Though the move to make Irish an offical boost last week with Eammon O’Cuiv voicing his support to promote the language from its current ‘intermdiate’ status, the Republic’s government ability to seal a deal may lie with the Spanish who have their own set of language concerns.
“A proposal from the Spanish government to give Basque, Catalan and Galician the same status as Irish was watered down.
“The [Irish] Government argued that such rights should only be granted if languages are officially recognised by their own parliaments. There was also a fear that concessions would open the door for the recognition of a host of other languages spoken by minorities in the EU, from Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish, to Russian.
“In the end, the right to correspond with the European institutions in Catalan and other languages was not written into the EU constitution, although the treaty itself may be translated into their tongues. That gesture failed to satisfy many Catalans, who point out that seven million people speak their language – several times the number of Irish speakers – even though it does not have official status throughout Spain”.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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