The Mayo News

News Feature The Irish language faces challenging times ahead, but promoters feel the future can be bright.


Looking to the future

The Irish language faces challenging times ahead, but promoters feel the future can be bright

Anton McNulty

T’S a question the Irish nation has been asking itself since the creation of the State. Is the Irish language a language in decline and is there any point in trying to revive it?
Since Douglas Hyde founded the Gaelic League in 1893, there has been a constant battle to revive the Irish language and culture throughout the country. Down through the years this revival has not been helped by large-scale emigration and by the attitude taken by many Irish people who felt using the English language was the only way forward.
Statistics from the last census in 2006 show that 40.9 per cent of people regarded themselves as competent in Irish, but among people outside the educational system that figure was only 29.7 per cent.
Even the Gaeltacht areas are under pressure from English, with the last census revealing only 8,483 people out of 32,161 (26.3 per cent) speaking the language on a daily basis. Ample evidence for the cynics who see no way back for our native tongue.
However, the obituary of the Irish language has been written many times over the years. When the late Máirtín Ó Cadhain, who was regarded as the greatest Irish prose writer of the 20th century, was asked if the Irish language was dying, he replied: ‘yes, it has been dying for over 400 years’.
Yet, despite the relative lack of Irish speakers in the country, supporters of the language point out that the interest among the general public has never been greater. In the last number of years, Irish language campaigning groups like Conradh na Gaeilge have had major victories, none more so than in 2003, when the Official Languages Act guaranteed the right of all Irish citizens to communicate with the State in either Irish or English. Campaigners also won the right for Irish to be recognised as an official language in the EU and Irish-only place names were introduced in official signposts for Gaeltacht areas.
Conradh na Gaeilge has branches all over Ireland and is closely involved in the development of the cultural festival, An tOireachtas, as well as Seachtain na Gaeilge. Máirtín Ó Maicín, principal of Killawalla National School and chairperson of Togra Mhaigh Eo, Conradh na Gaeilge, believes that the revival of the Irish language and the culture can be seen in the amount of young people taking part in Seachtain na Gaeilge and An tOireachtas.
“Interest has greatly improved and the awareness and goodwill towards it has improved immensely over the last number of years. Togra Mhaigh Eo organises Irish classes throughout the county and we started one in Castlebar two weeks ago. They were expecting ten or 12 people to turn up but 36 turned up and they had to change the venue at the last minute because the one they had was too small. In America, there are universities joining up with their Irish counterparts through the ‘Fulbright Foundation’ and students are coming over here to learn the language. Irish is not just a school subject, it is a living language and gradually we are creating the opportunities where young people can use it outside the school,” he said.
Máirtín has been in Conradh na Gaeilge for nearly 40 years and explained that 20 years ago Irish was portrayed in a negative fashion. However, in 2008, a positivity prevails and Máirtín believes this is mainly due to the work of TG4, where Irish is being depicted as ‘cool’.
There is no doubting the positive impact TG4 has had on promoting the language, especially among teenagers. Since it first went on the air, in 1996, it has gained a reputation for innovative programming in film, arts, drama, documentaries and sports. As well as showing mainstream Irish sporting events, the station broadcasts live coverage of the Wimbledon tennis championships as well as the Tour de France and snooker.
Young, enthusiastic presenters like Daithí Ó Sé, Síle Seoige, Aoife Ní Thuairisg and Hector Ó hEochagáin, along with contemporary programmes like Paisean Faisean and Rós na Rún, have shown Irish can be relevant in Celtic Tiger Ireland. The comedian, Dara Ó Briain, started off his career as an Irish language presenter, while Des Bishop, the Irish-American comedian, is learning the language for his up-coming show, ‘In the Name of the Fada’.
While the adoption of the Official Languages Act is welcomed, Máirtín believes that more could be done by the Government in delivering services for Irish speakers. He feels that for the revival of the language to continue and grow, people must be given the incentive to make a living through the medium of Irish, particularly in tourism.
“We are not exploiting the potential at national level to use our language in the seeds of economic tourism in the same way our culture has been used for economic tourism. Nobody can deny that our traditional music has brought in huge amounts of money for this country. Fifty years ago traditional music was dead and buried and look where it is today. If the same drive, enthusiasm and commitment is put into the language as with the traditional music, the exact same thing can happen,” he said.
The economic benefit of incorporating the Irish language has not been lost on multinationals like Tesco and Superquinn, who use the Irish names of items on their displays. Last Christmas, the town of Claremorris incorporated Christmas messages in Irish in their street decorations and, according to Mairéad Ní Mhaoilchiaráin of Gnó Mhaigh Eo, more businesses are seeing the benefits of incorporating Irish into their business.
Gnó Mhaigh Eo was established in the last year to help businesses in Mayo to incorporate the Irish language in features of their business, such as their business frontage, stationery and letterheads. Grants of up to 50 per cent funding for printing materials are offered to private businesses from Foras na Gaeilge and last year Gnó Mhaigh Eo received €10,000 to help these businesses. Mairead explained that Mayo towns can follow Galway city’s example of using the Irish language for their economic advantage.
“Businesses can see there is a value behind the Irish language because of the amount of tourists coming into Mayo. We are trying to promote Mayo as a cultural hub of Ireland and the unique thing we have is our tradition and heritage, which includes our language. We are not even a year on the go but we have been inundated with people looking for help with bilingual signage. In Mayo, we have three Gaeltachtaí, as well as having Connemara on our doorstep and it is time for us to take advantage of that and promote the cultural aspect of the county. 
“Since Fáilte Ireland started talking about cultural tourism in the last two to three years, they have realised that domestic tourism is a huge benefit to the west. Since we have Irish, we should be enticing families from Dublin to come and spend time in the towns, where they will be able to take day trips out to the Gaeltacht. Fáilte Ireland surveys show that 80 per cent of tourists like to see cultural tourism and the feel and touch of the real Ireland,” she said.
As the country becomes more multi-cultural, some people believe that the increasing numbers of foreign nationals will have a negative effect on the Irish language. However, Máirtín has a more positive view and feels that the ‘new Irish’ will embrace the Irish language and help revive it.
“The ‘new Irish’ are saying to us that they want to integrate and want to have Irish as good as any Irish person. Some people will look on the influx of foreign nationals as a threat to the Irish language, but I don’t. If we look back at our history, the opposite has happened. I feel history is going to repeat itself because the indications are that these foreign nationals will be like the Normans and become more Irish than the Irish themselves,” he said.

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