Seo dhaoibh:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1853128,00.html

Very interesting article...and good to see it published in Time. Maybe it will open a good portion of America's eyes to the fact that "Irish" isn't an accent, but a language. Ha.
As for the immigrant thing- well...they immigrated to Ireland. I think it's principally their business to integrate into society- and not society's job to bend knees for them. I see no reason for Ireland to cease expanding the gaelscoileanna and other language programs.

There have been arguments (as far as I've seen, generally from people who are, for one reason or another, against Irish) that people are sending their kids to gaelscoils are doing it because they don't want their kid going to a school that contains immigrants...or because Gaelscoileanna get better funding.
While I would find someone who is doing that to be quite tasteless, I daresay that the majority of kids in attendance are there because either their parents, they, or both wish for them to be bilingual in their native tongue.

There are a lot of critics, but I don't see the gaelscoileanna going anywhere anytime soon...and It was really cool to see a piece about Irish (and all of it's lovely issues) in Time Magazine.

"After decades of exodus, the tide of Irish migration took a definitive turn in the late 1980s, when the Irish diaspora started to come home"

Given that 1992 was the year of record out-migration, it shows once again (if proof is needed) that journalists can't research


"Walsh says living abroad for so long caused her family to return "more aware of our background and our 'Irishness.' "

'Irishness' is a term no-one would use who was not a) from America, b) exposed to cliches and BS about Ireland


"And though they still only comprise 5% of Ireland's schools, their number has tripled since the early 1990s. "

No mention is made of the agreement between the government and the church that has stymied that growth


"It's no longer regarded as 'uncool' to speak Irish." "

It's no longer uncool, but it's still not 'cool' either


"Ireland's constitutional vow to preserve its "native" language against the obligation as a modern country to integrate its increasing immigrant population."

How does that impact people integrating? That clause in the constitution is not taken seriously anyway, and natives are integrating into an English speaking society, so its a null point


""These schools could unintentionally lead to a kind of white flight from English-language education,"

Which would be a good thing if it led to more speakers. Anyway, if you are black just send the kids to a gaelscoil. Parents who do care more about education and that reflects itself in academic achievement as the children tune into the culture of application and work, and this will cut across class or background


"'My child is Irish, I'd like him or her to be fluent in the Irish language.'" "

He never will going there, but he'll get a good score in the Leaving. ha ha

Go raibh maith agat as an nasc san a Chionaoidh.

Do scríobh Bearn:

Given that 1992 was the year of record out-migration,

I don't know about the source/accuracy of that date, but I'd offer in return an admittedly anecdotal observation from an area of the U.S. (Massachusetts) that was among the top destinations for young Irish emigrants in the 1980s -- we saw a steady influx of young Irish (both legal & illegal) from 1984 to its peak in 1989, and then a more rapid departure homeward of same from 1990 to 1993. The to & fro numbers/rate seemed to level off then and remain steady through the remainder of the '90s.

If 1992 was truly a year of record out-migration, I wonder if it was simultaneously surpassed by the rate of those returning. The numbers of Irish emigrants here in the northeast U.S. was definitely shrinking rapidly by 1992.

it shows once again (if proof is needed) that journalists can't research

You seem rather disappointed with this article, Bearn. I'd offer the observation that there are far too few articles written in the mainstream press outside of Ireland that offer a positive view of Irish language education/usage -- whether the author was a bit off on stats or omitted a few points, I think we can call this "good press" for our efforts.

Le meas,
Cionaodh

1. Despair! (The dreary old attitude: any excuse is good enough to knock Irish - even a new one!)

quote:

...migration paths were being cut from China, Nigeria, Poland and many other countries. Between the late 1980s and today, the percentage of foreign-born residents in Ireland grew from around 1% to almost 12%. "People choose gaelscoileanna for all kinds of reasons, but realistically it would rarely be the first choice for newly arrived immigrants," says Colette Kavanagh, a principal at Esker Educate Together School in Lucan, a commuter town outside of Dublin.

That disconnect, says Kavanagh, could engender a defacto segregation in the Irish school system — and a potentially unfair distribution of more resources to Irish schools. "These schools could unintentionally lead to a kind of white flight from English-language education," she says.

