leisceal, a Eilis! Tá brón orm anois. Seo dhuit póg mor!" PS A credible rumour doing the rounds in Dublin was that EIIR was late for Her Garden of Rememberance gig due to having been sworn in to Cumann na nBan in the footsteps of Pearse at the GPO by P. O'Neill, between Princes's and Henry Streets. That's right lads. The Queens's a Fenian! Éilis a dó is getting a Fáinne Dáite from a Mhártín.

• seanomelb | Jun 24, 2012, 08:09 PM EDT

  As usual Ciara you miss the point of my argument but thats not surprising as your little mind fails simple concepts.I may or may not have spent as much time in Ireland as you ,but my knowledge of Irish history far exceeds your meagre crumbs of wisdom.

• ciaradexy | Jun 24, 2012, 05:28 PM EDT

  sean, Im living in Ireland longer than you ever where so I hope youre enjoying life as a POM, Prisoner of her majesty. And again, we speak Irish. Gaelic is the general term used for the Scottish language while irish is the term used for our language. Does your head of state speak the language of the natives and was it the language the British royals are greeted in? Hardly. Did Enda waffle away As gaeilge to Obama when he arrived? No, he didnt. He used their common language like all respectful responsible adults should. Im sure you speak the Queens english beautifully over there in her land.

• WoundedKnee | Jun 24, 2012, 05:08 PM EDT

  beedee: There are only two Gaelics, Scots Gaelic and Irish. Might be a good idea to only post on things you know something about.

• Beedee | Jun 24, 2012, 02:55 AM EDT

  Nothing wrong with greeting the Queen in Gaelic. Unfortunately, there are many different 'Gaelics' it depends on where and what region it comes from. She may have learned only one, so she might think he's telling her a dirty joke!!

• seanomelb | Jun 23, 2012, 08:23 PM EDT

  Ciara to use a common Irish question "An bhfuil aon GAELGE AGAT?".Excuse my spelling it has been a few years.We speak Irish Gaelic as opposed to Scots Gaelic. You're nitpicking as usual.To greet Betsy in Gaelic would be the proper approach and assuage the feelings of those who are apprehensive or against the meeting.Ciara's ignorance in stating that their common language is English is typical of her lack of empathy or respect or knowledge for that matter of Irish history. AS I have stated before with her minuscule knowledge of Ireland she may as well live in Ulan Bator.

• ciaradexy | Jun 23, 2012, 05:46 PM EDT

  The language you are refering to is 'Irish' not Gaelic. Have some respect and get it right. This potential meeting is getting a great response in Ireland. Looking forward to shutting the bigots up especially the Americans who claim to know how we feel or who like to tell us how we should feel. The common language of the Queen and Martin is English so thats the language he should speak to her in and no doubt he will.

• bunkerisland | Jun 23, 2012, 03:11 PM EDT

  This is at least the fourth reference to the eventual meeting of Martin and the Queen. Like enough already!

• Searlit | Jun 23, 2012, 03:04 PM EDT

  @CitizenWhy that's just what I was thinking.Sláinte!

• FallsRNat | Jun 23, 2012, 01:27 PM EDT

  Henry VIII was appointed Defender of the Faith by the Pope & took the title with him when he created the Church of England, not H VII

• CitizenWhy | Jun 23, 2012, 01:17 PM EDT

  Would IC please stop referring to the Irish language as Gaelic? Thank you.

• CitizenWhy | Jun 23, 2012, 01:15 PM EDT

  If he's going to greet her at all, he needs to do so as a polite host, in a language she understands. A few Irish phrases would be appropriate, of course. And presumably he will call her Madame rather than Your Majesty, which makes a private meeting necessary for both sides. They will work it out. Both sides want to mo0ve forward, not live in then past.

• WoundedKnee | Jun 23, 2012, 01:08 PM EDT

  ColmODulachain ---I don't know anything about the lady you mention, so I'll make no comment on her Irish. But the poster nedwardatlarge obviously knows nothing about Ireland, or nothing about Irish, because his claim is nonsense. It is a fact that McGuinness knows not a word of Irish. Indeed in the recent election he was unable, unlike some of the other candidates, to do interviews or debate in Irish. Now whether or not he knows Irish is not a hugely important issue, but it does strike me as strange that Adams was able to pick up Irish, however imperfectly, in the H Blocks, but McGuinness wasn't. And it's even stranger that in the 15 or so years of relative peace in the north that McG hasn't made the effort to attend Irish classes.

• ColmODulachain | Jun 23, 2012, 12:14 PM EDT

  Right on Wounded Knee!I'd say her Irish is on par with his! I saw Carol Ni Chuilinn, Sinn Féin Minister for Culture, another non-Irish speaker presenting Fáinne's ( Irish language proficiency badges) to members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland !. Just because somebody's name is in Irish or that they are Shinners' does not confer on them a fluency or ownership of the language .

• nedwardatlarge | Jun 23, 2012, 11:01 AM EDT

  Portia it would be the land of EIREANN. WoundedKnee. The best Gaelic is now being spoken in the north and Martin McGuinness is brilliant at it.

• Portia777 | Jun 23, 2012, 10:18 AM EDT

  "If it happened then he would shake hands with the Queen but he would not be tipping his head or calling her 'Your Majesty'," he added.Rightly so as they are both puppets of the Vatican.King of England was given the land of Eire and her people as slaves by Pope 1172 to keep them under control and a fine job they all did.

• biggles008 | Jun 23, 2012, 10:06 AM EDT

  Good, It's about time we mooved foreward.

• WoundedKnee | Jun 23, 2012, 08:56 AM EDT

  Why not? I'd say McGuinness knows just as much Irish as the Queen.