Guards flaunt the law with impunity!

“There can be but one conclusion: this important element of the language legislation is now, for all intents and purposes, in crisis:” the Coiminsinéir Teanga!


I've just attended a press briefing given by the Coimisinéir Teanga as he launched his annual report. As usual this is a model of its kind, clear, succint and complete. Indeed it shows just how much can be done with a budget of €670,000 of which only €629,285 was required.

More important is the near disregard and lack of respect not only for the language but for the law as enacted by the Oireachtas of so many Government Departments and State bodies, including the Gárda Síochána. In some of his investigations he has gone as far as the law allows his office to go. None of his adjudications have been contested in law, as the Act allows, but in some cases his recommendations have been ignored. In these cases the only thing that he can do is lay the case before the Houses of the Oireachtas and allow them to take whatever action they wish to defend the integrity of the law.


“It is scandalous that the Gardaí, the Department of Social Protection, and other Government Departments can flout the law, and that the Government is disregarding their conduct” declared one member of the Seanad.

And a umbrella organisation for Irish Language organisations remarked: "The latest annual report of An Coimisinéir Teanga exposes ‘massive shortfalls’ in the implementation of the Official Languages Act."
(These and other reports on Rialtas ag déanamh neamhaird ar sárú dlí na tíre! (Irish)

See also the blog of An Sionnach Fionn - Institutionl Descrimination.. 
Negative reaction to Irish report (Éanna Ó Caollaí, Irish Times 24/4/2012)
Irish language legislation in crisis (Lorna Siggans Irish Times 25/4/2012).
Most Gaeltacht gardaí lacking an cúpla focail (Conal Ó Fátharta, Irish Examiner 25/4/2012)
Official Languages Act falling into disuse in the Republic? (Mick Fealty Slugger O'Toole 25/4/2012)
Council guilty of language breach (Galway Independent 25/4/2012)
Mind your tongue (Irish Independent Letters 26/4/2012)


The press release is worth reading in its entirity (as is the Report itself) - Headings are ours. (This release in Irish). Here is the release:

Garda non-complience
Garda management failed to comply with the law when eight out of nine Gardaí assigned to serve in Gaoth Dobhair in the heart of the Donegal Gaeltacht could not carry out their duties through Irish, according to an investigation by An Coimisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin.

A report of an investigation (formal inquiry), published today in An Coimisinéir Teanga’s Annual Report for 2011, found that the Garda Commissioner failed to comply in this instance with a provision of An Garda Síochána Act 2005 which requires that members of the force stationed in the Gaeltacht should be sufficiently competent in Irish to enable them to use it with ease in carrying out their duties. A
further statutory provision of An Garda Síochána’s language scheme under the Official Languages Act was also breached.

The investigation arose from a complaint from a native Irish speaker who was unable to conduct his business through Irish with Gardaí in Gaoth Dobhair.

The investigation, which commenced in February 2011, was temporarily set aside when Garda authorities increased to three the number of Irish speakers assigned to the station. However, the investigation was recommenced when no further progress was reported and a formal finding of non-compliance was made by An Coimisinéir Teanga in December 2011.

An Coimisinéir Teanga made a series of recommendations to be implemented by the Garda authorities within a nine-month period to ensure full compliance with the statutory requirements.

What can be implied!
Speaking at the launch of his Annual Report for 2011, An Coimisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin, said that the status of Irish as a community language in the Gaeltacht was more vulnerable now than at any time in the past and that the State can hardly expect the Irish language to survive as a community language in the Gaeltacht if it continues to force people in those areas to carry out their business with the State through English.

Number of complaint rise
An Coimisinéir Teanga’s Office dealt with 734 new complaints about difficulties with state services in general through Irish during 2011, an increase of 5% on the previous year. Half of the complaints came from Dublin City and County and a further 21% came from Gaeltacht areas. The vast majority of complaints were resolved informally without resorting to statutory investigations.

Department of Social Protection reveals "flawed approach!"
An Coimisinéir Teanga also published a special report today which he has now laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. The report relates to the Department of Social Protection which was found to be in breach of statutory language provisions but failed to take corrective action. Two separate investigations found that the Department did not comply properly with its statutory language obligations with regard to the awarding of bonus marks for proficiency in Irish and English in specific internal promotion competitions.

