It’s a language, not a subject.

Today I received an email into my inbox that had been forwarded to me by An Cumann Gaelach. It’s from the Irish Language Officer of USI, addressed to each Cumann Gaelach in the country. I found it so frustrating, that I was compelled to reply, although generally I find the “Delete” button is generally a much more time efficient way of responding to such tommyrot.

In the interests of uniformity of language, I have taken the liberty of translating the offending email and all subsequent correspondence (which was a bilingual mash up) into English:

(N.B. My God! It’s actually worse when translated; I mean it was bad when I read it as Gaeilge, but the cold hard light of an English translation really brings out its puerile reactionary streak. Please remember we’re actually paying this guy’s wages through our USI subscriptions!)

Dear Friends,

I need your help and this is the most important thing that we can do as a group this year.

There is a danger that our Cumann Gaelachs might not be here within the space of one to two years if Fine Gael implement their Leaving Certificate policy.

WE HAVE TO STOP THIS POLICY IMMEDIATELY.

What can we do?

1. 1. Spread the link to this Petition below:

a. on your Facebook pages

through your committees

in an email or newsletter to each member

There are 12,000 people are signing it – we have to add to this now. 1.6 million people in this country speak Irish fluently.

http://www.petitiononline.com/gaeilge/petition.html

2. 2. Contact your local Fine Gael TD and tell tell that you will not vote for them if they continue this policy.

3. 3. Attend the public meeting to take part in this campaign. The first meeting will be held on Friday, 21 January, at 14.00 in the Menlo Park Hotel, Galway.

There will be lots of other meetings after this one and one especially directed at students – I’ll keep you informed. I’ll be starting a Facebook page in teh next couple of days and I’ll be looking for your help with it.

This is only the start – the revolution is coming…

I would be very appreciative of any help you can give

Respectfully yours

Aodhán O Deá

Irish Language Officer

Union of Students in Ireland

So anyway, I decided that I couldn’t let this go, so I shot him back an email:

Aodhán,

1.6 million? Really? No, seriously. That’s more than one in every three people in this country. That’s ridiculous. If that was actually true, an Ghaeilge would be heard throughout the country, and as we both know, it’s not; rationally leading us to conclude that your assertion is clearly rubbish.

If there were that many people speaking Irish in the country, then the method of teaching an Ghaeilge within the Irish school system as stands, would be deemed successful, and Fine Gael would be highly unlikely to suggest tampering with it. However, all of the evidence must lead us to conclude that this clearly is not that case.

If you honestly think that your Cumann Gaelach will disappear “within one or two years” as a result of this policy, you’re deluded. I tried to look up “deluded” but couldn’t find it sa foclóir; however you must admit that sometimes English really does have the right word at the right time in the right place.

Finally, if this is your attitude as regards an Ghaeilge and Fine Gael’s supposed huge danger towards it, maybe it would be better for us all if your type of Cumann did, in fact, cease to exist; not “within one or two years” but preferably sooner. As it is, your attitude doesn’t help anyone

Regards

MJB

P.S. – I am not a member of Fine Gael, nor am I associated with any other party. I do, however, object to reactionary nonsense being disseminated by USI.

And to my surprise, and might I add, dismay, Aodhán replied.

Marcus, dear friend,

Thank you for replying to me with regard to this campaign.

1.6 million people speak Irish fluently in this country, dear friend.

“Almost 1.66 million people aged 3 years and over were able to speak Irish in 2006 compared with 1.57 million in 2002.

Putting this in percentage terms we see there was a slight decline from 42.8 per cent in 2002 to 41.9 per cent in 2006.

Ability to speak Irish was higher among females (45.3%) than males (38.4%).

This information is contained in Census 2006 Volume 9 – Irish Language, which gives further detailed results of the census conducted on 23 April 2006. This report contains the final population figures classified by ability to speak Irish and frequency of speaking it for detailed territorial divisions in the country (see Editor’s note)”

I do believe that making Irish as it currently stands optional for the leaving cert will be an absolute disaster and will ultimately lead to the death of Irish as a spoken language. What 15/16 year old will choose Irish (a 7 and a half hour subject with 2 papers, oral and listening) over something like Geography or other 2-3 hour subjects.

