Liam Cosgrave's prophecy and Richie Ryan's legacy!

"There will be no weakening of Irish in the civil service and there will be a greater desire to use it..."

Liam Cosgrave, Taoiseach (L) & Riche Ryan, Minister for Finance. 

Richie Ryan was the Minister for Finance in the Fine Gael/Labour Party in the 1970s. There was a relatively strong movement at that time to abolish the necessity of Irish for candidates to work in the civil service. This came to a successful head when he announced the this in an announcement to the Dáil on the 27th Sept 1974.

He contrarily maintained that "...there will be no weakening of Irish in the civil service and there will be a greater desire to use it because of the ending of compulsion..." This despite the declaration at the time by a civil servant that the decision "...could lead eventually to a situation where few, if any, civil servants would have any knowledge of the language and it would almost certainly make it impossible to provide staff in sufficient numbers to deal with those who...would be entitled to expect to be able to conduct business in Irish with Government Departments and Offices..."

Even the Taoiseach of the time, Liam Cosgrave wrote prophetically in a memo, "the abolition of the requirement might cause some difficulties in regard to the Constitutional position of Irish as the first official language of the State and might lead to a situation where few civil servants would be able to conduct business in Irish with those members of the public who would wish and would be entitled to do so..." *

Today (14/5/2018) an article in the Irish on-line publication, Tuairisc.ie (ironically unavailable in many Gaeltacht area because of poor or unavailable broadband) demonstrates the fulfillment of Mr Cosgraves's prophecy is laid starkly bare.

They used the freedom of information (FOI) legislation to examine some correspondence on the great National Plan unveiled with great fanfare in the city of Sligo by The Taoiseach and Government on 16th February 2018. Apparently complaints had been made to the Coimisinéir Teanga about the unavailability of this policy document in the National Language which necessitated an official enquiry be sent to the relevent Department (Department of Public Expenditure and Reform). This instigated internal communications which demonstrate just how prophetic were the words of Liam Cosgrave.

An official response was made saying that the translation would issue "as soon as possible!" As yet no translation has appeared and presumable this lead to Tuairisc.ie making their enquiries under the Freedom of Information procedure. What they uncovered was illuminating of an attitude which is all to familiar to Irish people who wish to communicate with or be communicated by the Irish state in the National Language as is their Constitutional right.

The Coimisinéir's enquiry instigated some internal communications within the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform between the person responsible for replying and another functionary in the department. The advice was to state that a translation would be prepared "as soon as possible." The advisor continued, “It may also be helpful to state in the letter that efforts will be made to ensure that this does not reoccur.” 

The response back was shocking in its directness: “We just don’t have a capacity to deliver a letter in Irish, and can’t validate the detail of the complaint made (as it is in Irish). We also can’t particularly undertake that efforts will be undertaken to ensure this won’t recur, as presumably the Commissioner will expect a DPER corporate response to that effect.” To which the senior official responded “…I accept your point that you can’t particularly undertake that efforts will be undertaken to ensure this won’t recur at this time.”

Later this gem appears: “…It is most important that we respond correctly at this stage rather than have the matter escalated to a formal investigation by An Coimisinéir Teanga, which would be a lengthy and costly process given the amount of translating that your division would then have to be involved in.”

To date this 106 page document has not been provided in the National Language. The Coimisinéir Teanga has emphasised the importance that such documents are published bilingually and many people are upset that this does not seem to have happened in this instance.

A query made in 2013 still seems valid: "Are we foisting compulsory English in place of compulsory Irish in the state system of this country?"

* Details of research made by the previous Coimisinéir Teanga featured in an address made by him in 2013: National archive reveals shocking state cynicism!.  (4/9/2013). 

What connects a pony and cart in 1905 & drink driving in 2015! #CeartaTeanga

Language Rights: What a distance between the attitude today and the mind of Pearse!

Last Tuesday was the anniversary of a remarkable event in Irish, and possibly European history. An Ombdsman resigned. That may not be remarkable in itself but he fact that this ombudsman resigned on principle is. He resigned rather that be judged as "complicit in deceit."

Shortly before his resignation took place Seán Ó Cuirreáin said,  "The choice I had was to stand aside from my appointment as Coimisinéir Teanga on principle to draw attention to these matters or to continue in my role and, consequently, to participate in a pretence.  I am absolutely certain that I made the correct decision." (Oireachtas Sub Committee 23 Jan 2014)

Seán Ó Cuirreáin agus Uachtarán na hÉireann

It created a great sadness, not to say anger in the people who had felt more and more oppressed for many years now - the Irish speaking community in the Gaeltacht and throughout the rest of the country. They voiced their anger in large demonstrations in Dublin and Belfast attended by thousands of people. It also marked an extraordinary demonstration in South Conamara, Slán le Seán,  to mark this event and a very real affection for this man whom the President of Ireland called "one of the most courteous people I have ever met," and paid tribute to his " integrity and intellectual honesty." 