The system for the awarding of bonus marks for proficiency in the two languages was established in 1975 to replace the previous system of “compulsory” Irish. The investigation found that the Department had a statutory duty to award bonus marks for competence in Irish and English to suitably qualified candidates and that the Department was in breach of this provision when it limited the award of the bonus marks to candidates who had progressed to the final stage of promotion competitions. “The flawed approach adopted by the Department appears to be mirrored across the Civil Service and is clearly partly to blame for the marginalisation of Irish within the workforce in the sector,” according to An Coimisinéir Teanga.

The Department did not appeal An Coimisinéir Teanga’s findings to the High Court on a point of law as permitted by legislation, but, neither did it implement the recommendations of the investigations. “In reporting this matter to both Houses of the Oireachtas, I have concluded my work on the issue and it now falls to the Oireachtas to take whatever course of action, if any, it deems appropriate in the circumstances” said Mr. Ó Cuirreáin.

Other business
In addition to its ombudsman service, the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga also carried out a series of audits of Government departments and other public bodies during 2011 to verify compliance with provisions of language legislation.

The Office also published a series of recommendations in relation to amending provisions of the Official Languages Act which is being reviewed as part of the programme for Government.

Collapse of scheme system

Mr. Ó Cuirreáin said that the system of confirming language schemes which is at the  heart of the Official Languages Act has all but collapsed. During 2011, the Minister  for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht confirmed only one new language scheme. 

In total, 105 language schemes have been confirmed by the Minister to date, but by  the end of 2011, 66 of these had expired. This means that no second scheme has been  confirmed for two thirds of public bodies. While the first scheme remains in force, no plan was put in place for an increase in the supply of services through Irish from those public bodies. 

At least 20% of the language schemes had expired for more than three years and a further 20% for more than two years. 

The following were among the public bodies whose language schemes had expired for more than three years at the end of 2011: the Office of the President, the Arts  Council, Office of the Ombudsman, the Courts Service, Galway County Council, the Revenue Commissioners, and the Department for Education and Skills.  

In addition to the above, 28 other public bodies had been asked to prepare a first  draft scheme but by the end of 2011 these schemes were not yet confirmed by the  Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. In the case of ten of those, more than  five years had elapsed since they were initially asked to prepare a draft scheme. The  report also notes that four years and seven months had elapsed since the HSE on a  national basis was requested to prepare a draft language scheme and almost three  years had passed since An Post was asked to do likewise. More than two years had passed since the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas, RTÉ and the National Roads Authority were asked to prepare draft language schemes. 

By year end, no language scheme had been confirmed for the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which was formally established on June 1st 2011. 

“There can be but one conclusion: this important element of the language legislation is now, for all intents and purposes, in crisis,” according to An Coimisinéir Teanga. 

"Thy sports are fled, and all thy charms withdrawn..."

I know what it is like to think small schools are a waste of money and that amalgamation is only sensible. I know what it is like to think that rural communities are parochial and need to be modernised and "get real".

Bríonglóid Ruairí Quinn!  - Ruairí Quin's Dream.

The most dangerous peril facing all the Gaeltacht Areas is the actions of the current Minister of Education, Rúairí Quinn, to close by amalgamation the priceless community treasure in these areas of the local school. This action will complete the work commenced in the statutes of Kilkenny in eliminating finally the use of Irish as a community language. However it also will have effects in the other areas of rural Ireland making them even more isolated than they are by sucking the life blood of the laughter of little children from them. A dead district!

If I may quote the poet,
"...Thy sports are fled, and all thy charms withdrawn; 
Amidst thy bowers the tyrant's hand is seen, 
And Desolation saddens all thy green: 
One only master grasps the whole domain, 
And half a tillage stints thy smiling plain. 
No more thy glassy brook reflects the day, 
But, choked with sedges, works its weedy way; 
Along thy glades, a solitary guest, 
The hollow-sounding bittern guards its nest; 
Amidst thy desert walks the lapwing flies, 
And tires their echoes with unvaried cries: 
Sunk are thy bowers in shapeless ruin all, 
And the long grass o'ertops the mouldering wall 
And, trembling, shrinking from the spoiler's hand, 
Far, far away thy children leave the land. "