Times have changed, haven't they? Is "concern for immigrants" the latest Trojan horse for conveying anti-Irish language sentiment? Were the immigrants' permission sought before they were instrumentalized?

Relatively speaking, the system of gaelscoileanna is still but a tender sapling but the desire - in some quarters - to have it stamped into the ground is apparently alive and kicking.



2. Hope!

quote:

Michal Boleslav Mechura, a 33-year-old resident of Dublin who immigrated from the Czech Republic ten years ago, became fluent in Irish and finds it useful in his own integration process. "People don't realize I'm not from here when I speak in Irish," Mechura says. "A lot of Irish people who speak Irish speak it as a second language and so we are all on the same footing. I fit in better in Irish."

Move over Colette, here comes Michal!

And a damned good website he has too!

I'm not disappointed in the article, but in the suggestion immigrants were having their rights curtailed by a minority language -give us a break.

Also, those amadans who talk about race and immigration mostly have never lived abroad

I went to secondary school in Clondalkin in Dublin. There's three secondary schools available to boys in Clondalkin. One of them is called Deansrath, and from what I hear there's widespread drug use and fighting throughout the school daily; I heard how one pupil got nailed to a wall by his shoulders in the metalwork class by fellow classmates. Then there's Moyle Park, which is more timid but doesn't have great teachers, and the pupils don't achieve very well in their Leaving Certificate. And then there's the gaelscoil called Coláiste Chillian which regularly has students achieving 600 points in the Leaving Certificate (the absolute maximum one can achieve).

Also I think a lot of people send their children to Coláiste Chillian because it's mixed-sex, which a lot of parents believe is advantageous to their child's personal development. (It's always annoyed me how English hasn't got a word for somebody's child who isn't still a child).

I remember when I was about 16 asking my parents why they had sent me to Moyle Park, why they hadn't sent me to Coláiste Chillian. One of their worse decisions.

quote:

I'm not disappointed in the article, but in the suggestion immigrants were having their rights curtailed by a minority language -give us a break.

The point I was making was that the person who made the outlandish suggestion that immigrants were having their rights curtailed by gaelscoileanna seems to be instrumentalizing immigrants as fresh new grist to the hoary old anti-Irish language mill.

If a new tactic is to cynically pit - "cynical" is probably too hard a term because it is second nature for many people to be anti-Irish language so they often act instinctively and unreflectingly - "concern for immigrant welfare" against gaelscoileanna I am certain (and hopeful!) that the gaelscoileanna will not fall into that trap and present their adversaries with a pretext to pounce at the - no doubt, longed for - opportunity to brand them as narrow-minded xenophobes.

And anyway, don't blame the immigrants - is inimiriceach mise féin!

Any one of the increasing number of immigrants speaking Irish is more valuable by far to the language than any of our tiresome, fuddy-duddy monolinguists.

Cad is Gaeilgeoir ann ach an té a labhrann Gaeilge, nach ea?

It sickens me when certain people use immigrants as a club to beat Irish with.

That said, the massive increase in immigration over the past five years has major implications for the status of the Irish language in Ireland. Should immigrant children with poor English be expected to study Irish up to the Leaving Cert as well? How long until people start calling for the removal of Irish as the first official (and "national") language in the Constitution? How many immigrants even know the Irish language exists?

"Should immigrant children with poor English be expected to study Irish up to the Leaving Cert as well?"

Yes...but since it's given such lipservice in the english-speaking native population, we should not be surprised if a blind eye is turned toward immigrant.

Besides...didn't Des Bishop say he didn't have to learn Irish because he was an immigrant? Or was that just because he came when he was 16 and that was considered too old to start?

I'm always very disappointed to see a mention of "immigrant language issues" that does not also mention iMeasc...

Yeah, I believe exemptions are common enough anyway.

As far as the article goes, it was quite good. Few typos, they actually used fadas (something most Irish people and newspapers are unwilling or unable to do) and they didn't refer to the language as "Gaelic" which is impressive considering it's an American magazine.

