The Irish Times carries an article titled
"Irish language: not just a Gaeltacht issue"
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0219/1224290260211.html

It always pains me to read negative quotes from well known native Irish speakers. It allows people to say 'See! Even the native speakers are saying it's dying!"

I wonder if the IT was being selective with its quotes?

quote:

“The Irish language is doomed, because even people in the Gaeltacht areas don’t speak it,” he says. “Any sensible person will agree on that. Kids living there can speak passable Irish but they use English diction and pick up words from television. So I think we need immediate help for Irish in the Gaeltacht areas.”

quote:

“I find myself half agreeing with the Fine Gael proposals because we have to stop paying lip service to the Irish language,” he says. “I think I would be a lot happier if people learned it because they liked to learn it rather than being forced to learn it. There is a lot of hypocrisy and cant associated with the Irish language. There are a lot of articles saying it would threaten jobs and industry in Connemara, that it would affect the Irish colleges. There is significant benefit to the private companies that run these schools and get public facilities at a cheap price. And it negates a proper development of tourism infrastructure because they are all geared up to the colleges and catering to bourgeois children from Dublin.”

One of the positives of FG's proposal is that it has increase the discussion about Irish. The Irish Times, the Indo and various forums are full of articles, blogs and discussions. Coupled with the recent TG4 debate, there is more discussion about the language in the media than at any time since at least 2007 when Irish became an official working language of the EU.

Well, he's correct in the fact that the Irish language isn't spoken in many of the Gaeltachtaí as a majority language, or even a working language. There's only a few fíor-ghaeltachtaí left, and a handful of other areas that at least make an effort.

We need to be honest about the status of the language and stop overestimating it's spread. We need to recognise how vulnerable it actually is.

quote:

It always pains me to read negative quotes from well known native Irish speakers. It allows people to say 'See! Even the native speakers are saying it's dying!"

You'll always find people who'd say things like that, about any minority language, even about minority languages that aren't in danger.
There are people who said that Irish was just about to die, even 200 years ago or so. Same thing with Breton (even in the 18th century, although most Western Bretons were monoglots in Breton there).
There are even people in France who say French is in danger!!!

People say it but it doesn't mean it's true.

quote:

There are even people in France who say French is in danger!!!

People say that here about English too! We're going to be speaking Spanish in 20 years! It is interesting to note that David Crystal was right about the Irish relying so heavily on the schools too create Irish fluency. It would be nice if the debate was widened out to the Strategy and place it as a piece in that plan. There are so many factors at play in the life of a student, that no one method or policy will do it.

(Message edited by seánw on February 20, 2011)

Irish isn't French.

It's a quote from a native speaker from Carna who has done well because he has Irish.

Blanket statements like "even people in the Gaeltacht areas don’t speak it" is defeatist. Why would someone even bother to learn the language? Breathnach should choose his words more wisely.

Breathnach is giving his opinion. People can agree or disagree with. Danny, are you suggesting that native speakers should be careful about voicing an opinion on their first language because it does nor conform to the views of some who are learners?

It's not an opinion. He's making a statement of apparent fact [according to him].

"people in the Gaeltacht areas don’t speak it"

The whole basis of his livelihood revolves around his ability to speak Irish FFS. He's lucky he has it.

quote:

"people in the Gaeltacht areas don’t speak it"

One should rather say "in the Gaeltachtai, there are some people who don't speak it"...

Maith thú, a Lughaidh!

Of course, things are not as well as they should be. But statistics show that Irish is in a state well above average even in weak Gaeltachts. A majority still knows Irish and a minority above average use it, exept a few districts.

But in the case of Mayo Gaeltacht, special attention is necessary. And Galway city districts should be removed from the Gaeltacht at any rate and included into general Irish language policies of the city.

Alex

1) Padraic Breathnach mostly acts/works in English now, so the charge of hypocrisy doesn't stick. In fact, he may feel that he couldn't have made a living through Irish. Very few people do. Certainly, some have used Irish to get to prominence and then made a career in English.

2) Beware of assuming a few quotes in an article represent a persons opinion accurately. Often the journalist will have phrased the question to prompt the answer that suits their thesis.

It is certainly impossible to make a living exclusively through Irish. Irish persons can well include Irish to different extent into their lives. In the fíor-Ghaeltachtaí, you can live more extentedly through Irish than in the rest of the country.

quote:

And Galway city districts should be removed from the Gaeltacht at any rate and included into general Irish language policies of the city.

Ah, ach dá mbeinnse i mo Thaoiseach ar Éirinn / If I were Taoiseach of Ireland and, if the Celtic Tiger returned with triplets, I would avail of those urban Gaeltacht areas to establish new urban Irish-speaking neighbourhoods... Comharsanacht Gaeltachta sa chathair. The glass is always half-full or half-empty. There are always opportunities.

The question would be who to admit and how to select na comharsana nua seo.

Obviously real Irish speakers all know each other by now. Some are even married to each other. Roinn na Gaeltachta has a record of all those who received the "deontas" over the last 30 years. All good native-Irish speakers.

The Department of Education has a record of attendees at Irish-medium secondary and primary schools. Good fluent learners but some with dodgy grammar and ghastly pronunciation. Nevertheless Irish is Irish ... They's improve with practice.

Radio na Gaeltachta has audio clips of us all. These could be resorted to if in doubt as to anyone's credentials

It should be easy enough to encourage lots of everyday speakers to avail of good quality housing at a very competitive price in a "nice" area with all sorts of advantages (clean leafy avenues and shelter from wind and rain!) and inducements (free child care in the local naíonra) to stay there.

Alas, for the urban Gaeltacht areas, nobody expects the existing residents to know Irish so those that do think nothing of it.

As for the Celtic Tiger, she is gone ...

As for me becoming Taoiseach, most unlikely, in fact after next Friday, the ultimate decision-maker on the Gaeltacht, on Irish, and on so much else that will affect our lives and pockets, may well be ... Enda Kenny.