 I have come across these two letters, addressed to our Public Representatives,  a real cri de coeur from a desperate primary school teacher (I have the name!) concerning the plight being visited by the anti-rural policies of this Government. The effects of these decisions of the urban-biased minister Ruairí Quinn will be particularly devastating in the Gaeltacht but in fact no rural area will be uneffected and they herald the further demise of our unique rural life. Will the Public Representatives pay any heed? Will the minister heed the cry of the rural students, "Éist Linn Ruairí Quinn!" or will he continue to reinforce the urbanisation of Ireland through the virtual elimination of the unique Irish rural and Gaeltacht  identity?

The first letter was written in January:

Dear Public Representative,

Change in pupil-teacher ratio in small schools
This will affect every school with an enrolment of 86 or less. 
The retention figures for small schools will be applied retrospectively to last September's enrolment figures and will mean that to keep your teacher, schools will have to have an enrolment of:

The idea is to force smaller schools to amalgamate or close, by making it more and more difficult to teach larger groups, with fewer teachers having to teach more classes. This, with all the attendant paperwork and preparation, coping with the special needs pupils in larger classes etc. will force many schools into a situation where closure or amalgamation is the only option.

It will also affect the GA support provision for the school, which will be based on the number of mainstream teachers.
A school with three teachers will be entitled to 15 hours, but when they lose a teacher, it goes down to 10. Pupils will lose out on support because of this.
This is an attack on rural Ireland. It seeks to discriminate against rural communities, because the majority of small schools are in rural and/or Gaeltacht communities.
It is also an attack on minority schools, such as non-Catholic schools. These also tend to be small schools.

It is with deep regret that I am contacting you on behalf of the children of rural Ireland, whose very futures are being dismantled by misguided and anti-rural policies being pursued by the current minister for education and others in the current administration. Below this e-mail, I have attached a copy of a letter I e-mailed to every school in Galway, Roscommon and Westmeath, outlining what the increase in Pupil:Teacher ratio will mean and asking them to attend a public meeting in Gullane's Hotel, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway on 20th January at 8.30pm


The people of rural Ireland are being discriminated against, in a very targetted and cynical way. Our way of life is being eroded by successive anti-rural measures. I will not go into these at present, as to do so would distract from the purpose of this e-mail.


However, these measures have culminated, recently, in a very cynical attempt by the minister for Education, to force small schools into amalgamation or closure, by raising the pupil-teacher ratio IN SMALL SCHOOLS ONLY. This will result in a loss of teachers, which will mean larger classes, greater numbers of class groupings having to be taught by one teacher (with all the attendant paperwork and preparation), larger numbers of special needs children in one classroom, and all the attendant difficulties which this will inflict on smaller schools.

The idea, of course, is to make it so impossible to teach in these circumstances, that the schools are forced into closure or amalgamation.


The McCarthy report recommended "rationalisation" ie. the closure or amalgamation of all schools with 100 pupils or less, starting with all schools of 50 or less, then moving on to the 100 or less schools.


The government knows this would cause uproar, so they want the request for amalgamation to come from the schools themselves.


Hence the sneaky, cowardly, cynical and discriminatory attack on small schools P:T ratios, in an attempt to force schools into an impossible choice.


They can try to carry on with fewer teachers, larger classes and more class groups, struggling with special needs - or they can go and ASK the minister for amalgamation - the very thing he is trying to achieve by the back door.


The new rules on the arrangements for learning support will further exascerbate the situation, as, when a school loses a teacher, they will also lose four or five hours of learning support as well, as the number of hours support is linked to the number of mainstream classroom teachers in the school.
I would have had more respect for the minister if he just came straight out and said he was closing all schools with 86 or less pupils and faced the outcry from the people in a straight and honest way!!!


At least then, the anti-rural bias in this administration would be seen for what it is, and people could fight it in every way possible, at least knowing what they are up against.
Instead, we have this sneaky, cowardly chipping away at everything which makes a rural community worth living in. They took away the post offices, the Garda Stations and now they want to remove the heart of every community - the local school.


This is not for the good of the children, but for the bottom line-cash, and Ms Merkel's opinion that the Irish people are unable to choose their own lifestyle, and should be shown the error of their ways.