I agree that the "new Ireland" might help the language grow as people see that many of the immigrants moving to the country are bilingual or multilingual. Speaking Irish should be the most unexceptional thing in the world. But I think we're deluding ourselves if we think that Irish speaking immigrants will save the language. Last I heard, iMeasc has less than 100 members. That's a drop in the ocean compared to the hundreds of thousands who have come to Ireland over the past few years. But I applaud the organisation for what it's trying to achieve and for being crystal clear that they won't stand for immigrants being used as a weapon to further bash Irish. I believe this is something iMeasc's Ariel Killick did a year or two ago in one of the national newspapers.

Well on the whole immigrant thing, I'm not a fan of multi-culturalism. Spain should be Spanish. Nigeria should be Nigerian. Japan should be Japanese. Argentina should be Argentinian. Ireland should be Irish. Bringing an overwhelming amount of foreigners into an area just waters down the area's identity. I mean just look at England, it used to be full of English people.

It's fine letting foreigners in, but there should be a limit. My own view is that no more than 5% of a country's population should be foreign. It gets ridiculous when this figure reaches 10%.

Right now in Ireland, 10% of Irish people are Polish. Here's a good one for you: Have you ever been in Dublin City and wanted directions to somewhere? How long does it take you to find a Dubliner to ask? I find myself twisting my head around looking at faces thinking, hmm he looks French, he's black, he's Polish, ahh ahh he looks Irish, I'll ask him.

I was down in Cork City one time and I found it downright disturbing. I was in a pub, a normal local pub that is, and there was a huge crowd of drunken Polish people making loud Polish chants. I looked around the pub and it seemed there were more Polish people than Irish. Then when I went outside, there were a few bumbs lying around in filthy clothes drinking cans (which of course you'll find in Dublin City too), but then I realised the bumbs were Polish. Really looks like they've integrated into every stratum of society there.

Having foreigners around is great, they can be interesting and friendly, but put a limit on it. It sickens me that schools are reserving greater and greater percentages of places for foreign students.

When I was in primary school (about 1998), there were 3 classes for each year, and each year had 30 students, so that's 90 students per year. Of these 90 students in my particular last year in primary school, I can remember there being one foreigner, a pleasant intelligent Chinese boy (funnily enough he's fluent in Irish, his name was Daniel Wu and he took part in the small drama "Yu Ming is ainm dom"). Now though I think you'll find there's maybe five black kids in every primary school class (I single out black here because they're easy to identify from a distance, e.g. when I'm driving past a class of students).

Five foreign students in a class of thirty is in my opinion, RIDICULOUS. And that's only the black students, there's probably a few more Polish than I couldn't identify from a distance. Maybe only 80% of our primary schools are Irish.

Even here in Lao, I don't like socialising in the pubs that are predominantly white. When you walk into these pubs it's like "What the hell's going on, I'm supposed to be in Lao?". It just feels so unnatural, like an area is being taken over. I don't feel comfortable.

At the end of it all though, I wonder why anyone in Ireland has the energy to care. I mean the Ireland of today really has gone to shite. A pint of beer in a normal pub costs €5.10, which at today's exchange rate is US$6.45, but yet the people will do nothing about it; there hasn't been the slightest mention of bycotting pubs until the price drops. Nobody in Ireland gives much of a shit about anything nowadays to make things change, which is brilliant for the people who are out to make profit; look how much money people are throwing away just paying toll bridges to get to work. Add to that the fact that the country has been betrayed and prostituted by its recent rulers.

"I mean just look at England, it used to be full of English people. "

oh, so in some instances immigration can *improve* the neighborhood! ::rimshot:

sorry, couldn't resist.

Seriously, though, the first person in Kilronan I spoke to in Irish was a clerk at the Spar. I tried to ask directions...worked up the courage, figured out how to ask, refreshed my memory so I could recognize likely answers (this was my first attempt to use Irish in the gaeltacht).

She was polish...had to find a 16 year old girl from the stockroom to help me in Irish.

Guess I'm lucky to have grown up in a more phenotypically diverse country; I can't really walk down the street back home and guess 'he's American, she's not' with any great rate of success. If I needed directions I wouldn't waste my time looking for someone who looked American, I'd ask the first person I met who looked local - relaxed, knows where she's going, not peering at street signs like me.

