Éirígí! or should that be ‘Rise-igí Up’

Éirígí, the new kids on the republican block have been in the mouths of the people, or at least in the mouths of political nerds for a few weeks now. I know that in Belfast that they have attracted a fair scattering of younger Irish speakers but I wonder what impact they will have on the wider organisation?

Section 3.5. of Éirígí’s constitution, also available in Irish on their website states

.. To promote the revival of widespread, everyday usage of the Irish language across Ireland, and to encourage a deeper understanding and appreciation of the role of Irish culture in contemporary Ireland.
That is pretty standard stuff. No radicalism. No imagination.

In my experience the republican socialists in Dublin are perhaps one of the more alienated from the Irish language of the political viewpoints described as republican, will this provide a source of tension in the future? I predict it will.

Éirígí’s website is monolingual English however, with occasional bilingual press releases, always relating to the language itself, although there is some policy content in Irish. I would expect more frankly.

Make no mistake however, Sinn Féin are not alot better. Sinn Féin’s website is ‘bilingual’ on clicking a difficult to find Gaeilge button, however it is not hard to find that that bilingualism is merely skin deep. There is an obvious similarity with the Fianna Fáil approach.

The 32 County Soveignty Committee’s committment to anglicisation seems pretty clear from their website.

To my knowledge only the Communist Party of Ireland is the only party to have a completely bilingual website ttp://www.communistpartyofireland.ie/.

Maybe politics is just a Béarla thing? Maybe politics is just a Béarla thing? Maybe people should read Ó Cadhain and not just quote the bits they like?

What is clear is that there is no Irish Plaid Cymru.