"We haf vays of making you urbanise!"
Actually, Ms Merkel, and this spineless government, who are happy to do as they are told, we like our rural way of life! Others have come and gone, trying to make us fit into their mould and see things their way, and frankly, even Cromwell didn't manage to tame us, so what makes this government think they can change us?


In the words of the song "The strangers came and tried to teach us their ways, and they scorned us just for being what we are. But they might as well go chasing after moonbeams, or light a penny candle from a star".


Sadly, however, this doesn't just apply to outside forces like our "friends" in Europe, but to a government, so far removed from and out of touch with the realities of life in rural Ireland, that they are willing to rip the very heart out of rural communities. If this measure is not reversed, small schools which have been a feature of rural Ireland and of Ireland in general, for generations, and which have provided educational excellence for hundreds of years, will be a thing of the past.
Parents should have the right to have their child educated in their own community if that is their wish. I, personally, lived and worked and taught abroad for many years, but made the decision to come home to Ireland when we had children PRECISELY so that they could be brought up in a rural community and educated in a small school. I have first-hand experience of large schools and I made the choice that this is not what I wanted for my children. I believe I should be entitled to make that choice for myself and my family. I believe the right to make that choice should be a fundamental right for EVERY parent in the country. Large urban schools are fine for those who wish to attend them, but that model should not be forced on those who choose to live otherwise. If small schools disappear from our landscape, it will be a tragic loss to this country.


There is a further issue. I don't know if you have considered how discriminatory this measure is.
It only applies to small schools. This means that it applies mainly to rural schools and non-catholic schools. This is discrimination. It should be seen as such, and resisted by whatever means possible.
You will face a bitter fight if you try to implement the forced closure or amalgamation of small schools, by the back door or otherwise.


This attack on small schools and the rights of parents to bring up their children in Rural Ireland and have them educated in a local small school, must not be allowed to happen. Laws and decisions made by people who do not understand rural life and who do not respect our right to live in the countryside if we wish, should not be forced on us.


The second letter more recently (March 2012)

As many of you will know, because I contacted you either directly, or through networking, I have been campaigning strongly for this increased P:T ratio in small schools to be reversed. I feel passionately that the future of rural Ireland, our links to the past and our culture, the Gaeltacht, the islands and all that makes us unique in the world is at risk if we take the small school out of the system and force a homogenised, pasteurised, one-size-fits-all educational system onto our children. I say this, not out of any romantic notions, but as a former emigrant and as a person who grew up not appreciating my own education. 

You see, I know where Ruairi Quinn is coming from. 

I, myself, as a teenager, felt disdain for the "peasant" rural way of life which I felt I was forced to lead. I couldn't wait to get away and become really cosmopolitan and rich and live in a city somewhere with everything to hand. Like the characters I used to watch in Dallas and Dynasty, I wanted the fancy dresses and the cocktails and all the rest! I put myself through college, with the help of a grant, as we had no money. I worked three jobs. I studied morning and night, and I got my degree, found a flat and a good job and enjoyed the high life. I travelled and I moved to England. Was I happy? Yes, for a while. But I soon realised how hollow and empty it all was. 

I trained as a teacher in England and worked in several schools, both at secondary and primary level. All were large schools, some very large. I worked with children of all ages and all races, with and without special needs. They all had one thing in common - a fierce pride in their own culture and identity. I slowly began to see what was actually valuable and important in life. I began to look at my parents and see the sacrifices they had made so I could become "posh".  I also began to see that what I spent my teens looking down on, was actually what I wanted most for myself and any children I might be blessed with. I met my husband, got married, and when it came time to have children, we decided to move back, so they would be at the heart of their community, near their grandparents, and educated in a small rural school. 

I now have five beautiful children who are all in my lovely rural three-teacher school, except for one, who has moved on to the local, reasonably small, secondary school. I feel they are getting an excellent education as I am blessed with the finest team of dedicated teachers it has ever been my pleasure to work with. They lack nothing (except a GP room/ hall, which I would kill for, but then again, they have three acres and a playground with swings and slides, so I shouldn't complain), and are happy and well rounded, as are all my pupils, thank God. There are no bullying issues or social problems, like the ones I faced daily in England. No drugs,no knives, no obesity, no major problems. I have many with special needs, but they are accepted and supported by both teachers and their peers. 