What this has to do with Irish though is beyond me, so I'll stop now.

Tomas- your rant makes a lot of sense to me. I don't feel that at any time a country should apologise for their identities. That has happened a lot in the US. We've always been really nationalisitic (which, depending on who you are can be good or bad). But, I think that in recent years, as our nationalism has faded, our national identity and cohesion has faded with it.
It is a bigger issue in respect to Ireland, because it is really quite a homogenous country. I think it's massively important that people stay far away from feeling "guilty" about being who they are and taking pride in their national identities. It seems to me that after Hitler did all of the incredibly stupid things he did, old school nationalism died. I imagine this is largely because nobody wanted to look in that direction...nobody wanted to seem backward or radical.
It's high time there was a renaissance of cultural pride- not just in Ireland, but in a lot of nations. I feel many countries are suffering as a result of unbridled immigration and "politically correct" laws that are supposed to foster fairness between natives and immigrants, but just seems like a bunch of socialism (to me).

Ah, socialism! Most of the anti-communists as far as I can see, are on the government payroll!

"new Ireland"
What a nauseating term.

I agree with Tomás completely. In fact, the great majority of Irish people do.
Of course most people wouldn't dare to express this to anyone besides family or close friends (1) for fear of being condemned as "racist" and (2) because they are given the impression by the media that mass immigration is supported by the majority, is inevitable and can't be resisted.

Mass immigration means death not just for the Irish language but for Ireland as a distinct nation.
It will become just another piece of land with people living on it. A political unit. Nothing more.
There will be no meaning to being "Irish" other than having a passport with a harp on the cover.

Ive heard it's quite possible that in as little as 20 years the Irish will be a minority in our own country. That this could even be contemplated is insane. After spending the best part of a millennium struggling desperately to maintain our existence we're ow going allow ourselves to be swallowed up in the "multi-cultural" stew?

Every distinct ethnic group and culture needs a homeland in which to live and grow. Without this cultures become nothing more than quaint, calcified "traditions" being preserved and "carried on" by enthusiasts.

I (and I imagine most here) simply want my nation, language etc to survive. I don't want the Irish to end up like the Etruscans or the Prussians or any other people that have faded away into history.
Is this wrong? Is it "racist"?

immigration is inevitable and isn't a bad thing ... unless there are no limits on it. When I was in Dublin it was hard to find anyone to ask things of who could understand us and whom we could understand, and it wasn't because they were speaking Irish either. :) Correct me if I'm wrong but the impression I get is that there is no limit on how many Europeans from other countries can move to Eire. And here someone like Antaine is, cares about Irish and genuinely wants to live there and he can't, while people who couldn't care less about Ireland's traits can move there freely and unlimitedly, does this make sense? The thing is, my hypothesis, that since the economy is going down a bunch of those new folk will leave, is this possible or am I off base? After all, most of them came for the jobs etc. from what I've heard. I have tried to express my sentiments on the issue as tactfully as I can without compromising my position on the matter.

BTW I do think that its good that Time has this article, simply for the reason specified above, maybe some people will finally understand that there is an Irish language. My attempts to enlighten people here in America will be helped.


Is fuath liom an frasa " the new Ireland" freisin.

Beir bua agus beannacht

quote:

Correct me if I'm wrong but the impression I get is that there is no limit on how many Europeans from other countries can move to Eire.

100% correct. I can't remember going to the polling booth to vote on whether to prostitute my country. Seems the government of my country made that prostitutional decision for me. The Irish government are a pack of cowards, they've destroyed this country and they did a better job of it than the English. Bertie was too busy taking bribes to consider what's best for this country. And the shame is that there are some things that a country can never recover from (not any civilised country anyway).

And just as a quick aside: In the 21 years I've spent on this planet, I've had a knife pulled on me once. It happened outside a hotel in Clondalkin, and it was by a Polish man. He seemed to take offence to me playing with traffic cones.

quote:

And here someone like Antaine is, cares about Irish and genuinely wants to live there and he can't, while people who couldn't care less about Ireland's traits can move there freely and unlimitedly, does this make sense?

