No impinging on English speakers? At what cost?

The Right Honourable Arlene Isabel Foster MLA has said: "There won't be a stand-alone Irish Language Act ... What we are trying to find is an accommodation and a way forward that values those people who are Irish speakers but doesn't impinge on the lives of those who aren't Irish speakers and I think that's important." (See Video)

It would appear that a long long history of impinging those who are Irish speakers is to be defended by the Right Honourable Lady.

This is a list shared on social media. It will indeed be interesting to see how the new Sinn Féin leadership plan to remove the centuries of impingment on the lives of Irish speakers. The fact that the party has elected a leader who is not an Irish speaker (A first for this party?) hardly fills one with hope.

"People who support the call for an Irish Language Act have been asked to copy and paste these facts on their Facebook page, given that some sort of compromise deal looks likely to happen in the coming days. It is well worth looking at these facts to remind ourselves how the state has dealt with the Irish language historically and to realise why the Irish language community are wary, to say the least, of trusting the Unionist establishment to do the right thing about anything that concerns the language.

1893: Thomas Lea, Unionist MP, South Derry – Proposes that Irish should be banned in National Schools and in Courts.

1899: Dr John Mahaffy, Unionist based in Trinity College – Discourages teaching of Irish in Palles Report, suggesting it a mischievous waste of time and that Irish language literature had no academic or education value

1900: James Rentoul, Unionist MP for South Down – Expresses Irish has no value, opposes bilingual signage, and expresses a desire for Irish to die out.

1906: John Lonsdale, Unionist MP for Mid-Armagh, describes Conradh na Gaeilge as ‘inspired by hatred and all things English.’

1912: Unionist politicians bring forward a proposal that only English be used in any new parliament, in the courts, and in the Civil Service.

1922: New Unionist Government post partition states: “What do we want with the Irish Language here? There is no need for it at all.”

1922: Department of Education removes post of Irish Language Organiser: “There is no such thing as an organiser of Irish Language.”

1922/23: Grants paid to the Irish Teacher Training Colleges in Belfast removed; bilingual programme ceased in the Tyrone Gaeltacht.

1923: Lyn Report: Irish restricted to 90 minutes per week teaching in Primary School: “Irish occupies a preferential position for which, in our judgement, there is no justification.”

1923: New Education Act for Northern Ireland: Irish banned as an optional subject in 5th Standard. Numbers studying Irish decline by 50% within two years.

1926: Irish banned as an optional extra in Standards 3 and 4, 70% of students studying Irish have to cease their study of the language.

1927: Comhaltas Uladh told: “Lord Charlemount is a Minister of firmness and backbone and the members of the Gaelic League have found he is neither to be cajoled nor threatened into doing something which would be subversive of the true educational interests of the Province”.

1933: All payment towards the teaching of Irish in Primary Schools ceased. Would remain so for over 80 years.

1936: Lord Craigavon: “What use is it here in this progressive busy part of the Empire to teach our children the Irish Language? What use would it be to them? Is it not leading them along a road which has no practical value? We have not stopped such teaching; we have stopped the grants – simply because we do not see that these boys being taught Irish would be any better citizens”

1942: Grand Lodge of Ireland (Orange Order): “That the Government of Northern Ireland be asked to remove from the Curriculum of the Ministry of Education the Irish language, and that no facilities be given in public, secondary or elementary schools for the teaching of such.”

In 1965 Irish speaking parents asked Dept of Education for a meeting to discuss opening the 1st Gaelscoil in Belfast. They were threatened with prison. Here is their request and the response:

"A deputation from the Gaelic speaking families in Belfast would appreciate a meeting with you (Dept. of Education, Dundonald House), to discuss the possibility of founding a primary school for their children."