Why am I telling you all this? Because  you see, I know what it is like to think small schools are a waste of money and that amalgamation is only sensible. I know what it is like to think that rural communities are parochial and need to be modernised and "get real". 

However, having seen all possible sides, sizes and levels of education in Ireland and abroad in my twenty plus years as a teacher, I now understand the jewel we have in our small schools and our tight knit small communities. 

I now understand that what makes us uniquely Irish and special, is something which must be protected at all costs. 

If this next batch of emigrants come back in a few years to raise their children in a rural area, close to their communities, as I did, along with many others, there is a good chance that if this government gets their way, they will not have a small school in their area for the children to come back to. Will they ever forgive us if we have let that happen without a whisper of protest? 

Those of you who advised against "divide and conquer" are absolutely right. In a modern Ireland there is a need for large schools, and highly populated areas need large, modern, well run schools. However, small schools are also modern and well run, and are also badly needed by their communities. 

It took me a while to realise it. We don't have the time to wait for Ruairi Quinn to see it. By the time he realises the importance of small schools (and DEIS schools for that matter), they could be consigned to the history books. 

We, the leaders in the education sector, MUST stand in his way, but we must do this together. "Divide and conquer" would be playing right into the hands of a short-sighted administration intent on selling off the family silver and ( if you'll pardon one more cliché) are quite willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater. 

I'm sure you are aware of the planned protest in Loughrea on Saturday 24th March at 2pm and the handing in of petitions to Ciaran Cannon's office at 3pm. I would appreciate anything you could do to promote and support this protest. If you have any connections with the GAA or the IFA who could be persuaded to come along and get involved, that would be great. 

We are also in the planning stage of a huge, nationwide rally, coordinating all of the various local groups which have sprung up all over the country. We hope to converge on Dublin from all parts of the country and cause maximum disruption, on all the various county roads on the way up, and then, once in the city, to  come in from as many different angles as possible, so as to ensure as many different areas are disrupted as possible. With Dublin at a standstill, it will be impossible for the media to ignore us, as they have done in the past. 

The date is not set yet, but it will be at least a couple of weeks, so we intend to use that time to plan the rally very carefully. 

I'm attaching the letter and petition I sent to all the schools I can reach. It lays out the purpose of the protest and there is a page to print off and fill with signatures. If you could help with getting signatures - maybe passing it on to your party members etc, it would also be a huge help. 

Rural Ireland is valuable, and worth saving. Our children are just as important as those born in a highly populated urban area. This discrimination must not be allowed to stand. 

YOU WERE ELECTED TO REPRESENT YOUR COMMUNITY-SO REPRESENT US!!! REPRESENT OUR CHILDREN!!! STAND UP AND FIGHT FOR THEIR FUTURE!!! 

Pride!

Extraordinary things have been happening in the last few days.

Running for Ireland

Fighting for Ireland

In the last week we have been learning about a campaign started by the forming boxing campion, Bernard Dunne, who although was less than successful is his own study of Irish at school found that when he was fighting and conscious of the fact that he was an ambassador for Ireland. He felt a certain inadequacy because he was not able to speak the national language - the only thing that really distinguishes the Irish from every other people. (Language is indeed the badge of identity par excellence. To use the words of Professor Joe Lee, "With language little else seems to be required!" Why did people applaud so enthusiastically when Barak Obama said "Is Féidir Linn." in Dublin's College Green? Why did the rafters of St Patrick's Hall ring when Queen Elizabeth of England said, "A Uachtaráin agus a chairde"?)

So instead of doing nothing like most of us would do he acted. He went a purchased the book and the tapes while in the US and started to pick-up where he left off at school. Like most boxers who become champs he does not understand loosing and so he is in this thing to the bitter end.

So his idea was to get one hundred thousand people to help him and he launched it on an RTÉ Chat show last Saturday and this is what happened.

