Jim Yates Responds to Padraig Óg Ó Ruairc's ‘If Maltese is a European language, why not Irish?' Below - I respond to that

Irish language was marginalised by history

YOUR correspondent, Padraig Óg Ó Ruairc (‘If Maltese is a European language, why not Irish?, Irish Examiner letters, June 22) seems to miss the point of my letter (‘Irish language will never be the talk of Europe, Irish Examiner, June 15).

The fanatics I referred to were those who were blind to the reality of the true status of Irish, not someone like Pádraig who has gone to the trouble of learning what should have been his natural inheritance if history had been kinder to Ireland.

If independence had been achieved say 100 years earlier, then the language might have stood a chance.

But history is history and can’t be changed, so, unfortunately, Irish became one of its many casualties.

For Irish to make a revival there has to be the will of the people behind it and the evidence is clear as day that the vast majority are not interested.




They don’t want to get rid of it, but they don’t want to speak it either. People like Pádraig are thin on the ground and get thinner by the year.

He’s right. I don’t object to Maltese as an EU working language because all citizens of Malta speak Maltese.

Irish, however, is not spoken by the vast majority of the Irish people, so his argument that more people speak Irish than Maltese is very weak.

Padraig, as an Irish speaker, chose to write his letter in English. Case closed.

Jim Yates
93 Cill Cais
Old Bawn
Dublin 24
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Actually Mr. Yates statement that all citizens of Malta speak Maltese is wrong. There are 3 main languages of Malta. Malta has two official languages, Maltese and English. The English language is a leftover of almost 160 years of British colonization of Malta. In addition Italian is spoken by a large number of Maltese citizens and used to be an official language of the island nation. More and more young people speak Italian due to Italian TV and radio broadcasts. The wealthier Maltese have raised their children to speak English as their first and primary language. This was the case in Ireland during nearly 800 years of British colonization. The number of Maltese people fluent in Maltese has been dropping for many years in favor of English, Italian or more often a mixed language (a Pidgin) having elements of the others. This is also true of Ireland where Hiberno-English is more often heard than the Standard English of Britain although Hiberno-English is considered a dialect rather than an actual Pidgin. Due to British colonization the Maltese language has broken up into several dialects that have presented difficulties for speakers of one region to understand those of another. This happened in Ireland too where three primary dialects arose during British colonization and suppression of Irish and is only now being address through intercommunication between the dialectical areas. So Mr. Yates Maltese argument strengthens the Irish language cause since the case of Maltese so closely parallels that of Irish.

Joe

Language debate dominates Irish media

Belfast 6/25/2005 , by Eoghan O Neill

Despite the Irish language being somewhat neglected by journalists and commentators in Ireland in the past, it is at present one of the hottest topics in the media. The campaign for official status for the language in Europe, the cost of implementing the Official Languages Act, and the decision to affirm the Irish language name of a popular holiday resort as the sole official name, are presently the stuff of much controversy and debate.

While last week saw much reporting and congratulations after the success of the language in Europe, this week it was the implementation of the Official Languages Act which was under the spotlight. A front page article in the Irish Times questioned the cost of implementing elements of the Official Languages Act.

Under the title 'O Cuív's language Act set to eat into public body budgets' the article predicted a cost of millions of euro a year for the 642 public bodies who will be obliged to produce Irish language versions of their advertisements.

The story was of a similar nature to other media reports in recent times which have questioned the cost of having an Official Languages Act to guarantee services in Irish to citizens who speak Irish. The fact that this report made it to the front page of the influential Irish Times however ensured a period of claim and counter-claim.

The Irish Times article quoted a spokesperson for the national airline, Aer Lingus, as saying that the costs involved 'were not a small amount of money. We are in a competitive environment...this is not an anti-Irish language issue for us, it is far from that but is an issue that adds to our costs and not our competitors.'

In it's editorial the newspaper suggested that Minister Ó Cuív's approach to the issue risked alienating people from the Irish language. A message which prompted Seosamh Mac Donnacha, head of the Irish language promotion body, Foras na Gaeilge, to publicly defend the Act.

Mr Mac Donncha expressed the view that the way the newspaper had covered the story revealed a basic misunderstanding of the importance of the Act to Irish speakers, and to the implications of implementing the Act.

He reminded the Irish Times that the Irish language was afforded status as the first official language in the Constitution and that the state as such had a responsibility to support it. And he further stated, 'The cost of implementing the Act can be significantly reduced by making the best use of staff already available in the civil service, by evaluating Irish language competency when recruiting and by making the best use of bilingual design techniques when producing forms, reports etc."

And as a final thought, "It would appear from today's negative coverage that there is an opinion amongst The Irish Times editorial team that although the Irish language is valuable the State should not afford it any extra protection." A controversy, which is set to run.

The decision of Minister Ó Cuív to designate An Daingean as the sole official name of a town in County Kerry which was previously also known as Dingle has also fuelled the talk shows, the letters pages and the commentators. The designation is a result of the implementation of the Place Names Order (Ceantair Ghaeltachta) 2004 which gives legal status for the first time to Irish language versions of place-names in the Gaeltacht.

The issue has split locals in An Daingean, which is in the Gaeltacht, with some of them arguing that the town has been branded internationally for 30 years as Dingle and that the loss of that name would be detrimental to tourism.

Others welcomed the move which they say will emphasise the town's Gaelic identity and attract tourists. It's not clear as to which of the two camps are in the majority but the Minister is certainly not for turning, pointing out, "It's An Daingean, full stop. If you are in the Gaeltacht, one would imagine the first brand you would sell is the Irish language. The Irish language brand is the brand."

He emphasised that many visitors to Ireland come specifically to experience a culture and life which is distinct and different and that affirming the name An Daingean would enhance this.

While the various controversies rumble on English and Irish-speaking tennis fans have had a meeting of minds. It is the general consensus of all those who admire Wimbeldon that TG4's scoop in getting the broadcasting rights in Ireland is a fantastic bonus. In previous years Irish followers of Wimbledon have been somewhat discomforted by the British channels fixation with the British hopefuls and their constant references to Henman Hill. Cnoc Henman is rarely mentioned in TG4 reports. (Eurolang © 2005)

Windows pack launched as Gaeilge - Microsoft Fuinneoige agus Oifig 2003

Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív has launched Irish language packs for Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003.

Microsoft, in partnership with Foras na Gaeilge, has been working on the localisation of the Language Interface Pack (LIP) into the Irish language for the past year.

Other partners involved in supporting the work were EGTeo, DCU, eTeams and NUI Maynooth.
Both packs will be available to download from www.microsoft.com/ireland and www.gaeilge.ie at no charge for all users currently running Windows XP with Service Pack 2.