Reply from John Benn, permanent secretary: "The Ministry would regard the fact that instruction was given entirely through the medium of "Gaelic" to constitute a ground for "complaint". I can now let you know that instruction given entirely through Gaelic would not constitute efficient and suitable instruction for the pupils". A complaint would therefore be served by the Ministry. If the proprietors do not remove the deficiency complained of, the ministry will formerly strike the school off the register. It is an OFFENCE against the law to conduct an unregistered school."

2016: A fisheries protection vessel had its Irish name replaced with its English translation because the executive department which owns it has a "single language policy".

2017: Arlene Foster:  'If you feed a crocodile it will keep coming back for more'

2018:  Queens LOL 1845 - "There is no price at which the Irish Language Act can be allowed into law."

The crocodiles are anxiously waiting.

"Speak in another language...."

Is Sinn Féin representative's stance diminished by the discomfort caused by the attitude of her party?

The slapping down of an elected representative of the Irish People in a forum of the European Union received little or no coverage in the English Language media in Ireland. It is only now receiving some coverage in the world press.

Liadh Ní Riada FPE

What others said!
• Aljazeera
• An Sionnach Fionn

Sinn Féin
• 17/2/2015
•4/3/2014

Sign the Petition!

Because of the actions of the Irish government the Irish Language, as an official working language of the Union, has been derogued since 2007. There may have been some justification in the earlier part of this period as there was arguably a shortage of suitably qualified interpreters though there are many qualified translaters who have been working the bureaucracy in Brussels and elsewhere since 1973. The situation is much improved now and interpreters are now readily available should the Government decide to lift the derogation. 

Adressing an International Conference on Language Rights recently Dr Professor P. B. Ó Laighin, a renowned expert on European Language Rights, following his meeting with representatives of the Taoiseach Enda Kenny stated: "To my knowledge a decision in principle has been made by the Government .... that the derogation will be renewed from the 1st January 2017." (my translation)

One of the elected members of the European Parliament vowed that she would speak only Irish at the institutions and meetings of the assembly for the first half of March 2015 (1st to 17th March 2015 which is called, perhaps euphamistially, Seachtain na Gaeilge - the Week of Irish!). Her first opportunity was on 2nd March 2015. During a joint meeting of Budgets and Economic and Monetary Affairs committees on March 2 Representative Liadh Ní Riada (Sinn Féin spoke in Irish - her native language and mother tongue - and this is what happened (this video last about 1 minute)

Though the chair of the meeting (who I believe was French and normally uses his own language officially translated for those whose French is not up to scratch) refers to a "decision of the Bureau" it is in fact a decision requested by the Irish Government and agreed by the other members of the union. Thus it is a matter for the Irish Government and the Taoiseach to decide in this matter. Sign the petion requesting this to happen!

A professional poll last month found that 70 percent of people in Ireland favoured the provision of all public services in Irish. But the Government is still inactive. Well might Seán Ó Cuirreáin, (the Coimisinéir Teanga who resigned in frustration at the lack of leadership from the present government) say: "... tick-tock, Tempus fugit and if, as is said in Irish, 'God’s mills grind slowly' it appears the wheels of the state turn more slowly still, particularly in the case of the language..." (23 January 2014 Translation the Coimisinéir's Office).

Perhaps another irony is the stance of the Party so well represented by this courageous woman. When I go to their website I am confronted with the Queen's English and even if I click the very difficult to find "Gaeilge" button, (See if you can find it!), there is little if no change except the headings which (when they work) lead to mish match of material which eventually leads on to more English pages. Press releases from Sinn Féin are general monolingualy Queen's English except the refer to Irish, the Gaeltacht or they are issued by the Senator from Galway West.

Maybe I am being a bit harsh and indeed in comparison with the other main parties north and south they are streets ahead. But if they wish to lead the Irish People they must respect its language and history and ethos. Look at their conduct in the houses of the Oireachtas. Yes they use the occasional phrases in Irish but evan the members whose mother tongue is Irish never (to my knowledge) use Irish in the house to discuss items other that Gaeltacht or Irish Language issues. Has Pearse Doherty (a Gaeltacht man) ever spoken at length on finance in Irish in the house? Newcomer, Galways West's Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh does use Irish frequently but generally speaking he retreats into English? (The same criticism may be levelled at say Fianna Fáil's Éamon Ó Cuív who has not, to my knowledge, ever made a speech in Irish to the house on his Agriculture Brief!).