The essence is that people may join a club - Bernard Dunne's Bród Club - and he has recruited a few very interesting and some very extraordinary people, including the beit noir of the language Kevin Myres, to join in this using the little bit of Irish we all have. This will then be supported in a television programme starting on Monday 5th March - which by coincidence is that start of that fortnight known somewhat strangle as Seachtain na Gaeilge (Irish Language Week!).

Today some 1160 people have joined in and more seem to be signing up as I write.

The second thing that is happening is the second Rith (the last one was held two years ago) which is scheduled to last fro the 8th to the 17th March. Tracing its origin from similar events in the Basque Country (Korrika) and also in Brittany (Ar Rededag), Rith 2012 is a national festival that will take place between 8th and 17th March 2012 as one of the main events of Seachtain na Gaeilge. A 1000km course has been laid out for a massive relay-race run, running from morning to night, from Gaoth Dobhair to Inis Mór (Aran Islands, Galway) over 10 days with thousands of people taking part in over 200 towns and villages. They will carry a baton which contains a message from the President of Ireland, Micheál D Ó hUigín, which will be read at the Cill Rónáin St Patrick's Parade. Judging from the success of the last Rith in engaging local communities it looks like this will be great fun too and any moneys collected are used 

It is encouraging that these happenings are coming from the "grassroots" as it were. They are in sharp contrast to the discouragement and lack of enthusiasm being displayed by officialdom in matters of the language. In the past year as we have pointed out several steps backward have been taken by the Government: 

• the abolition of the necessity to publish bills and acts in Irish and English at the same time;  

the emasculation of the Office of the Language Commissioner by merging it with the Ombudsman's office; 

• the closure of  small schools or the removal of a full compliment of teachers which will effect over 40% if not more of Gaeltacht Schools; 

• the refusal of the Minister of Education to acknowledge the right of children to an education in Irish (including the denial of that right to the Parents & Children of North Kildare!);
• the abolition of assistance for trainee teachers in that part of their training which requires their staying in an Irish speaking area; 

• the intransigence and indeed inefficiency of Foras na Gaeilge in administering the little funding available to assist the voluntary sector in language on both sides of the border; 

• the general inability and unwillingness of state bodies to serve those people who actually try to exercise their constitutional rights to engage with them in Irish.
This is not an exhaustive list....

But let's not dwell on these things. Let's rather rejoice and be proud of the two thisng that I started talking about. Bíodh bród againn astu! (Be proud about them!)

If Rith 2012 is going through your district, village or town be sure to go out and join them or encourage them on the side of the road! It'll be fun!

I see that since I started writing this a further 19 have signed up to Bernard's club. Have you? No?

Here's your chance!

This was posted yesterday early afternoon since then 175 have signed up (10.00am 2nd April 2012)

Éist linn, Ruairí Quinn! A deaf and misunderstanding minister?

The clouded vision of an Education Minister?

In a recent edition of Gaelscéal, the Irish newspaper, our attention was drawn to a piece written by the Irish Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn. The Statement was in the Irish Times, "Laying radical foundations for the primary school system" (IT 25/10/2011) .

"This month, we celebrate the 180th anniversary of sustained quality education in the national school system which has served this country so well."

These are the National Schools which Edmund Ignatius Rice was so doubtful about when they were instituted in the 1830s and indeed the various Churches also had problems with the philosophy under which they were established. Indeed they were not universally accepted until well into the 1860s. That they were successful depends on what the observer thinks they were established to do. Obviously the current minister has his own ideas.

Reading for a Minister

President 1937-1945

Provisional President 1916

Historian 

I wonder if he has ever read the little pamphlet written some 50 years after the establishment of these schools by the first President of the current Republic? "The Necessity for De-Anglicising Ireland!"(INLS 25/11/1892).
"It has always been very curious to me how Irish sentiment sticks in this half-way house -- how it continues to apparently hate the English, and at the same time continues to imitate them; how it continues to clamour for recognition as a distinct nationality, and at the same time throws away with both hands what would make it so." he says!

Or has he read The Murder Machine (1/1/1916) from the pen of the President of the Provisional Government of Ireland, who decried the education system "..an education system which more wickedly does violence to the elementary human rights of Irish children..."

