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Minister’s hostility to Irish is dispiriting
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
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I must write that it is with disappointment that I read that Nelson McCausland has been appointed Culture Minister given his hostility to the Irish language.
Why on earth should any educated person be hostile to a language? It is dispiriting to read that he is a former teacher and disappointing to read that he is an Oxford graduate, as surely an education at one of the world’s great universities should have given him a proper rounded education and opened his eyes to the beauty of culture and its diversities.
He says that Northern Ireland is not a Celtic country (debatable), but like other areas of the British Isles, from the Scottish Islands to Wales to Cornwall, it retains a Celtic tradition and retains a language of the Celts.
These Celtic languages were, and are, a part of our common European heritage and should be preserved and encouraged for all as part of our common heritage and humanity just as Latin and Greek are seen as part of our common civilisation.
A second, but related, point is his hostility to Gaelic games. Hurling/shinty is one of the ancient world’s great sports and again should be encouraged and preserved as part of our common humanity and diversity.
If some GAA teams are named after sectarian gunmen then that is plainly wrong and offensive, just as it is offensive to name bridges and towns after the likes of Craigavon and his UVF associates who were quite prepared to arm sectarian elements to kill their neighbours and I presume that everyone in the DUP has no reservation about condemning sectarian gunmen and murderers of whatever sectarian hue.
The Irish language and Gaelic culture have to be nurtured and respected, not just in Ireland and Britain, but for all Europe in the name of our common heritage and culture.
If we attack the learning and preservation of Irish then we have, by extension, to attack other ancient cultures like Latin or Greek. The only difference is that Latin and Greek still have civilised defenders and it is important that Gaelic has this support as well.
Sean O Doibhilin
Letterkenny
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37 Comments
William (or is it Liam?), I can see why my other posts are not "woth" your comment - unless you learn how to spell properly how am I supposed to decipher them ?
Slan leat go foill.
Posted by Evergreen | 10.07.09, 13:48 GMT
Robert
Your ignorance is profound, and your comment implies that you are incapable of considering more than one issue at a time.
Thankfully most people in "the world" as you put it live way beyond your pathetic little mindset. Irish has been spoken and still is for 2000 + years. Show some respect. But I suspect you are the type who would happily demolish the Colosseum in Rome to build a car park. I weep for your primitive ignorance.
Posted by Evergreen | 10.07.09, 12:46 GMT
Bigchiefally: I respect your comments and in some ways i support them re government documents. I think its a waste esp in a recession. Id like to see the republic take a great role.
Robert: What are you Ha Haing about? Where did i tell an untruth? Did i mention Irish in a Northern Ireland context? No. "The world doesnt care abouit your Irish Language" Why would they? I do though.
Recognised EU language now. Its actually a beautiful language if you here it spoken by fluent speakers.
Posted by Éamonn | 10.07.09, 12:34 GMT
is it any wonder this place is still the laughing stock of the civilised world ??
when the economic recovery does come............ we'll still be hoisting flags and throwing spears at each other - what a shame..............
Posted by willie gobackwards | 10.07.09, 10:49 GMT
Evergreen so you are an expert on my name. I think not. The rest of you post is as usual not woth further comment.
Posted by Liam | 10.07.09, 09:43 GMT
Sean
Thats the point. Your last sentence is very true. The Irish language is as much use to us as Latin or Greek. It might be nice as a hobby but thats all.
Posted by get real | 10.07.09, 00:08 GMT
I think the main reason why the Unionist and Protestant community are hostile to the Irish Language is due to Sinn Fein over many years using the language as some sort of weapon against the Unionist and Protestant people. Saying thinks like "Every word spoken in Irish is another bullet in the freedom struggle" (or words to that effect), would hardly endear anyone to the Irish medium from within the Unionist and Protestant community. Exponents of the Irish medium should address such issues.
Posted by Samuel | 09.07.09, 20:28 GMT
Eamonn, I am not bothered by Irish either way, though at least we can all surely agree it is a definite living language, unlike Ulster Scots. I just dont want my tax to be higher to pay for the propagation of the language. Does anyone in NI speak it and not know any English? No. Let those admirable enthusiasts who love it continue to write poetry, books and songs in it. Lets just not spend cash translating vast numbers of mundane government documents into it, when everyone can read English.