He has correctly maintained a strict silence since his resignation for a reasonable time. This has allowed his successor in office time to settle in and familiarise himself with the office.

Two court cases!
The journal Tuairisc.ie has invited a number of people to write articles on various aspects of life as part of the commemorations of the centenary of the 1916 Rising. One of these was Seáon Ó Cuirreáin and his piece was published on Thursday morning. It is entitled "100 years since the rising and compulsory English is all but inevitable!" (Gaeilge). In this article he compares two courtcases just over a century apart to illustrate the attitude of the State systems, albeit two different states, to the language, that language which is the oldest living written language in Europe.

P.H. Pearse - Counsel before Kings Bench

In this article he compares two legal cases. The first was a famous case in 1905, taken by the then British state against Niall Mac Giolla Bhríde of Craoslach in Co Donegal. He had been arrested by the local constabulary because the name he was obliged to have on the side of his cart was "illegible." It had been written in the old Gaelic Script. He was found guilty and fined two shillings. The case was appealed to the Court of the Kings Bench. P.H. Pearse was the defending counsel but the court judged that it was illegal for a person to use his name in Irish or in the Irish script.

One hundred and ten years later Mihai Avadenei, a Romanian, was arrested and found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol. On appeal he pointed out that the law had transgressed his language rights as the document, issued in Store Street Garda Station, in which the details of the levels on alcohol in his blood was in English alone whereas the law, enacted four years previously, clearly stated that it ought to be in both Irish and English. He had not claimed that he was an Irish speaker but relied solely on the wording of the law.

The Government regarded this not as a failure of the Garda authorities to act on the law but rather as a weakness in the law itself. An emergency ruling was issued to change this law stating that this form should be in English or in Irish rather than bilingual.

An Trucailín Donn Lá aonaigh san earrach 's mé 'taisteal go triopallach, Trasna an droichid i Muileann na hAbhann, Sea chonaic mé Bobby gurbh ainm dó Thuigyme, 'S é ag druidim 'mo choinne go teann. Agus óro bog liom í, bog liom í bog liom í, Óro bog liom í an trucailín donn. Óro bog liom í, druid liom í, corraigh í, Óro bog liom í an trucailín donn. Ba ghairid go bhfaca mé asal is trucail bheag, Chugainn ar sodar faoi Mhícheál an Gabha, Siúd leis an Bobby: "This cart has no signature, Only a lingo I cannot make out!" Agus óro bog liom í... "Your name my good man, and answer right quickly now." "Amharc ar an trucail, nó an bhfuileann tú dall? Tá m'ainmse breacaithe i dteanga a thuigimse Is fógraím tusa go hIfreann lom!" Agus óro bog liom í... "Ten shillings with costs or a fortnight's imprisonment, Next on the list. Take this reprobate down!" "Cuirtear faoi ghlasa mé feasta, a ghlagaire, Pingin de m'sheilbh ní fheicfidh sibh ann." Agus óro bog liom í... Níl trucail gan ainm bhreá lacanta legible, Gaeilge le feiceáil i Muileann na hAbhann Agus ceardaithe an bhaile sea tugaid ar Thuigyme, Fós ná "Trucailín Mhicín an Gabha". This is a popular little song written commemorating the story of Niall Mac Giolla Bhríde's little brown cart.

Ó Cuirreáin states that it is difficult to believe that there was a deficiency in a law that was amended urgently in 2015. There was however a significant failing in the following of this law by the Garda Authorities. The simple cure for this problem was an direction to the Garda to amend their system fully to comply with the law as originally formatted in 2011. However for some reason it appears it was easier to change the law than to fulfill it.

These two court cases - 110 years apart - show how difficult it appears to be to create or to allow a space in the the administration of the law and the courts for "the language of the Gael!"

Not only the courts
But, maintains the former Coimisnéir, this problem does not apply to the courts alone.

In 1928, his research has shown, the Government of the day decided to allow a period of three years for all state services to be available in the language of the people to Gaeltacht areas. His research further discovered that between 1928 and 1966 this direction was postponed 54 times for a further six to twelve months. (see report on the opening of Coláiste na hÉireann - 4 Sept 2013). In fact this regulation was never implemented.

In 1974 Richie Ryan, then Minister for Finance, announced as a further strengthening rather than a weakening of the position of Irish the abolition of a requirement of knowledge of Irish in the civil service. Indeed after his appointment as Comisinéir, Seán Ó Cuirreáin discovered that the points system that was instituted to protect the use of Irish in state services was never correctly operated. When this was pointed the Government instituted an even worse system despite the fact that the Coimisinéir wrote to both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste of the day that the State employees would provide a service in Irish on a "voluntary" system. It is obvious he maintains, that this is a further marginalisation of services from the state in the National Language.