In our own day a comprehensive demographic study of the, by now peripheral, Irish speaking areas, demonstrated the "effectiveness" of the schools in those areas in fostering the use of English and the rapid decline of the use of Irish among the youth in those areas. (Report Summary in English may be found here!). A comprehensive analysis, district by district has been compiled by Donncha Ó hÉalaithe in Irish  (TG4 & Foinse 23/3/2010).

This decline of standards in Irish teaching in schools is hardly surprising when we realise that the Department is staffed by personnel of which only 1.5% (One point five percent) are capable of transacting any business in the national language of Ireland. (Report Coimisinéir Teanga pdf July 2011)

From 1366 the English had attempted to eliminate Irish. By the end of the eighteenth century it is estimated that in a population of approx 5 million people 3.5 million could speak Irish and less than half of those could speak both Irish and English.Certainly there were more speaking Irish then than there were say Danes speaking Danish at that time - approx 2 million at most. By the end of the nineteenth century the number of people who spoke Irish had had a cataclismic fall to 600,000.

This decline appears to have little benificial effect on the Irish economy. To quote the eminent historian Professor Joe Lee in his monumental study of Ireland in the 20th century. He speaks of dairy exports to Britain, "(in 1870) ...Denmark began to enter the dairying industry seriously.....The Danish performance easily eclipsed the Irish one. There were many reasons for this...abandoning their obscure language in favour of English was not one of them.." (Ireland 1912-1985 Page 663)  On the previouis page he states "...it is hardly going too far tio say that but for the loss of the language, there would be little discussion about identity in the republic. With language little else seems tio be required" Indeed all of us, not least a Government Minister would benefit from reading this particular chapter of Professor Lee's book.

Does a Minister for Education who has refused to say whether there is a right here to be educated in the National Language understand or even know the implications of his actions in this regard? Or, as the editorial of Gaelscéal asks, "Has he much more in accordance with the founders of the national schools than has been indicated by him so far?"

Crisis point for voluntary language sector!

Irish version

Statement from recent past Presidents of Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge on the New Funding Model proposed by Foras na Gaeilge

We, former Presidents of Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, which represents 24 member organisations, wish to make the following statement at this critical time for the Irish Language Voluntary Sector.

The Facts

Locked up!

1. A vibrant community voluntary sector is an integral part of modern democratic politics and is recognised as such across the world. In emerging democracies, external assistance is often provided to ensure participation in the state by organised civil society, as was provided by the EU in the case of former communist states in Eastern Europe.

2. However, the Irish Language Voluntary Movement and associated organisations are intricately bound up with the gestation and birth of a free Ireland and the subsequent development of our sovereign state’s language policies. These policies were not alone pioneering in their time but undertaken at a time of straitened economic circumstances. Under its differing facets, the Irish Language Voluntary sector has served the State well in the implementation of the community aspects of those policies as well as in its role, unique to the voluntary sector, of representing the wishes of Irish-speaking citizens to the State. Its place in Irish society is much more than is conveyed by the epithet ‘third sector’. Indeed, when the new political agency or quango, Foras na Gaeilge, was set up with the intention of rebalancing the position of the Irish language in Northern Ireland, the funding functions of the responsible Minister in respect of 8 voluntary organisations, north and south, were transferred by the 1999 Act to the new agency.

3. As the proverb states, Is mór idir inné agus inniu! (a lot has changed between then and now). The State is now probably in as poor a position as when establishing policies for the Irish language at its inception. The voluntary State-aided sector understands this and is willing to make any appropriate responses required but only through an agreed participative process and only in those policy areas which will not ultimately prove detrimental to the future development of the language north and south. Social, cultural and intellectual activities require appropriate criteria in deciding what is ‘value for money’.

4. The response of the funding agency, Foras na Gaeilge, in unilaterally moving from core funding to open competitive short-term project funding is a crude instrument of change which will have long-term invidious consequences for the Irish language north and south.

5. The response of the North South Ministerial Council to this advice tendered by Foras na Gaeilge must, of necessity, have been founded on incomplete information since the Council received no representations from those most affected by the proposed change, whether as funded organisations or as beneficiaries of the work of those organisations.

6. If the 20-Year Strategy for Irish (Irish) and the new approaches in NI are to succeed, it is in and through the community and the experience of community organisations that that will happen.

