Saw this report on BBC about Council of Europe criticising the Assembly about the Irish language and the proposed strategy: 'Euro experts blow to Executive language strategy' READ HERE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10614402

I am very interested in the Irish language situation here in N.I. I am constantly researching it. What are your thoughts as to the state of Gaeilge in Northern Ireland? Is the situation improving?

My thoughts:

With 76 Naíscoileanna and Bunscoileanna as well as 2 secondary schools and a post-primary unit the Irish medium education seems to be thriving with 3,285 students currently in Irish medium schools.

There also seems to be vibrant language communities/activists not only in the Gaeltacht Quarter and the Shaws Road Gaeltacht both in Belfast, but I've noticed also in places such as Ballycastle, Co. Tyrone, Derry.

Of course TG4 is widely available in Northern Ireland and will be made completely available on freeview through the switchover in 2012, there are some Irish language programs on BBC 2 (Seacht, Imeal Geal, Cad é an sceal etc), there is an Irish language radio station Raidió Fáilte catering to Belfast, an Irish radio program 'Blas' on BBC Ulster everyday at 7.30pm and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta is available to everyone.
There is also an NI based news site http://www.nuacht24.com/ funded by the Northern Ireland screen Irish Language Broadcast Fund (which has just received 15 million pounds from Westminster).

A shared future is of course needed as there is hostility towards the language 'as a political weapon' by unionists. However I found this video and it seems some Protestants are now learning the language or at least showing more tolerance towards it which is a great sign esp since it was Protestants in Cushendall, North Antrim who were major leaders in reviving the language at the start of this century: http://www.youtube.com/user/nuacht24#p/u/32/3QeR1yrX3u0

Anyway would love to hear your thoughts about the current situation, how it has improved and what needs to be done?

Antóin

Also found this 'A survey on attitudes towards Gaelic in North Antrim' which I found fascinating. Majority have very positive attitudes. Worth a read.

http://content.yudu.com/Library/A14u8q/SuirbhmrnaGaeilge/resources/index.htm?ref errerUrl=

My own personal view is that Irish is absolutely thriving in the North in a way that the Republic could only dream of. It was people led revival and without state support. I always tell other Irish speakers about the phenomenon that is the Shaws Road Gaeltacht the only urban Gaeltacht in Ireland and how when on a trip to the Falls Road heard children speaking Irish naturally on the street the irony which is not lost on me when I'm in An Spidéal and feck all Irish spoken among children. Falls Road is now a truely bilingual area. Also I am interested in Carn Tóchair and they seem to have a very bilingual community nearly all the children attend Irish medium schools and lots of families there are raising Irish speaking children. Derry City has a new Cultúrlann and again the language is thriving there. I'd like to know more about Ballycastle and trying to have cultural exchanges with Oiléan Ille? I think there is a festival there each Summer?

Iontaobhas Ultach does cross community work promoting Irish among Protestant Unionists however the next logical step would be teaching Irish as a subject in the Shankill Road where there is a history of Irish language involvement there were classes going from the Shankill to the Donegal Gaeltacht during the mid 1990's.

And something that's always intrigued me is why there has been no revival in South Armagh compared to other areas it seems the exception in the North for language revival?

In summary The language should be strengthened where it is a community language maybe official Gaeltacht status for those areas such as West Belfast and Carn Tóchair and Unionist area's should have Irish classes in the primary school if the demand is there. Any new non-denominational Gaelscoils only in the future.
Well done to all the Irish speakers in the six counties you should all be proud of what has been achieved since the 1970's.

My thinking is,even though I have never been to the North,that the majority would embrace the Ulster-Scots language more than Gaeilge,seeing that Northern Ireland would be mainly Unionist-not completely,but in terms of majority. When we see road signs in both Gaeilge and English in Northern Ireland,as we have here in Éire,that would tell a huge story.

Níl ann ach m'intinn féin,áfach.Ní raibh mise in Éire Thuaidh/Tuaisceart Éireann riamh,agus mar sin bhféidir nach bhfuil an ceart agamsa.