Lovely to see someone that can make sense of a situation.

quote:

The thing is, my hypothesis, that since the economy is going down a bunch of those new folk will leave, is this possible or am I off base?

I dunno... a lot of them don't speak English so they might not ever find out about the recession.

quote:

After all, most of them came for the jobs etc. from what I've heard. I have tried to express my sentiments on the issue as tactfully as I can without compromising my position on the matter.

Ríona you've been posting here for years, we know you're not unjustly racist/prejudiced/bigoted, you don't need to be careful about what you say.

quote:

Is fuath liom an frasa " the new Ireland" freisin.

And you want to know what really sickens me? I bet they're drilling this term into kids' heads from an early age. It might take fifteen years for these kids to realise (if they ever do) that multiculturalism is a warped euphemism for "foreigners coming in to water down my culture".

And here's a beautiful example of it: Did you hear about how in England, Muslim police officers are allowed to wear a special hat? Hello, my name's Hugh Butler, I'm English, I'm white, and all my four grandparents are English are white, and you're telling me that my Muslim co-worker can wear a special hat but I can't? You're really trying to tell me that not only are we re-shaping our country for foreigners, but we're also giving them more rights than we give ourselves?.

I agree with some of the sentiments being expressed here.

Here's another view:

Many Irish people were freely choosing to go another way long before the EU expansion and immigration explosion of the early 2000s.

I'm always amazed at how Britishized Ireland is. Some of the most popular TV shows and stations, newspapers and soccer clubs are English (or Scottish...in the case of Celtic in Glasgow). Obviously there's no need to get into the fact that most Irish people speak English and nothing but... (a smattering of halting school Irish used every once in awhile doesn't really count). Sure, there are differences but they pale in comparison to the differences *within* many independent countries...in Europe alone.

It's frustrating to see the lack of respect for Irish that's shown by many. Take the Irish Independent, for starters. Even many posters on this forum and elsewhere aren't immune when it comes to disregarding fadas. Or the lack of interest in making Irish something MORE than a symbolic piece of Irishness that's trotted out on special occasions (even though there DOES seem to be a mini-renaissance going on...especially in urban areas in the Galltacht at the moment...which is encouraging).

That said, I think it's absurd to suggest that Irish born people will become a minority in their own country in future years. Immigrants make up around 15% of the population. I can think of a few countries where the percentage is considerably higher (and has been for some time) and no such thing has occurred there.

Those hostile to Irish will take any chance they can to paint Irish speakers as xenophobic and/or snobby and/or ultra nationalist so I think it's important to be careful not to be too strident about it. Certainly immigrants won't decide the fate of the language.

quote:

I'm always amazed at how Britishized Ireland is. Some of the most popular TV shows and stations, newspapers and soccer clubs are English (or Scottish...in the case of Celtic in Glasgow).

Here's your typical working-class Dublin idiot:
1) He's vehemently against anything British, he'd probably burn the English flag if you gave him a chance, but he's proud of the Manchester United logo he has tattooed on his upper arm. (Manchester United is a football team from Manchester in England).
2) He's idiotically racist against blacks and can be heard using the N word regularly, yet he praises American gangster rap and has posters of Fifty Cent all over his bedroom.

At some point in evolution, these people lost the ability to think, and what's more they're proud of it -- have you seen the social networking site called Bebo? Dublin teens on it are actually proud of being stupid, e.g. "hi my names crystal im frm Ballyer, my frends say im a bit dizzy!". I know I'm going off on a tangent here but I really do have a list as long as my arm of what's wrong with Ireland. I've given up on Dublin altogether.

Cén bhaint atá aige seo ar fad le Gaeilge?
Tá aithne agamsa ar fear gorm le Gaeilge - agus is Éireannach an fear céanna, rugadh agus tógadh anseo é!

Is beag de síol Mhíle atá in Éirinn pé scéal é, dá mbeidh sibh ag lorg crann ginealaigh daoine chun cruthú gurbh Éireannaigh iad.

An Éireann Seán Óg Ó hAilpín? Jason Sherlock? Phil Lynott?

Bíodh splanc céille agaibh!

Cuireann sé olc orm cine a bhí spléach ar an inimirce ar feadh i bhfad ag ciatheamh anuas air inimircigh.