Quite frankly he says, "it appears to me that it is a cynical exercise, without any advantage to language rights, to promise the community language rights in law without ensuring an effective system to ensure the availability of those rights; that is not the case at present." (our translation)

He maintains that there are indeed some advances for Irish, for instance in communications media and the education system. But it is cast to one side more than ever in the public administration system and there is no sign to be seen at present that this will change!

There are of course some state employees who support and understand the position of the language but they are a minority and sidelined. Over all are those for whom, in the words of An tUachtarán, Micheál D Ó hUiginn some years ago, "..the Irish language isn’t half dead enough.” There are those too who believe there is a simple answer to those who select, or who have been born speaking Irish - "Speak Irish with each other but speak English to us!"

What a distance there is between that attitude and that which he imagines was strongly in the heart of Pearse of an Ireland "Free and Gaelic" and he defending the position of Niall Mac Giolla Bhríde before the Kings Bench in 2005.

Enda sends a linguistic message!

Speak Irish among yourselves, but don’t speak it to us!

I don't know Joe McHugh. They say he is a competant professional and I'm sure they are right! But he has been selected to work in a area for which he is extraordinarily illprepared. He cannot interact with the people on who's behalf he is supposed to be working. This is a pity because he is guaranteed no time to ease into his position but has been despatched on a short course to "brush up" on his Irish. The fact that the Taoiseach thinks that one short course will achieve the fluency that fourteen years failed to do speaks volumes for the naivety of Enda Kenny.

Does he?

The anger of the public has been demonstrated by the intensity of twitter and facebook contributions since the appointment was made. The reactions ranged from total incomprehension to deep anger and frustration. In this writers experience it is even more intense that that generated thn the twitter storm generated by the principled resignation of the first Language Commissioner. Remember the reasons he gave for his resignation and the conclusion he came to:

"The choice I had was to stand aside from my appointment as Coimisinéir Teanga on principle to draw attention to these matters or to continue in my role and, consequently, to participate in a pretence." 

(Address to Joint Oireachtas Committee, 23 Jan 2014)

Does anyone believe that this decision of our Taoiseach gives the lie to this statement? He is reported as saying that the lack of facility of the new Minister is an advantage in that it draws attention to the language. What on earth does he believe the responsibility for "Gaeltacht Affairs" is about?

Tom O'Donnell, TD Some people point to the appointment of Tom O'Donnell as Minister for the Gaeltacht in 1973 as somebody with less than fluent Irish. I actually remember him attending functions back then and hearing him speak. Though he could hardly be called an exponent of Ciceronian-rhetoric, in either language, he made his points succinctly and clearly and in Irish. There is another difference, he was a senior minister who sat at Cabinet with the sole responsibility for the Gaeltacht. The last such. Whether he was successful as a Gaeltacht minister is another matter  - enthusiastic and active for the development of the Gaeltacht areas he was indeed. The status of Irish in the Civil Service however was demoted by his Minister for Finance, Richie Ryan and suffered a blow from which it has never recovered. This and other administrations conduct down the years was commented on by Seán Ó Cuirreáin some months before his decision to resign in an address on the launching of Coláiste na hÉireann.

The Taoiseach said, in a comment which could indeed be interpreted as insulting to the the new Minister of State, that he had little choice but to select Mr McHugh with such a small pool of suitable candidates. He actually sacked at least two Ministers of State with fluency and experience in using the language, in this shuffle.

 There is of course one fresh face he overlooked which has almost the same criteria as the man selected. His only disadvantage being that he is a frst time TD (This did not seem to be a problem though in other appointments!) The man I am talking about lives in a area peripheral to the Gaeltacht. He is in a constituency ripe for yet another TD from the Sinn Féin party with an articulate and enthusiastic candidate from deep with in the strongest area of the Gaeltacht straining at the leash. The difference between this Seán Kyne and the one selected is that he has demonstrated an enthusiasm for his constituents, improving the Irish he learnt in the fourteen years in order to better serve constituents living in Gaeltacht areas. He has shared information on his website and the social media networks in that language. Because of this he has earned the respect and indeed praise of many members of the public and indeed his political enemys. Contrast with Mr McHugh whose tweets and statements before his appointment are exclusively in English and he had displayed thus far no interest and indeed little knowledge of the problems experienced by Irish speakers in dealing with the state.

This decision of our Taoiseach leaves many people speechless, angry and uncomprehending. The only place many Irish speakers can vent this is in the electronic media since the Irish speaking print media has effectively been gagged by a Government financed QUANGO. (see also "The Gaeltacht Voice is silenced!") Nevertheless the controversy has managed to penetrate into the usually hostile or at best indifferent English print and vision media.

Many Irish people were incredulous when the "Irish" Daily Mail's main headline, "An insult to our language!" And look at this from the Belfast Telegraph - New Gaeltacht ministers who can't speak Irish 'will become fluent'

Champion of the Irish Language!

