Cuts and splits: How the Irish language community’s most effective advocates are being silenced

At an event on the Newtownards Road on Thursday to open Belfast’s newest Irish language centre, Linda Ervine, sister in law of the late David Ervine, spoke of ‘An Ghaeilge’ as her language. It was nothing to hide or be afraid of speaking, an attitude which might come as news to some unionist politicians. While there was a celebratory mood in Skainos, the good humour belied the darker clouds gathering for Belfast based organisations which have contributed in various ways …

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Cuireann eagla agus sceon ar pholaiteoirí ná an pobal ag déanamh as dóibh féin…

Tá muid ag obair le Pobal chun sraith beag de aistí bhlag a tharraingt le chéile, agus iad ag iarraidh athbhreithniú a dhéanamh ar staid na Gaeilge cúig bliana déag ar aghaidh ón Chomhaontú Aoine an Chéasta. Anseo thíos, cuireann Seamus ceisteanna isteach ar an Roinn Oideachais faoi na trialacha de leanaí scoile ag iarraidh fáil isteach chun an mheánscoil lán-Ghaeilge i mBéal Feirste. Le Séamus Mac Seáin. “Dear Mr Brown I can now let you know that it is the Ministry’s view that instruction given …

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Cá háit a bhfuil an Ghaeilge cúig bliana déag i ndiaidh Chomhaontú Aoine an Chéasta?

Tá muid ag obair le Pobal chun sraith beag de aistí bhlag a tharraingt le chéile, agus iad ag iarraidh athbhreithniú a dhéanamh ar staid na Gaeilge cúig bliana déag ar aghaidh ón Chomhaontú Aoine an Chéasta. Anseo thíos cuireann Príomhfheidhmeannach Janet Muller duit do chuid smaointe a sheoladh isteach chugainne. Beidh na aistí foilsithe i nGaeilge amháin, ach tig linn aistriúchán a dhéanamh ón Bhéarla do na cinn maith. Le Janet Muller Bunaíodh POBAL, scátheagras phobal na Gaeilge sa bhliain chéanna is a síníodh Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta …

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Two new minority language community radio stations on either side of the Bann

OFCOM has announced five new community radio licenses today, of which one will be going Irish Gaelic and the other Ullans… In its application, fUSe FM said it will “reflect the traditions, language and culture of Ulster Scots in Ballymoney and surrounding areas”. Raidió G said in its application that it “will serve the Irish language community, and those with an interest in Irish language and culture within the broader English-speaking community, in the Greater Maghera Area in south County …

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Fionola Meredith: Can what has been divided by language also be brought together by it?

This week (May 20-26) is Community Relations Week, with over 180 events across Northern Ireland. Below, Fionola Meredith provides her thoughts as part of her involvement in the Community Relations Council Policy Conference which she was contributing to. One of the most singular ironies of living in Northern Ireland is that language – the most fundamental human tool of communication, the shared medium through which we all encounter the world – becomes, in itself, a source of division, suspicion and …

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Seachtain na Gaeilge: deis caillte?

Cad a tharla do’n bliain seo chaite? Táimid i measc Seachtain na Gaeilge arís agus b’fheidir go bhfuil sé ro-mhall do rud éigin suimiúil a dhéanamh an bhliain seo, mar shampla MÚC. Creidim gurb é seo an chead usaid don téarma nua seo – do mórchúrsa oscailte ar líne nó #MOOC (ach, mar ainm, níl MAOL comh holc sin ach oiread). I mbliana, ina bhfuil daoine ag caint faoi The Gathering™, bhí mé ag smaoineamh ar deis digiteach le bheith ag …

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An Gnáthrud: Scéal i rap ó sean Bhéal Feirste..

Na héifeachtaí uafásach daonna dúnmharú seicteach a rinneadh i rap láidre ag Gaelgory, na focail spreagadh le scéal ag Deirdre Ní Ghrianna… (Analysis of the original here in English) H/T Ciaran!! Mick FealtyMick 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

In praise of ….Gerry Adams and Fainne…

Right, hold on to your Frosties, because I’m going in to bat for a Mr G Adams, and his casual but regular use of the Irish language. Gerry may not have the best Irish ever to have emerged from the ‘Jailtacht’, but he does use as much as he has as well as he can. He also wears a Fainne. A big old fashioned one presumably so that the cameras can pick up. Now, there’s an argument made by some …

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Learning Irish in East Belfast: “I find it gives me a great intellectual stimulus…”

Usually, if I link to a piece in Irish I generally write the introduction in Irish, but in this case the heart of the content is a great video piece shot at one of the most socially active churches in the city. At the East Belfast Mission there’s some great new Irish speakers coming to life… It’s just a sheer joy… H/T Tomaí… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet …

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Dinny McGinley planning a bottom up overhaul of government Gaeltacht strategy?