Níl Talbot Street i mBÁC pioc eagsumhal le Camden Town i Londain san 1970í - Gaeilge thall, Polainnais abhus.

Agus sin mo racht go n-uige seo.

quote:

Cén bhaint atá aige seo ar fad le Gaeilge?
Tá aithne agamsa ar fear gorm le Gaeilge - agus is Éireannach an fear céanna, rugadh agus tógadh anseo é!

It really depends on which "Irish people" you want to save. If you're talking about saving the Irish people that are alive today, then the Irish language is not a part of our culture. If you're talking about saving our Irish ancestors, then yes the Irish language is part of our culture.

If we go back a few hundred years, you could tell if someone was Irish by doing a DNA test. But as you say Aonghus, you know someone who's black, who speaks Irish, who was born and raised in Ireland. Obviously this person is Irish in every way possible even though a DNA test would indicate otherwise.

To be honest I don't even know myself what it means anymore to say preserve Irish culture. Is a culture defined by the colour of its skin, the language of its people, the customs of its people, the sports it plays, the things it finds funny?

I think "preserving Irish culture" means different things to different people. Maybe some people want to walk into an Irish pub to see that everyone's white. Maybe some people want to walk into a pub to hear everyone speaking Irish. Maybe some people want to walk into a pub to see that a GAA match is showing on the projector and everyone's watching intently. Or maybe someone just wants to walk into an Irish pub and be met with the kind of wit and humour that you only find in Irish people.

But beyond all this, let's get back to the topic of the Irish language. There are certainly a group of people whose Irish identity is invested in the Irish language, and OK I understand that. But what puzzles me is why they go to the bother of speaking the language if they're just going to interlace it with English? Surely that defeats the purpose of speaking Irish for the sake of cultural identity?

quote:

But beyond all this, let's get back to the topic of the Irish language.

Agus i nGaeilge freisin?? Bheadh sé sin go deas.

quote:

immigration is inevitable and isn't a bad thing ... unless there are no limits on it.

You've just hit the nail on the head - there aren't any limits on it at present. Of course some immigration is inevitable but unrestrained, society-transforming immigration of the type we've seen here in the last decade most certainly is not.

quote:

I can't remember going to the polling booth to vote on whether to prostitute my country. Seems the government of my country made that prostitutional decision for me. The Irish government are a pack of cowards, they've destroyed this country and they did a better job of it than the English

Well said.
The sight of Bertie Ahearn sitting in his office with a picture of Pádraig Mac Piarais behind him made my blood boil. Is this Mickey Mouse, Anglo-Irish statelet what Mac Piarais and all those other patriots over the centuries sacrificed their lives for?! Did they die for Bertie Ahearn and his ilk???

quote:

I'm always amazed at how Britishized
Ireland is.

Without a doubt this country is considerably more anglicised now than it was in 1908. The English had control of this country politically but they never conquered the minds of the vast majority of the Irish people. Today the situation is almost the opposite. The Irish, despite the independence of most of the country, have never been so assimilated.
That's one of the reasons our language is so crucially important. Without it we'll never be anything but "West-Brits".

quote:

I think it's absurd to suggest that Irish born people will become a minority in their own country in future years.

It may sound hard to believe but just consider the huge numbers that have come in the past 10 years alone. 500,000 at least.

quote:

Immigrants make up around 15% of the population.

That sounds a very conservative figure to me and, even if true, applies to now.

quote:

Cén bhaint atá aige seo ar fad le Gaeilge?

Cén baint atá ag marthanas an náisiúin Ghaedhealaigh leis an nGaedhilg??? An bhfuil tú i ndáirire?

quote:

An Éireann Seán Óg Ó hAilpín? Jason Sherlock? Phil Lynott?

Ní bhaineann roinnt Éireannach mór-le-rádh a bhfuil fréamhacha eachtrannacha acu leis an adhbhar.
Is é an tOll-Inimirce atá ar siubhal fá láthair ag athrughadh ár ndúthchais go léir, gan chead ar bith ó phobal na hÉireann, atá i gceist annseo.

quote:

Cuireann sé olc orm cine a bhí spléach ar an inimirce ar feadh i bhfad ag ciatheamh anuas air inimircigh.