Hidden away in the Treibh section of the Irish Times on Tuesday was an article, The wouldn't would they? which indicates some of the wonder this decision has engendred. The writer replys to his own question, "Well, they just did and we now have a Gaeltacht minister who doesn’t have enough Irish to conduct a credible live interview about Gaeltacht affairs with RnaG or Nuacht TG4. The disbelief at the promotion of McHugh is, of course, no reflection on a capable, hard-working and respected public servant, but choosing to assign to him the Gaeltacht brief...." Thursday's (17/7/2014) Irish Times  has a plethera of letters as well. Later on the Saturday morning the Editorial commented: A tongue-tied minister. (19/7/2014). The organ of the Irish in America, Irish Central, said "Irish language minister with poor Irish is a complete farce and insult!" (22/7/2014) and Sunday Independent, It seems we are destined to forever talk about Irish and never get around to actually speaking it (John Downing 27/7/2014).
A tweet which says, "The whole thing reads like an unaired epsode from Fr Ted," directs to this article in the Irish Independent! The story even reached the hallowed pages of the BBC's Europe site, "Irish protest as 'rusty' minister Joe McHugh books course!" and God alone where else!

 All these comments and accounts point to an understanding of this Government's and the whole State Bureaucracy's attitude as “Speak Irish among yourselves, but don’t speak it to us!”

 The "language question" is extremly complex in all juristrictions. One just has to follow the tweets of Indigenous Tweets to see that.  or to read the report of the first International Conference of Language Commissioners and Ombudsman to realize that. Perhaps one of the Canadian Commissioners encapsulted the philosophy behind language rights in a single sentence, "We are talking not only about rights here but about the right thing to do!"

Enda Kenny has not done the right thing.

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But at least he's not a woman....

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• "The middle classes think it a sign of vulgarity to speak Irish."

Thomas Davis, Young Ireland, 1845

• "We must bring pressure upon our politicians not to snuff it (Irish) out by their tacit discouragement merely because they do not happen themselves to understand it."

Douglas Hyde (1892)

• "There can be no greater delusion than to imagine that a language can be kept alive alone by teaching."

 Eoin Mac Neill (1900)

"I believe that the language is continuously being edged aside, pushed towards the margins of society and that includes much of the public sector. I would not support the premise that the fault lies primarily with politicians but it appears to me, notwithstanding those within the State sector who support the language, that there are stronger and more widespread forces in place who have little or no concern for the future of our national language"

Seán Ó Cuirreáin (2014)

Now we know the state of play!

The current government has not made a single decision which encourages the use of Irish among the people. 

See other articles and comments on this decision at bottom of page!

My basis for this startling statement is the list of hypocritical statements and decisions made, some under the apparent guise of fiscal rectitude and others based on esoteric and dubious linguistic meanderings hidden deep in the inscrutable minds of those who inhabit Merrion Street! It has not made a single decision which encourages those small areas of our people where Irish is the vocabulary to develop and grow as an Irish speaking community. It has not made a single decision which was applauded with enthusiasm by any Irish Language organisation. Indeed the only piece of legislation that it has put on the books, the Gaeltacht Act 2012, was guillotined through the Oireachtas.

Aire ró-chiúin na Gaeltachta

As far as I can see they have never produced a single language planning professional, independent (or indeed dependent) in support of their position. All they do time and time again is wheel out a hapless Junior Minister to defend the indefensible (The actual minister of the Gaeltacht appears incapable of speaking to or for the people under his care!).

More readily disposed to use Irish?
The latest debacle is their decision made to abolish a system of attributing points for language proficiency, instituted by the last Fine Gael/Labour interparty government in 1974. In that year Richie Ryan abolished the requirement for proficiency in both Irish and English in candidates for the civil service. He stated that he was “satisfied that by replacing the compulsion which did so much damage to the Irish language over the past half century with enthusiasm for the language, we will have people more readily disposed to use Irish.” (see Richie Ryan decision made language marginal 4/2/2011)

Some years ago the Coimisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin, made a finding in this matter after two investigations. His report for 2011 stated that these both "found that the Department of Social Protection failed to correctly award bonus marks for competence in Irish and English in internal promotion competitions. 

"The system, which is in operation since 1975, was set up as a replacement for ‘compulsory’ Irish, and  it was designed to ensure that Irish-speaking staff would be available at all grades in the Civil Service. 

"The Department of Social Protection did not appeal the decision of the investigation to the High  Court, but neither did it implement the recommendations. That in itself is a matter of concern but the  situation is made worse by the knowledge that the practice of failing to award bonus marks correctly  is common throughout the Civil Service. " (Report 2011)

The fact that the Department did not appeal the decision, as was it's right, meant that the finding of the Comisinéir stood. However as they also failed to act on his decision, he laid the matter before the Oireachtas. The relevant Houses of the Oireachtas committee has heard submissions but no report has issued as yet.

Left untried!
Today's Irish Times reports, "At the weekly Cabinet meeting, Ministers accepted a recommendation by Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin to discontinue the bonus points system on the basis that it is an anomaly and its intention of promoting Irish speakers within the Civil Service has not worked."