7. Whether intended or unintended, the real consequences of the new funding model proposed by Foras na Gaeilge is the demise of long-founded and hard-working voluntary organisations.

8. As past Presidents of a representative advocacy and service body founded in 1943, we feel there must be more solutions than that proposed by Foras na Gaeilge. The Irish language and its communities of speakers need, and deserve, both continuing service and new initiatives. We make the following suggestions, both funding and structural, towards a solution acceptable to all.

9. A budget will be required to undertake the occasional schemes proposed. Such a budget could be divided in a number of ways.

9.1 Method 1:
Ringfence a specific three year block budget for the work of the organisations in the community, and establish a Joint Committee consisting of representatives elected by the organisations and representatives elected by Foras na Gaeilge, to administer the Budget under strict conditions. Method 1 would allow Foras na Gaeilge staff the opportunity to work in other areas of Irish language promotion.

9.2 Method 2:
 In conjunction with the block budget above, a separate budget to be administered by Foras na Gaeilge on a competitive schemes basis, such as those already administered by the organisation.

10. In conclusion, it is pointless to initiate a public consultation process as proposed on such an important matter if it is not intended to investigate alternatives, including the status quo, and allow a democratic outcome.

Our structural proposal then is the establishment of an ad hoc representative group, having an independent chair, to discuss possibilities and reach an agreed solution, based on all the available facts, to put before the North South Ministerial Council.

Is sinne le meas,
Helen Ó Murchú (1995 – 1998) (2010 – 2011)
P.T. Mac Ruairí (2004 – 2010)
Caitríona Ní Cheallaigh (2001 – 2004)
Pádraig Mac Donncha (1998 – 2001)
Liam Mac Mathúna (1992 – 1995)
Pádraig Ó Ceithearnaigh (1987 – 1992)

Who cares?

Leagan Gaeilge

Now an then in our blogs we refer to the American blogger Seth Godin. They are usually short, to the point and with short pithy sentances that say a lot in few words.

The message on a Blue Shirt!

Yesterday he had one which displayed in a few words our own thoughts and indeed the oft expressed views of the Coimisinéir Teanga on the topic of Irish in the civil service (and indeed public companies). Even though Godin was talking about service in hotels it could mutatis mutandis also be applied to the service that Irish speakers whether in the Gaeltacht or outside from the state.


"It's obviously not about access to capital (doing it right doesn't cost more). It's about caring enough to make an effort."

And further on he says,

"Of course, the manager of the mediocre hotel that's reading this, the staff member of the mediocre restaurant that just got forwarded this note - they have a great excuse. Time's are tough, money is tight, the team wasn't hired by me, nobody else cares, I'm only going to be doing this gig for a year, our customers are jerks... who cares?


We like Seth Godin!

"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, The Language Commissioner, 23 Jan 2014)

Making the language act safe!

The last two months have seen an extraordinary amount of anxiety about the current Government's lack of interest providing a reasonable, if not an equal status, to the only language that we in Ireland can call our own. This anxiety has been reflected almost exclusively in the Irish language media and largly ingnored by the English language media in Ireland.

The language used by the writers of the Stowe Missal
(13 centuries ago)is still used today in Ireland. 

Will this government hasten its demise?

Three body blows?
It has already made three decisions which lessen the status of Irish in the past six months.
• It demoted the Department as an important and main responsibility of a department with responsibility for community matters to a small subsection of a Department responsible for matters such as arts and heritage.
• It has abolished the obligation to publish legislation in both official languages
• It has decided to emasculate the office of the Language Commissioner by merging it's functions with those of the office of the Ombudsman. This latter decision makes little sense for at least two reasons. The first is that it will not save money in fact - on the admission of the Junior Minister who now holds responsibility for such matters - it will actually cost money (Seanad Éireann Debates, 24 November 2011, Vol.211, No.12). See  also Austerity and Irish language rights on the Human Rights Ireland site!

The Language Act, which was passed after five years of deliberation in 2003, has a clause which calls for a review of the act and this has been been requested on their website but with little publicity in the English Language. The site with the survey questionnaire and forms in English is here: Review of Official Languages Act 2003. The deadline for these recommendations is next Tuesday 31st January 2012.

• See Irish Rights are equal rights - so fight back! (24/1/2012)