In the North too they are regarded with some misgivings especially their actions or lack of actions on Foras na Gaeilge when they permitted that organisation to kill the only daily newspaer in Irish and the withdrawal of funds from some vibrant organisations.

In the recent Ard Fheis of the party held in the City of that great Irishman, Colmcille, a member, Dáithí Mac a'Bhaird, spoke of movingly and passionatly of his discomfort as an Irish speaker in the Sinn Féin party.

Never the less we must acknowledge the enthusiasm of those who do espouse and understand the cause. Listen to Trevor Ó Clochartaigh at the same Ard Fheis:

"'Live horse and get grass' is most likely the government's philosophy in relation to Irish. The danger is that the Irish language horse is on its deathbed because of the injustices met upon it by Enda Kenny and his friends.

“Fine Gael and the Labour have continually attacked the Irish language since they came into power. Seán Ó Cuirreáin, the Language Commissioner resigned from his position becuase of the lack of support for his work. The Official Languages Act is being amended in such a way that it is being completely weakened inasmuch as the government can get away with it.

“Heather Humphreys chose 'Google Translate' when she was launching the programme for the 1916 commemorations, reasoning that Irish has little role to play in such an event.

“Éamon Ó Cuiv and Fianna Fáil decimated the Údarás na Gaeltachta budget and Dinny McGinley followed suit. He ended direct elections to the bord to make sure that nobody could publicly condemn either the work of the organisation or government policies.

“Joe McHugh is a 'nice guy' who is making a good personal effort, but in relation to government policies regarding the Irish language – 'you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear'!

“The 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language is not functioning and there is a crisis in Gaeltacht regions in terms of young people being able to speak the language.

“But it was heartening to see 10,000 people on the streets and they 'Red with Anger'. The Minister Carál Ní Chuilinn is highlighting the substantial investment and political drive Sinn Féin has regarding for our native language. There are other elected representatives who are promoting Irish at every level.

“It goes without saying that Irish speaking communities and the Gaeltacht would be better off with Sinn Féin in government.

“We have to tackle the hostility the civil service has in relation to the language. We have to introduce recruitment quotas so that services in Irish can become available.

“We have to strengthen and broaden the Languages Act. The Language Commissioner should also have a stronger role in overseeing the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language.

“Full status for Irish has to be granted in the European Union.

“There has to be a government in Dublin that will impress upon Westminister and on unionists that the promise to implement the Languages Act in the six counties must be fulfilled.

“Sinn Féin will stand with the Irish language community, if the Irish language community stands with Sinn Féin.” (Translation Sinn Féin)

Yes everything strikes a note with us but perhaps it would be more believable if the Party showed us what they could do in the areas it has control over, their speakers in the Dáil, Seanad, Northern Assembly, County Councils, their website, their public pronouncements as Gaeilge etc.

But back to Liadh Ní Riada talking about the wonderfu but so far fruitless "Lá Mór na Gaeilge" in Dublin a year ago. "What was wonderful was you could hear Irish spoken everywhere on the streets of our capital. And then you start thinking, 'My God, once upon a time this country spoke Irish all over. It is all because we were colonised and the last thing that you do in stamping out somebody's identity is crush their language."

If I may mangle an old saying, "One MEP never made a summer!"

Adams modestly hits the nail on the head!

A correction to Miriam Lord, a backhanded compliment for Enda Kenny and a short exposition of his philosophy on speaking Irish.