Seafóid. Níor phlóduigh na hÉireannaigh isteach i dtíortha beaga eachtrannacha a bhfuil cultúr fá leith acu. Ar ndóigh chuaidh a lán Éireannach go Sasana agus go hAlbain ach (1) tháinig sluagh mór dá ndaoine-sean chun ár dtíre-ne i rith na mbliadhanta (2) nár chaith na Sasanaigh tamall fada ag iarraidh a chur ina luighe orainn gurbh aon chineadh amháin sinn - "British"? :)

Chuaidh an chuid is mó de na himircigh Éireannacha go Meiriceá, go Canada, go dtí'n Airgintín, go dtí'n Astráil srl - stáit "il-chultúrtha", atá comhdhéanta d'inimircigh.
Táid fós oscailte ag glacadh le hinimircigh (agus daoine ar maith leo a mbeathaí a chaitheamh i sochaidhe il-chultúrtha freisin).


(I think many people who grew up in the 60's and 70's are realising, to their dismay, that the extreme liberal/left wing views they were so confident would define the modern world are not shared by most of the succeding generations. Periods of extremism don't last. Thankfully, people's natural common sense wins out.)

Well, can I take this chance for us to think about what we can do to remedy the situation. Some of can teach, some advise, some bring up children speaking Irish, some even give land to create new Gaeltachtaí.

Anyway, to show that you can do little things, I made this last week:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgk36dcn_26hk5fn9fs&hl=en
You can read along, and since the phrases follow the pauses made by the speaker, it fixes them for speaking better.

And this a few weeks ago:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgk36dcn_23qz5tpwcx&hl=en

It only took 10 days once I really went at it. In a few months all of if will be done. Come on, let's be positive!

Nach bhfuil an comhrá seo sciorraithe i dtreo beagáinín náireach?

Tá ceart ag Aonghus.

An té a gcuirfidh 'eachtrannaigh' isteach air, caithfidh sé amharc isteach ann féin agus féachaint cén fáth.

Tá sé in am scéilín a scaoileadh libh a chairde.

Ag siúl i Sligeach mí ó shoin, lá a raibh teas ar éigean sa ghréin, chuala mé cailín meánscoile a bhí ina suí ar leac fuinneoige ag cur suas dá cairde le "Abair as Gaeilge é, abair as Gaeilge é". Ba léir dom gur chailín í a mbeadh an Bheangailis, an Urdúis, nó an Indis aici. Bhí de chosúlacht ar an scéal go raibh sí i mbun stailce in aghaidh an Bhéarla sa chomhluadar acu agus chonaic mé a cairde ag meangadh leí is lena chéile, amhail is a rá nárbh fheasach dóibh leigheas na stailce ach an Ghaeilge a labhairt. Bhí bean dá cairde ag tathaint uirthi is ag meangadh "aw come on ...., come on …..".

Bhí mé i ndiaidh siúl tharstu in achar bomaite ach d'fhan an chuimhne liom. B’iontach an léiriú é. Beidh an-tábhacht ag leithéidí an chailín sin don tír seo sa ghlúin atá ag teacht in inmhe anois, mo ghraidhin iad. Déanfaidh siad iontas oibre leis an tír seo a chur chun cinn thar lear agus ar an idirlíon, gan trácht ar an maith mhór a dhéanfaidh siad don chomluadar anseo in Éirinn.

Braithim go bhfuil an tír bheag seo le tarchéimniú amach as duibhe na staire a bhrúigh faoi chois í, a thacht óna teanga féin í agus braithim go mbeidh an Ghaeilg i gcroí láir an treisiú seo romhainn. Fágaimis poll an amhrais san áit ar tochlaíodh é, i nduibhe na staire.

Mar a dúirt Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin tráth, 'Cia dubh bán iad is ionúin liomsa clanna Gael' (lch. 85).