Thus instead of having the courtesy of waiting for the report of the Oireachtas Committee the government dictated its own judgement. It stated that the system is an anomaly and does not work. One is tempted to ask "How do you know?" since, as the Comisinéir found, it was not so much that the system failed but rather that the system was never operated.

There is a saying of the eminent English apologist G.K. Chesterton in another matter which comes to mind, 'The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.' (GKC, What's Wrong with the World, 1910).

Less than hollow!
The report in today's Irish Times goes on to say: "Mr Howlin’s department has yet to devise a specific plan to achieve this aim. It has indicated panels will be set aside for those who are fluent or proficient in Irish."  How this will actually work is not stated. Unlike the Ryan decision we are not even palmed off with a hollow statement that this might be helpful development for the language. In fact it is little less than a further reduction and retreat from minimalist position adopted in 1974, a position which has led to the position that only 1.5% of the staff Department of Education can conduct business in Irish, not to mention the other Departments.

There is no obvious saving of resources in this decision. It appears it is in fact a further change in policy in relation to our language. A policy which will instead of encouraging the use of Irish among Civil Servants will positively militate against its use by establishing quotas. Why would a civil servant seek to improve his knowledge of Irish? It is in fact a further isolated from "real-life!"

It is hardly a month ago since the Comisinéir Teanga addressed the opening of Coláiste na Gaeilge in Dublin and spoke about the hypocracy of successive Governments since 1928. At the conclusion of his address he listed two things to be included in the new Language Act which would demonstrate the current Government's  good-will.

"1. To copperfasten in the Act that every employee dealing with the Gaeltacht community be proficient in the language.

2. The the position of Irish in staff recruitment to the public service in general be dealt with clearly.

If these two questions are dealt with in the amendment process (of the Language Act) there would be some hope that progress could be made. If these questions are avoided, or if a lukewarm effort or further wearysome pretences are introduced, we will understand more clearly the state of play and the direction of the wind!" (My translation)

I fear that the Kenny/Gilmore government have given him and us his answer!

The answer is brutal!

Verily we now know the state of play and the direction of the wind!

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These are comments and statements on this the latest blow struck against our language by an uncaring government! 

The Commentator "An Sionnach Fionn" has quoted extensively from this in his blog, "SOWING A GAELIC STORM". I'm not sure that I like the terms Hibernophone and Anglophone and would hardly think of myself in such terms. I think Gael is a far more humane term!

Cén fáth go bhfoghlaimeodh aon stát seirbhíseach an Ghaeilge a thuilleadh? (An Tuairisceoir, 31/10/2013)
Deireadh le pointí bónais as Gaeilge – fíorscanradh na Samhna (Nuacht24, 31/10/2013)
Abolition of points system means there won’t be enough Irish speaking civil servants, claims group (The Journal, 1/11/2013)
An Ghaeilge deemed unnecessary for 94% of civil servants (Gaelport, 5/11/2013)
Since the Government through Foras na Gaeilge suddenly withdrew support for the Irish newspaper Gaelscéal there is little printed news published in Irish. This from the Irish Times: ‘Buille eile’ don teanga sa socrú nua státseirbhíse (6/11/2013).
Written response (in English to a Notice Question in Irish) from the Minister of Public Service, Irish Language Proficiency in the Civil Service. (Seanad Éireann, 6/11/2013)
Buile do phobal na Gaeltachta agus Gaeilge (Galway Advertiser, 7/11/2013)
Irish civil service incentive cut (Letter, Irish Times, 7/11/2013)

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National archive reveals shocking state cynicism!

"Are we - as we approach to the one hundredth anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising - to foist compulsory English in place of compulsory Irish in the state system of this country?"

At an event in Dublin on the 3 September 2013, the Coimisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin  officially launched Coláiste na hÉireann and its first course, a Postgraduate Diploma in Translation. Coláiste na nÉireann is a new third-level institution founded by the organisation Gaelchultúr.

In a short address prior to the official launch the Coimisinéir shared some startling information which, as he said, makes it difficult to view the Irish language policy of the Irish state from 1928 other than as an excercise in cynicism, deception and long fingering! (The text of the speech may be found in Irish here on the website of the Office of the Coimisinéir Teanga!)

In June 1928 the then Minister of Local Government & Health, Risteárd Ua Maolchatha, introduced Legal Instrument (No 23 0f 1928) which specified that any local or health authority employee with duties in the Gaeltacht (Irish speaking area) be given three years to learn sufficient Irish to be able to perform their duties in the local language. If they failed to do this they were to be let go.

In 1944 Seán McEntee, the thne minister with these responsibilities strengthened the scope these provisions (No74/1944) with the same three year period as in the first instrument. This means that there was a legal mechanism in place to ensure that people were enabled to transact their business with the state in Irish.