The following appeared in Miriam Lord's inestimable column in the Irish Times (Dáil Sketch 10/10/2012):

"..Gerry doesn’t like people criticising him for trying to improve his Irish on the floor of the Dáil. He particularly doesn’t like sketch writers drawing attention to his efforts to speak the first language during Leaders’ Questions. In fact he went out of his way to point this out in no uncertain terms to this particular writer during a recent encounter in the corridors. We should be “encouraging” him, was Gerry’s view. It’s “lazy journalism”, he sulked..."

Image: Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland

She was talking about Gerry Adams, President of Sinn Féin, who is possibly responsible for more Irish being spoken, albeit sometimes not perfect Irish, in the Dáil Chamber certainly in the past fifty years. Indeed he is possibly the person responsible for the most Irish being spoken in either chamber of the Oireachtas since the late Pól Ó Foigheal was a senator. Hopefully he will be eclipsed by some other deputies and senators, especially those whose mother tongue it is!

However back to the case in point. Mr Adams it appears read Ms Lord's column (don't we all?) and chose to take issue in a well reasoned response which I reproduce in full here:

A chara, – 

I am a fan of Miriam Lord. I enjoy her colour pieces and admire her writing skills. I do take issue with her, however, on the matter of Irish in the Dáil (Dáil Sketch, October 10th). 

For the record I did not ask her to encourage me. I put it to her in a perfectly reasonable way that she should be encouraging the use of Irish in the Dáil. I think all of us should do that. And not only in the Dáil. And not only during Seachtain na Gaeilge. 

It is a matter of puzzlement to me that Oireachtas members with much more Irish than me do not speak the language more often in the chamber. Of course the English language media generally does not use the Irish language contributions. So maybe that is the reason why many TDs, including Ministers, use only English. 

The Taoiseach is the exception. He will respond to questions in Irish though his answers are no clearer or informative than his responses in English. Ach sin scéal eile. 

For my part in my modest way I use Irish whenever I can. With my Sinn Féin colleagues and other Oireachtas members. In my everyday life. With my family and friends. That is what language is for. So, I will continue in my humble way to put questions in Irish to our Taoiseach. I encourage other TDs and Seanadóirí to do likewise. This is not a competition. Everyone who has Irish should use it. Everywhere. 

– Yours, etc, 

 GERRY ADAMS TD, Sinn Féin President, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

As someone myself, it has always been a "puzzlement" to me to how people, including those whose cardle language it is, choose not to use it in public fora. I feel this letter from one of our political leaders gives a philosophy of use which is sadly lacking in virtually all public figures in whatever walk of life, political, eclesiastical, business, or academic etc.

Adams has hit the nail on the head. "Everyone who has Irish should use it. Everywhere."

As the old saying has it "Beatha teanga í a labhairt!"

• Féach ar seo chomh maith (Look at these too!)
No Irish for the Irish Parliament - An Sionnach Fionn
In praise of Gerry Adams and the Fáinne - Slugger O'Toole

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!

Constitutional question?

A young Gaeltacht man brought a constitutional case against the Government recently and won.

Why English?

There is a duty on the courts and on all state services to provide a service in Irish to citizens. Why then did this man not choose to fight his case in Irish?

This right is stated on the website of the Language Commissioner:

"The Constitution permits the public to conduct its business – and every part of its business – with the state solely through Irish. As a result of this constitutional right, public bodies have a duty to comply with this right."

The judgement is available on the Court Service website in English only.

This site is quite good as quite a large proportion of the site is available in Irish however funnily enough this particular judgement is only available on the English version.

The Government has Irish. They say they are “absolutely serious” about the languge question. Many of the Judges and advocates have Irish, indeed they must pass an examination in Irish in order to practice. And of course the basic language of the Constitution is Irish not English.

So why then did this young man of the Gaeltcht, a man who is a member of a party that prides itself on its Irishness above all the other partys, why did he choose to take this case in English?

We are told in the press release issued by his party that this was a victory for democracy. It is clear however that there is no place for his own language nor that of a vast percentage of the constituents of Donegal South West.