Irish Language

Deiseen

saabsaab wrote: »

Poll is now closed.



The interesting aspect for me was how many were actively anti-Irish language. I can understand those who are not bothered but to wish it ill will is another thing entirely. Those of this opinion are a small but significant minority and I feel that this has little to do with education and people of this mentality have been around since the beginning of the Irish State.

The poll I believe would be representative of the opinions held by the general public.

I bet you the people who want it dead are to first to get annoyed when we get mistaken for Brits.

Hamsterchops

The Irish language has unfortunately been "weaponised" since the foundation of the State, firstly it was introduced into our schools as our "First language" in the 1930s for no other purpose than to make sure everybody know we were now IRISH and not to be confused with the British anymore....

With constant waves every few years of promoting Irish as our 1st language, not that it's done much good, because it's still no more widely spoken now than it was in the 1930s, and maybe Irish as the spoken word has even deminished?

Taking things right up to date in 2019 and the Irish language is now been used as a weapon/ bargaining chip in the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly, "Either you give us our Irish language act" or we don't take part in the Assembly....
So says Michelle O'Neill/Mary Lou McDonald

Maybe after all these failed decades we should just let it find its natural place in society, which would probably confine it to the Gaeltacht areas of the country, ergo leaving the rest of us alone both North & South to speak & converse in our real first language, which is obviously English

Imreoir2

Hamsterchops wrote: »

The Irish language has unfortunately been "weaponised" since the foundation of the State, firstly it was introduced into our schools as our "First language" in the 1930s for no other purpose than to make sure everybody know we were now IRISH and not to be confused with the British anymore....

With constant waves every few years of promoting Irish as our 1st language, not that it's done much good, because it's still no more widely spoken now than it was in the 1930s, and maybe Irish as the spoken word has even deminished?

Taking things right up to date in 2019 and the Irish language is now been used as a weapon/ bargaining chip in the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly, "Either you give us our Irish language act" or we don't take part in the Assembly....
So says Michelle O'Neill/Mary Lou McDonald

Maybe after all these failed decades we should just let it find its natural place in society, which would probably confine it to the Gaeltacht areas of the country, ergo leaving the rest of us alone both North & South to speak & converse in our real first language, which is obviously English

Nice rant, but it is totally detached from reality. Go speak English all you like, you will find that in the real world no one is preventing you from doing so. Irish speakers face genuine state imposed restrictions when it comes to using their own lanugage. Penal laws from the 1730's against the use of Irish in the courts are still in force in NI today.

English has been used as a weapon of Anglicisation on this island for centuries. It is entirely natural and normal for a nation to use its own language. There are almost no examples of any people abandoning their language for someone elses by choice, it really only ever happens through violence and coercion. That is the case here, English was forced on Ireland.

Irish was not introduced in the thirties for no reason other than to remind people that we were no longer part of the UK. It was an expression of a newley free nation taking control of its own linguistic policy and acting to protect the language that had been the majority language of the island within living memory at that time, and which the previous colonial administration had done much to marginalise and force into decline.

Demanding legal status for the Irish language in any part of the island of Ireland is not weaponising the language, it is simply insisting on normal human rights enjoyed by people elsewhere on the island, elsewhere in the UK, in Europe and around the world. Only the most bigoted mindset would think it is acceptable to try to continue to discriminate against the Irish language in Ireland.

Ekerot

Ideally it would be compulsory up until end of primary school then optional from Secondary School onwards.

I'd consider myself well versed in Irish after attending the whole shebang from naíonra to Secondary in gaelscoils but even I can see it's not relevant to most peoples lives.

Atleast though we should make an effort to acknowledge it's existence to our young.