Look at our closest neighbour England- when languages were made optional at GCSE level in 2002 within 6 years ago numbers taking them at fallen to 40%- this was with an equal equivalent exam unlike in Ireland where language experts estimate it will be far lower.

This will ultimately lead to Irish not being prioritised for Junior Cert, being taken off syllabus in some schools (as happened in England) and ultimately less emphasis on the language all around society.

We are calling for Fine Gael to change the way Irish is taught in schools instead of making it optional without any research or information to back this up suggesting it as a good idea. A lot of linguistic experts agree with our attitude., as the Professor David Little, Centre of Language and Communication Studies, Trinity College says: “We could make it optional for Leaving Certificate; and after a few years we might come to think that it should be optional for Junior Certificate too; and after that – well, what’s the point of bothering with compulsory Irish at primary level, if it’s going to be taken only by a tiny minority at second level? If we follow this path, we may well find that by the end of this decade Ireland has sold its linguistic birthright and staked its entire future – cultural, political, economic – on the continuing international dominance of English. On the other hand, we can respond by taking seriously the linguistic challenge of the European project; recognizing that Irish belongs not just to Ireland’s but to Europe’s linguistic heritage; taking note of the empirical fact that the more languages you learn, the easier it becomes; insisting that Ireland’s membership of Europe requires us to make foreign language learning a compulsory part of schooling; and seeking ways of achieving more effective learning outcomes. This kind of response requires political commitment and a coherent national effort leading to a language education policy capable of generating an integrated language curriculum that in turn can facilitate pedagogical reform.” The Cumann Gaelach in Trinity College is one of best Cumann Gaelach in the country. It’s certain that it will not become extinct within one or two years, but some of the other Cumann Gaelachs will.

That email was sent to every Cumann Gaelach in the country (22 in total) and there is the danger that some of them won’t be there within a couple of years if this policy is successful. Some of these Cumanns have only 10 -50 members.  I started 8 new Cumanns myself this year and without people coming from schools with Irish it’s certain that the cumann won’t still be alive in a couple of years.

Respectfully yours

Aodhán O Deá

Well, when I read through that, I knew that I’d have to take the big guns out, which is probably a good thing, considering I’ve two very serious debates coming up this week. So here we are; let’s have at it:

Aodhán,

Cumann Gaelach: grúpa duine ag labhairt as Gaeilge faoin a bheith ag labhairt as Gaeilge. – Mairtín O’Siadhail, Gael Linn, Príomhoide Bhaile Bhuirne

I’m sure it has occurred to you that the census return is grossly inaccurate, and that most people will overestimate their abilities. This is not unique to an Ghaeilge; people always overestimate the amount of exercise they do and the time they spend working, while underestimating their calorific and alcoholic intakes. So to base your assertions on something which is so clearly spurious is disingenuous.

I do believe that making Irish as it currently stands optional for the leaving cert will be an absolute disaster and will ultimately lead to the death of Irish as a spoken language. What 15/16 year old will choose Irish (a 7 and a half hour subject with 2 papers, oral and listening) over something like Geography or other 2-3 hour subjects.

Unfortunately you have fallen into same trap that hundreds of thousands of people, since the 1920s have fallen into, just there, by regarding it as a subject. That is the fundamental error which has been made in this country for the last eighty years. Irish was seen as a subject, like Geography or Maths, to be studied, necessary for getting into university or the Civil Service. Big mistake. It’s a language, to be spoken, not studied, and that’s what has the language in the appalling state that it’s in today. It is a fundamental problem, grounded in our perceptions and prejudices.

Look at our closest neighbour England- when languages were made optional at GCSE level in 2002 within 6 years ago numbers taking them at fallen to 40%- this was with an equal equivalent exam unlike in Ireland where language experts estimate it will be far lower.

Once again, the comparison with England is disingenuous. English is the national language of England, and it’s fairly well spoken, in fact one could safely say that it’s thriving. Granted, the Irish speak it better than the English do, but that’s our little revenge. When comparing, you should look at Wales and compare the fate of Welsh and then look back the the miserable performance of an Ghaeilge. And what’s the difference? Tuition? No, attitude.