You also have to divide the topic between the Gaeltacht and the other north areas. Somewhat a different scene. I think the overall picture is improving ... slowly.

Irish in the North is doing very well , For all the above mentioned reasons. I have been involved in learning and events over the past 10 years and it is amazing the strides forward that have been achieved. But one would only know if one ws actualy involved and moved in those circles and a lot of what goes on in the North can pass under ther radar. So i like to think of it as bubbling very enthusiastically under the surface , but when it rise to the surface and beyond a lot of people will be surprised what has been done and achieved.

All the above posts are very encouraging and certainly show the way Irish can be promoted in the 26 counties. Unfortunately those hostile to Irish in the 26 counties are not easily identified as they profess love and admiration for Peig, Seathrún Céitinn, and Brian Ború -- "Now there was an Irish speaker!" -- but are not keen to see the language used by learners today nor do they want money spent on teaching or using it.

Irish speakers down south need to become visible and audible: with signage everywhere and a Cultúrlann and a Gaelscoil in every major town or at least in every county.

Any jobs that are to be given out -- especially those dealing with visitors and the public -- should not be given to the family of the guy who scored the winning goal for the county in 1935 nor to those descended from the mighty piper of Baile na Luchóg -- at least not unless they speak Irish willingly. Willingly. Not grudgingly. Giving such jobs to non-Irish speakers, however well-connected to well-known patriots in the locality, defeats the objective of getting a place where Irish can be spoken. It is just not possible. If the management speak English the Irish-speakers wont come. Try speaking Irish in Cluain Dolcáin* or in Baile na Manach*.

By all means and if necessary put an apartment in the premises and bring an Irish-speaking family from the heart of the Gaeltacht but don't have English-only i gceannas.

As for Ulster-Scots I love the idea of preserving and recording it. Our next-door neighbours know it well but would not dream of speaking it to anyone outside the community where they were reared. Unfortunately I can't imagine anyone wanting to learn it because there is a better dialect of it in use already, English. I am sure that when negotiations were going on between the two opposing sides in the North the two Governments saw advantages in recognising both languages and in supporting each equally.

Unfortunately since Ulster-Scots speakers are unlikely to want their children confined to that language they are unlikely to demand very much funding for All-Ulster-Scots schools or summer courses in the Lallans of Scotland.

If the Irish-language funding has to wait for Ulster-Scots funding to reach the same level I suggest including Lambeg Drums, Shinty, garters for Highland socks and plaid for kilts not to mention Bowler hats and Sashes in the other side of the scales in order to make up the figures. I bet they don't care a whit only get the money.

The Irish-language community will make good use of their share.

In the 26 counties more of an effort should be made to spend the money on the Gaeilge itself -- and those who use it, more especially on those who teach it and learn it -- rather than spreading it so widely that Michael Flatley might be included as might that noted Irish singer Shane McGowan, not to mention hurlers, footballers, fiddle players, turf cutters, trout fishermen and pint drinkers. All good popular Irish activities but not necessarily conducive to the use or promotion of Irish.

Concentrate the money on the cliabhán, the naíonra, the bunscoil, meánscoil, ollscoil, and the out-of-school activities -- and above all else keep the Fíor-Ghaeltacht going at all costs.
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*I'll be delighted to hear if the staff now speak Irish in Áras Crónáin and The Cultúrlann. Getting the funding is one thing. Using the language another.

There are quite a protestant learners in the north. This is an interesting article on their attitudes and reasons.

http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/language/mccoy97.htm

Maith agat Mcgilla.A really interesting essay by Gordon McCoy.I'd love to read the whole book,I wonder how things have changed since the ealy 90s when he was writing?

Things certainly are moving in the North.Possibly Irish language will become a cultural signifier of Irishness transcending Unionism/Nationalism or various religious attachments.

The language predates all these divisions.I love what one of the Protestants called it 'this thing which is not like anything else'.Quite,and it is everyones heritage,after all.