Research by the Office of the Coimisinéir Teanga has discovered however that these provisions were never implemented. The fact that they were never implemented would indicate that they should be riscinded but in fact they never were, indeed what happened, in the words of the Coimisinéir, was far more cynical. As a target date approached a new instrument was signed which postponed it for a further six or twelve months. Research of the State Papers indicates that this happened not once nor twice but at least fifty four (54) times between 1928 and 1966. Surely an exercise in cynicism, deception and long fingering!

In further research his office has investigated the background to Richie Ryan's announcement of the abolition of the requirement of proficiency in the National Language for applicants to appointments in the civil service in 1974. At the time he proclaimed to the Dáil (27 Sept 1974) "...there will be no weakening of Irish in the civil service and there will be a greater desire to use it because of the ending of compulsion..." (The Comisinéir has commented on this as reported in "Richie Ryan decision made language marginal" 4/2/2011). This in fact did not reflect the true position of the Government or the Civil Service.

The reality as revealed in papers now available under the 30 year rule at the National Archive. The Comisinéir  has seen these himself and slightly incredulously quoted from some of these in his address. From these papers it is clear that considerable pressure, if not influence, was exercised by certain civil servant trade unions, activists for people in Northern Ireland and the Language Freedom Movement (LFM) - a group which was strongly inimical to the State's role in promoting the use of Irish - papers from this group are preserved in the Hardiman Library at NUIG..

The minister (Ryan) himself wrote on the use of Irish in dealing with the public who wished or required to use it in dealing with the State bodies‚"There has been legitimate criticism that this responsibility has not always been discharged. The position will tend to worsen if staff without Irish are recruited."

A senior Civil Servant somewhat prophetically warns that the removal of the language condition "...could lead eventually to a situation where few, if any, civil servants would have any knowledge of the language and it would almost certainly make it impossible to provide staff in sufficient numbers to deal with those who...would be entitled to expect to be able to conduct business in Irish with Government Departments and Offices..."

Perhaps the most cynical is the remark of another, very hostile to Irish, civil servant which dismissed the efficacy of the additional points supposed to assist the Irish speaking applicant for a position. "In most cases, the interview board will make certain, through the marking system, that the candidate who, to them, is best qualified for the job, irrespective of his knowledge of Irish, will get it...."

The Taoiseach of the day (Liam Cosgrave) although fully supportive of the new regime showed that he did understand what was being done. He said, "..that the abolition of the requirement might cause some difficulties in regard to the Constitutional position of Irish as the first official language of the State and might lead to a situation where few civil servants would be able to conduct business in Irish with those members of the public who would wish and would be entitled to do so..."

From left: Risteárd Ua Maolcatha, Seán McEntee, Richie Ryan, Liam Cosgrave

We now know the pitiful result of these decisions and provarications.

The Civil Servants appointments procedure has (in the judgement of the Coimisinéir Teanga) consistently misinterpreted the points system which Richie Ryan stated would ensure a renaissance of Irish usage in the Government. It has led to the situation in the Department of Education where only 1.5% of the administrative staff are capable in the language. One shudders to think what the position in other Departments might be.

The civil service have made their position clear in a recent (November 2011) appearance before a joint Oireachtas committee. A judgement made by the Language Commissioner on the procedure in appointing points to applicants for positions with regard to language found the procedure illegal. The representatives of the Civil Service explained that they disagreed with his decision because that was the way they always did it! Sir Humphrey Appleby lives on!

The new language act is being formulated at present and in his address Seán Ó Cuirreáin asks, "Are we - as we approach to the one hundredth anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising - to foist compulsory English in place of compulsory Irish in the state system of this country?"

We will be able to judge their bona fides in the Heads of Bill for the new Irish Language act promised shortly by this Government, and for which they asked submissions almost two years ago. The Coimisinéir lists two things - that will incur no extra spending - that will demonstrate their good-will.

1. To copperfasten in the Act that every employee dealing with the Gaeltacht community be proficent in the language.

2. The the position of Irish in staff recruitment to the public service in general be dealt with clearly.

Can we say that the actions of Government and the Civil Service today will be any different than those who have occupied positions of responsibility since 1928? Has our experience of the policies of the current administration led us to expect otherwise?

What do you think?

The text in Irish in HTML on An Tuairisceoir: Óráid an Choimisinéara Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin, i nGaelchultúr/Coláiste na hÉireann!

We can't afford to fund Gaeilge!

This is a letter sent to the Sunday Independent last week but not published by them. I don't blame them for not publishing, the task of a letters editor is unenviable and I always respect a decision taken by him as totally unbiased.

Dear Sir

I find Mr Dryhurst's letter (29 July 2012) interesting and almost laughable.  It reflects the ignorance of the journalists he finds so brave and angry. The "cost of Irish" which they decry is in fact in no small measure due to a decision made by a former Fine Gael/Labour coalition (Cosgrave/Corish Administration:1974) who abolished the need for Irish in people who enter the civil service. (See Blog: Richie Ryan decision made language marginal! Feb 2012)

Where I live Irish is by no means virtually dead though the Government (despite the "millions" Mr Dryhurst alleges it costs) can hardly be said to be one of the agencies which supports it by providing anything like a full service in that language.

