Mind your language

“I should be be fluent in Irish but my ability to speak our native tongue is distinctly average”

Speaker’s Corner
Michael Duffy

I HAVE to admit that when it comes to Raidió Teleifís Éireann, I’m often at the head of the queue for heaping criticism, so for a change I’m delighted to be able to praise one of their homegrown programmes.
Des Bishop’s ‘In the Name of the Fada’ has just finished its six-week run on Thursday nights on RTÉ One and along with being highly entertaining, it has also raised some fundamental questions about the current state of the Irish language.
For the uninitiated, the American-born comedian (who has lived in Ireland since he was 14 and now proclaims himself to be Irish) decided to move from his home in Dublin to Connemara for one year. In doing this, he had two simple objectives – to learn to speak Irish and, on foot of that, perform a gig back in Dublin ‘as Gaeilge’.
The most likely reaction to the premise of the show is ‘sure couldn’t anyone learn any language if they had nothing else to do for a full year’.  But the reality is that most of us go through the Irish education system for an average of 13 years, being taught compulsory Irish from day one, and come out the other end barely able to string two sentences together.
So whose fault is this? The obvious answer lies at the door of the Department of Education and their methods of ‘teaching the teachers’. Another major problem is the prevailing negativity towards the language among the public, most of whom are more than happy to cast aside the language by saying ‘sure what good is it to me anyway’.
The problems surrounding the teaching of the language have been widely debated in recent times and hopes are high that changes to the curriculum will place more emphasis on the spoken word.
Also, shows like ‘In the Name of the Fada’ should engender more positivity towards the language, especially among teenagers and twenty-somethings.
I for one was, frankly, a little embarrassed about the success of Bishop and his general enthusiasm and justification for taking on such a task. I, more than anyone, should be be fluent in Irish but for one reason or another, my ability to speak our native is tongue is distinctly average.
For starters, Máirtín G Ó Maicín, one of Mayo’s foremost advocates of the promotion and use of the Irish language was my national school principal in Killawalla. 
Secondly, I spent six years in Coláiste Muire, Tuar Mhic Éadaigh in the heart of the Mayo Gaeltacht, where I sat the majority of my Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate subjects through Irish.
And thirdly, Daithi Ó Se, one of the country’s most talked-about Gaeilgeoirs was in the same class as me in Mary Immaculate College in Limerick!
So where did it all go wrong? Primarily, I blame the lack of opportunity to use the language since I left secondary school as the main reason that I no longer have any real confidence in speaking, reading or writing Irish. Don’t get me wrong, I can switch on TG4 Nuacht and understand the main headlines of the day but after watching ‘In the Name of the Fada’, I’d like to at least try and revive my command of language.
So, as a challenge, I am going to make contact with Des Bishop this week and ask him if I can interview him for The Mayo News when he comes to Castlebar on July 4 – with the proviso that I conduct the interview ‘as Gaeilge’ and then transcribe it for publication in the July 8 edition of our paper.
Hopefully, during the months of May and June I will be able to organise a refresher course which will enable me to sit down and conduct an interview with Bishop without embarrassing myself.
Anyone who may think that I already have a good command of the language is free to ring me in the office (098 25311) over the next week for a ‘cúpla focail’. You’ll soon find me out of my depth, I can guarantee! Next week hopefully I will be able to confirm that Des is available for the interview and after that I will keep readers up-to-date on my progress. Go dtí sin, slán!