Also, you must remember that in the English situation, they are talking about foreign languages. An Ghaeilge, however, is not a foreign language, it’s our native one. The only reason it survives is the Gaelic Revival of the 1890s. It is hanging on in there, but  purely because of its national identity associations and the grotesque amounts of funding that is pumped into the designated Gaeltacht areas. Also, being able to speak French or German isn’t really an intrinsic part of the psyche of the average Brit. Having the cúpla focail on the other hand, is hugely important to Irish people. Evidently so, otherwise 1.62 million of them would not have so blatantly overestimated their proficiency at the language.

This will ultimately lead to Irish not being prioritised for Junior Cert, being taken off syllabus in some schools (as happened in England) and ultimately less emphasis on the language all around society.

Again, here we have more talk of Irish as a subject, this time as Junior Cert subject. Like Geography and Maths right? Wrong. Emphasis on the language in society? Well it’s currently compulsory and I don’t see too much emphasis on it “all around society”. Banks, unemployment, politicians, and our national ineptitude when it comes to dealing with winter, they are all endlessly emphasised; an Ghaeilge? Not so much…

We are calling for Fine Gael to change the way Irish is taught in schools instead of making it optional without any research or information to back this up suggesting it as a good idea.

That’s funny, because your email didn’t say that, nor did your petition. It just said that you wanted Fine Gael not to pursue it’s policy. It didn’t suggest that you were asking for a change in the way Irish is taught in schools. And guess what; Fine Gael is actually suggesting that the way that Irish is taught in schools would be changed – so that those who don’t want to learn it don’t have to. Now granted, it’s probably in everyone’s best interests to learn it, but unfortunately for your argument the job of government is not to force people to do what is in their best interests.

As regards Professor Little’s comments; we’ll obviously he’s going to say that. Jobs for the boys. He’s head of a highly paying Gaeilge think tank; his interest is in maintaining the status quo. He’s hardly going to turn around and say, “Bin it!”. Turkeys do not vote for Christmas.

This idea of an Ghaeilge being part of “Europe’s lingustic heritage” is clearly laughable. We are an country of four million people, on an remote island off the west coast of Europe. As of January 1, 2009, there were 499.8 million people living in the 27 EU states alone. To put that into perspective – that’s EU: 499,800,000; Ireland; 4,200,000; Lucht an Ghailge: 35,000 (generously). On a European context, an Ghaeilge is not linguistic heritage; it’s margin of error.

As regards the fates of na Cumann Gaelach, please see the opening line by Mairtain O’Siadhail. It was one of the most insightful things that I have ever heard. That “ciorcal comhrá” attitude too, is another thing responsible for the ill health of the teanga. People sitting around talking in Irish about talking in Irish. It’s unnatural, and any organisation which tries to do this is intrinsically doomed to failure. So what if a couple of cumanns go to the wall. It was always going to happen.

To use, perhaps, an unusual analogy for a moment. An Ghaeilge is a bit like the so-called “gay community”. One of the major criticisms leveled at gay bars is that whereas all of the people there are gay, that doesn’t mean that one necessarily has anything in common with those around them. Being gay is simply not enough of a common bond. Similarly speaking Irish is simply not enough of a common bond; that’s why Cumann Gaelachs don’t endure. However, in situations such as gay sports or social clubs (hiking, rugby, athletics, art, book clubs, whatever) the being gay thing is secondary, it’s a common thread but it’s not what’s holding the group together.

And that’s what we need to see in terms of the revival of the language. Sports clubs, art classes, cooking classes etc all being run through the medium of Irish. People aren’t going there for the Irish, they’re going there for the rugby, but the Irish just happens to be a common thread or, not the focus of the  activity. An Ghaeilge is only the medium, and the medium should never be the focus of attention. By focussing on the medium, you don’t see the bigger picture.

I recommend that you take four minutes to watch David Mitchell’s opinions on Scot’s Gaelic. He brings some very concise points to the table. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvlQXPNwrqo

Finally, if you’re serious about the fate of an Ghaeilge, and you want to see a bi-lingual country where 1.66 million people can actually converse as Gaeilge on a daily basis, then you need to adjust your attitude. Sending out reactionary emails and petitions is not the way to go about it; it does more damage than good and only reinforces negative preconceptions.

Regards

MJB

January 17, 2011 | Categories: Cumann Gaelach, Debating, Education, Fine Gael, Gaeilge, Ireland, Language, Politics, USI | 2 Comments