As an example, the bulk of the work of the Department of Education was conducted in Irish prior to the 1974 decision. Now only 1% of the staff of that department are capable of conducting business in Irish. This means they must contract out translations if they are to comply with their constitutional responsibilities. If competent staff are employed who are fluent in both languages there would be no increase in staff costs of this expensive Department and indeed a reduction in overall costs due the lack of need for out-sourcing of translations if required.

The same applies mutatis mutandis to other Government Departments. Using the figure he quotes 5% of the population which speaks Irish, (which by the way is incorrect unless he feels that the CSO is involved in some pro-Irish conspiracy!) then is it not logical that 5% of the Departments should be capable of conducting business in what is after all the only language we can call our own? A language that was here before English was thought of and which hopefully will be here long after "the Googles, Intels, Microsofts, GlaxoSmithKlines etc" are forgotten?

Incidently many corporations, including Microsoft, Google, as well as Facebook, Apple, and Samsung,  think enough of our language to invest money in developing programs ifor their platforms. Is it possible that they understand something that Messrs Dryhurst and the brave and angry journalists, Lynch and Hanafin do not?

Yours etc

PS The original article was sparked by the information that Vodafone charge extra if a "fada" (Long sign) is used while texting in Irish. 
Vodafone state: "As per the standards set by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, texts sent in Irish or Mandarin languages will be charged for three text (SMS) messages if they included a single 'sineadh fada' in a text of 160 characters. Also note that a very short text, of less than 70 characters, can include multiple fadas and still be charged as one text. However, additional costs arise if the text is what the industry considers a standard length, or 160 characters."
One gasps at the comparison of Irish with Mandarin rather than another indo-european language say French, German, Danish or Polish.

Developing language policy by hunch!

It is hard to see a real love of the Irish heritage in the actions taken by the current government and epecially in the majority party.

Opened by a President closed by Fine Gael?

"The "Free State" never had any intention to revive the native language. They always needed to cloy to English norms, without which, they would be dumb and blind. Those who were given power by the English, were totally "cleansed" of any trace of our traditions and culture. They are irrelevent and what ever they do is irrelevent. We must press on without them. Beidh lá breá gréine in Éirinn lá. Labhair Gaeilge! Droch rath ar na 'Léinte Gorma'" .

This is a comment typical of many which have appeared in the last few days following the shoch announcememnt of the planned watering-down, if not the total abolition of the Language Commissioner's office.

A paper by Dúbhglás de hÍde, 1st President of Ireland "The necessity for the de-anglicising the Irish nation!" instigated the birth of the nation. Are we now smothering that same nation through thoughtless hunches?

Fine Gael has form!
Earlier this year the Language Commissioner, Seán Ó Cuireáin in a report described the ending nearly 40 years ago of the requirement for civil servants to have competence in Irish as well as English, when addressing a conference in Dublin last February.

This decision was taken by a Fine Gael Minister of Finance and in fact a lot of the so-called costs of translations etc would harldy be neccessary if this dicision had not been taken as there would be sufficient personnal "in house" to handle the business in both languages. He cites as an example that the "Department of Education and Skills, which recently revealed that only 1.5% of its administrative staff had sufficient competence in Irish to be able to provide service in that language." This in a Department that to a large extent was entrusted with the "revival of the Irish language" at the foundation of the state.

 Enda Kenny himself commented on a report from the Education Department in 2006: "....it's pretty ironic that the Department of Education, which has been dealing with the teaching of Irish for more than 80 years, was not in a position to translate this report itself and had to contract an outside company to get the document translated." (23 June 2006). Is it possible that Richie Ryan's decision some forty years previously had an influence?

Fine Gael's Richie Ryan statement as he announced this change proclaimed that this decision will lead "replacing the compulsion which did so much damage to the Irish language over the past half century with enthusiasm for the language, we will have people more readily disposed to use Irish.” Another hunch?

Mr Ryan, where are these people?

Mantaining the "murder machine!"
P. H. Pearse, President of the Provisional Government in 1916 referred to the education system here as the "Murder Machine." It is not so long ago since the leader of Fine Gael, now Taoiseach Enda Kenny, promoted the abolition of Irish as a neccessary subject in our Leaving Certificate examination. He was approached last year on his policy to eject Irish from the core curriculum at Leaving Certificate level. When asked to explain how the survival prospects of an imperilled language could be improved by lowering its social status, he replied that his policy for Irish in the schools is based on a personal 'hunch.' (Letter to newspapers 8 Feb 2011)

Fine Gael is not alone!

This notion of change be "hunch" or without adequate, or indeed any, clear notion as to why an action should be taken is demonstrated in a recent article from the pen of Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole, a journalist with whose opinions this writer does not always agree. He asks: "Want to hear about a daft idea that deserves to be shelved?"