(Scríobh Amhlaoibh an lámhscríbhinn seo, ag uimhir a haon: http://www.isos.dias.ie/master.html?http://www.isos.dias.ie/libraries/CNR/irish/ index.html?ref=http://www.google.com/search?hl=ga&q=Amhlaoibh+%C3%93+S%C3%BAille abh%C3%A1in&start=10&sa=N )

Nuair a bhi me i dTir Chonaill, i nGleann Finne, an bhliain seo chaite, agus ag siul aon trathnona amhain, d'amharc me garsun og, ar fhod an bhothair. B'Indeach no Pakistanach e, b'fheidir. D'amharc se orm and d'amharc me air. Ag amharc agus ag amharc, agus bhi se ag cur iontas orm. D'amharc se orm agus d'amharc me air, beirt ag imirt leadoige lenar suile. Cen fath, an dtuigeann tu? Nach rabh se ach ag imirt iomanaiochta!

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An té a gcuirfidh 'eachtrannaigh' isteach air, caithfidh sé amharc isteach ann féin agus féachaint cén fáth.

Nílim cinnte má thuigim thú go beacht annseo.
Ar ndóigh tiocfaidh an focal "eachtrannaigh" isteach i gcomhrádh fá ghluaiseacht mhór eachtrannach isteach i nÉirinn. Níl aon mhasladh sa bhfocal mura gcuireann an léightheoir/éisteoir ann é.

quote:

Ag siúl i Sligeach mí ó shoin, lá a raibh teas ar éigean sa ghréin, chuala mé cailín meánscoile......

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Nuair a bhi me i dTir Chonaill, i nGleann Finne, an bhliain seo chaite, agus ag siul aon trathnona amhain, d'amharc me garsun og......

Scéilíní deasa iad. Ní dóigh liom go bhfuil baint acu leis an adhbhar - mura bhfuil sibh ag éileamh go n-éireochaidh an mhórchuid de na hinimircigh ina ndíograiseoirí Gaedhilge agus cultúir na hÉireann!
Ar ndóigh go bhfuil inimircigh áirithe ann a bhfásfaidh roinnt spéise sna rudaí sin ionntu ach ní sheasann siad do 99% díbh.
Dá mbeadh an t-inimirce don tír seo ar an mhionchóir agus dá mbeadh ár dteanga agus ár gcultúr duthchais láidir is féidir go nglacfadh an furmhór leo ach ní mar sin atá an scéal.

quote:

Braithim go bhfuil an tír bheag seo le tarchéimniú amach as duibhe na staire.....

Má shíleann tú go dtabharfaidh oll-inimirce ré iongantach nuadh leis ina n-ais-éireochfar an Ghaedhilg tá do shoirbh ag cur dallamullóige ort.
Bheadh sin cosmhail le Bunstoc na hAstráile ag súil go n-aiseagfar a gcultúr-san agus a dteangthacha-san ag daoine neamhEorpacha ag cur fúthu sa tír sin.

So, why could I find NO-ONE other than TWO people on Inis Mór, and two in B.A.C who were prepared to speak 'their' language with me, a learner? Did all those 'nasty, dirty, sweaty, smelly' Poles, Africans, Czechs, Russians, Chinese etc etc etc drive the language to near extinction in the last decade? What shite.

Was the wee shite-eater that assaulted my friend opposite the hallowed GPO a knife-wielding 'foreigner/auslander/untermensch'? No! He was some little half-pissed pissant from 7 Towers or BallyGangstaRappaWannabe with a chip on his shoulder the size of a King Edward spud.

DNA testing to prove 'Irishness'? Laughable. Do we exclude any markers for say Danish or Norwegian blood? Or Norman? Or any other ethnic/racial group? Wghat twaddle. I've met Chinese and Nigerian immigrants to Ireland who are more 'Irish' in their cultural outlook and their learning of, and reverence for, the language of their adopted country than half of the slack-jawed money-grubbing TV-addicted gombeens that claim their precious 'pure' Irish 'genetic' ancestry.

Just my opinion of course. And opinions are JUST LIKE A**HOLES - EVERYone has one.

Petty, begrudging, parochial, mean-spiritedness. THAT'S what will drive the final nails into the coffin-lid.

Now that everyone has had their say...

Lets move on. This board is for discussion of the Irish language, not tangentially related immigration issues.

Caoimhín