Posted by bigchiefally | 09.07.09, 15:35 GMT
ha ha Eamonn your dreaming. The world doesnt care aout your irish language. There are more important things to worry about.
Posted by Robert | 09.07.09, 15:30 GMT
yes tony, I agree and think that sinn fein should disband their resident groups and stop all the intolerant posturing and save us all the inconvenience and cost. After all, it was a deliberate ploy that they openly admitted to in Athlone at an ira funeral.
Posted by stephen | 09.07.09, 15:19 GMT
Funniest thing is the more McCausland tries to suppress Irish, the more air time he is giving it. The language is not dying out. It is on a plateaux for the last 50 years. if anyone claims it has gone down they are lying, anyone who claims it has gone up is lying.
However the language has experienced a real "in vogue" phenomenon in the republic over the last ten years.
Gaelscoileanna have popped up everywhere. In the next twenty years the language is gonna start growing again. Its great.
Posted by Éamonn | 09.07.09, 14:35 GMT
I think that we should be proud of the fact that celtic languages such as Irish, Welsh, and Scottish Gaelic have not died out unlike Cornish and Manx. Celtic languages have the power to remind us of our shared past and future and should be cherished. I think the politics should be taken out of the whole debate. Why can Northern Ireland not be like Wales, where everything is in Welsh and English?
William Thomas
Posted by Rupert Thomas | 09.07.09, 12:37 GMT
I think that we should be proud of the fact that celtic languages such as Irish, Welsh, and Scottish Gaelic have not died out unlike Cornish and Manx. Celtic languages have the power to remind us of our shared past and future and should be cherished. I think the politics should be taken out of the whole debate. Why can Northern Ireland not be like Wales, where everything is in Welsh and English?
William Thomas
Posted by Rupert Thomas | 09.07.09, 12:37 GMT
Whilts i disagree with the the letter i also disagree with the position of liam who says that the writer(A donegal man) should not comment as he is from the Republic. He is after all an Ulsterman. This is Ulster's problem. You are seen as either wholly British or wholly Irish. Ulstermen will only truely unite when we throw off the shackles of joint British and Irish rule and be proud of being Ulstrermen. Both Scots/British Ulstermen and Gaelic/Irish Ulstermen, proud of both our heritages.
Posted by Robert | 09.07.09, 12:02 GMT
Stephen,
Presumably you would also share my belief that the £5m cost of policing sectarian parades would also be better spent on the health service etc
Posted by Tony | 09.07.09, 11:36 GMT
Whilst i disagree with the letter I think Liam is wrong to say that The writer (Sean) has no write to comment as he is from the Republic. He is still an Ulsterman. That is the problem with Ulster you are either wholly British or wholly Irish. A true sense of Idendity will only be achived in Ulster when we throw off the shackles of British and Irish rule and be Ulstermen, who while cherishing both our Scots/British and Gaelic/Irish heritage also have a true sense of ourselves as Ulstermen.
Posted by Rob | 09.07.09, 10:31 GMT
Och I amm awoy forr ma tee the nooo.. - Look, I have just come up with a new languague - Can I have a big grant please?
Posted by Cheer Owen | 09.07.09, 09:27 GMT
Liam,
Your name is suspect - surely you mean William ?
Either way I recommend that you learn how to spell in "your own" (?) Anglo Saxon language before you criticize another. Or am I being "dillusional" or even delusional again ?
The Celts have left their mark in migrating through most of Europe. Paris was founded by a Celtic tribe (Parisii). Boedicia who fought against Roman occupation of England was also a Celt.
What's your point ?
Slan agus beannacht
Posted by Evergreen | 09.07.09, 08:04 GMT
I am going speak on RMS comment stating that another Native American language has been lost. Many tribal dialects have been lost due to supression at the hands of higher authorities. Do NOT let this happen to Gaelic regardless what side of the fence you sit on. Once a language is lost, it has very LITTLE ability to come back. When something becomes extinct, it cannot return. Call it dramatic but it wont be to the future generations who are left wondering where their native tongue has gone.
Posted by Ainsley | 08.07.09, 19:41 GMT
Sean how does what happens in Northern Ireland have any bearing on your life, you live in the Republic of Ireland. By the way there is debate going on ablout the existance of a so called Celtic race. Evergreen = dillusional
Posted by Liam | 08.07.09, 14:45 GMT
37 Comments