His vision for Irish is perhaps laudable. "My vision for Irish in our education system is simple: I believe we should equip our people, and particularly our young people, with a real, a useful, and a communicative knowledge of the Irish Language." His 'personal hunch' however leads him to state, "All students will be offered a choice as to whether to study Irish after the Junior Certificate examination."

Language planning by intuition!
And now in what appears to be a continuation of their Irish Language policy by "hunch," they have announced the intention, as part of the "Public Service Reform" announced by the Government, to "merge" the office of the Language Commissioner with that of the Ombudsan. In a statement Seán Ó Cuireáin confirmed that he had not been consulted on the decision and was informed by telephone on Wednesday night. This is breathtaking not only displaying a lack of courtesy but also a lack of evidence of any real considerationof the impact of such a decision - another hunch?

The wording in the policy states "Merge functions of Language Commissioner with Ombudsman Office." This appears as a decision. Then this rider is added, "To be progressed in the context of the ongoing review of the Official Languages Act 2003" In other words it is removing the examination of the independance of the Language Commissioner's office from the review of the Act. It ties the hands of the review. Why?

The ostensible reason for this decision was to save money. "The need to reduce public spending and drive greater efficiency is clearly evident and has been committed to. We will relentlessly focus on delivering better value for money through the implementation of Public Service Reform."

Let's examine the costs. According to the Junior Minister with responsibility for the Gaeltacht, Dinny McGinley, the cost for this office is €600,000 per annum. The bulk of this cost is salaries and rental of the premises in the Gaeltacht. The staff of the office are civil servents and the plan states that no personell will loose their jobs. The Commissioner himself has been appointed by the President for a term which expires in 2016. The rent for the premises is being paid to another State agency, Údarás na Gaeltachta. It is not unreasonable to assume that any additional costs are the cost of the work accomplished through the office in serving the public. Mr Kenny says there will be no reduction in the standard and efficiency of the office under the new regime. Minister Howlin echoes this in relation to the total programme, "These measures are designed to make service delivery more effective and efficient!"

Could it be that this is another hunch?

Mr Kenny, where is the saving?

Are they alone?
The other parties have little to be proud of either.
Sinn Féin, whom one might think would be full of practical love of their language presided over the closing down of the only Irish Language daily newspaper.
Fianna Fáil did little to change the hostile legislation of Richie Ryan when they returned to power. Yes while they were in power the did eventually pass a language act 71 years after they came to power. Indeed there are those that feel that even this would not have happened but for the dedication and sheer nerve of Éamon Ó Cuív.
The Labour Party have hardly covered themselves in glory in the over 80 years since the foundation of the state. Michael D Higgins' steadfastness in the face of relentless criticism resulted in the foundation of the now much praised TG4.

Is it any wonder that the people of the Gaeltacht and the language are totally disillusioned?

The Irish people require leadership in restoring its self respect as a nation. Seán Ó Cuireáin in some small way was helping in that. Not all people thought that his office was as useful as it could be or indeed that some of the aspects of the Language Act itself were that useful but it was all we had and it was subject to review. Will that review be realistic, honest, scientific or will all the changes if any be based on a hunch?

The prospect is terrifying!

• Incidentally in compiling this piece we found that all the Irish Language sites had complete English Language versions. None of the  Government Sites we looked at had! Need we say more!

Quiet protest for soul of Ireland!

Maybe you missed it on the RTÉ news - if it was on at all - this is the silent protest of students on the place of Irish in our Education System.

TG4 stated that there were 500 taking part, to this correspondent it looks like a greater number.

Needless to say like all students they were unable to remain silent for long!

A friend said "I voted for Fine Gael in the seventies to save the school in Dún Chaoin, they did save it but unfortunately they made Irish optional for the civil service. I cannot vote for them now because I fear they will finish the job!" This point and its results were discussed in a paper by the Language Commissioner earlier this month where he revealed that only 1.5% of the admin in the Department of Education were capable of providing a service in Irish. And this is the Department so many of the policies of all the parties are relying on in their Irish language policies and indeed in the 20 year plan published last December.

Looking at Richie Ryan's statement on the introduction of this policy in 1974 it bears an uncanny relationship to the words used by Fine Gael in 2011. Judge for yourselves:

"...“satisfied that by replacing the compulsion which did so much damage to the
Irish language over the past half century with enthusiasm for the language, we
will have people more readily disposed to use Irish.” (Richie Ryan, Minister for Finance 1974)

"We believe that reinventing the way we teach Irish will encourage more students to study the language and engage with it beyond the school system. We believe compulsion has not fostered growth or commitment to the language. We will overhaul the curriculum at second level and we will critically examine the effect of current training methods of teachers to teach. Irish as an optional subject for Leaving Certificate will only apply following consultations on both matters." (Fine Gael Policy 2011)

My friend feels that Enda Kenny would be a good Taoiseach for the economy that is Ireland but that he would sell the soul of Ireland which is priceless. The people would be destitute culturally.