My father didn’t speak English until he went to school in Fanad at the age of four or five. I couldn’t speak more than a word or two of Irish until we began to learn it at school in Holywood when I was eight or nine. My cousins, ‘at home’, grew up with it because their mum, my aunt, spoke it with them from birth. Now all that’s keeping Irish alive in that part of Donegal is the Irish medium …

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“Is don Stát seachas don Pháirtí atá dílseacht gach TD dlite…”

Agus Concubhar Ó Liatháin ar an ábhar céanna de costais pháirtí, brón orm, speansais do TDeanna agus Sinn Féin… Cheapfá gur ceist shuarach í sin – agus glacaim leis gur ábhar cineál suarach é tuarastal ár dTeachtaí Dála, ceist a chuireann díospóireacht meánscoile i gcuimhne dhom – ach ceapaim féin go bhfuil sé tábhachtach a bheith cinnte gurb é an Stát – tusa agus mise – a fhostaíonn TD Shinn Féin seachas an pháirtí. Is don Stát seachas don Pháirtí …

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“Ba cheart do bhunreacht a bheith glé, grinn soiléir soléite…”

Tugann Aonghus faoi dheara go riamh ó cuireadh iallach ar an rialtas a ghlacadh gach conradh a rialaíonn caidreamh na hÉireann leis an Aontas Eorpach isteach leis an mBunreacht, d’fhorbair sé ina cúldoras sa Bhunreacht féin (ceann de roinnt acusan): Ba cheart do bhunreacht a bheith glé, grinn soiléir soléite. Bhí tráth. Níl níos mó. Táimid mar sin spléach ar aos dlí chun meabhair a bheith a bhaint as – rud a chiallaíonn gur gá do saoránach misniúil éigin dul …

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Snap, Craickle and Pop: The Controversy of Popular Gaelicisation

Ever since Ireland was told that the black stuff might not be Irish, but rather a porter stout from Covent Garden, the country has descended into a frantic state of uncertain soul-searching and impassioned reflection to clarify once and for all what is actually ‘Irish’ (potatoes, Gaelic Storm, and Saint Patrick aside).   But now the most quintessentially ‘Irish’ institution of them all is under intense academic scrutiny, the much celebrated notion of ‘the craic’ (and that’s before considering the …

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Official Languages Act falling into disuse in the Republic?

Just getting a language act into legislation does not necessarily help a struggling language like Irish to survive… The Irish Language Commissioner Seán Ó Cuirreáin has noted that even though the legislation exists in the Republic its effectiveness or otherwise is being ignored by a large number of government bodies in the Republic where such an act does actually exist. Lorna Siggins writes: Even the Government department responsible for the language – the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht – …

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Ócáid phoiblí: Speak Irish on Facebook Day

An mbeidh foireann margaíochta sásta le 36,942 daoine ag freastail ar ócáid phoiblí ar an gréasán meáin sóisialta Facebook? Bhuel, sin an méid cuairteoirí atá ag ‘Speak Irish on Facebook Day’, tosaíodh ar an gréasán meáin sóisialta sin ag beirt déagóirí ógá ó Béal Feirste (as tuaisceart an chathair, fósta). Bhunaigh Ruairí Ó hÉigeartaigh agus Dónal de Brún é i Lúnasa seo chaite. Inniu, deirtear ag 36,942 daoine go mbeidh siad ag freastail ar an ócáid phoiblí seo (agus tá go leor …

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Ciste nua do Ghaeilge ó thuaidh; ach b’fhéidir go tagann próiseas ró dothuigthe leis

An buíochas do Con fá an cuntas seo ar an ciste nua infheistíochta don Ghaeilge (£8m ar fáidh trí bliana). Ach tá ceist buartha ag Con: cé leis an t-airgead sa chiste seo? An poiblí go hiomlán, nó páirtí príobháideach? B’fhéidir De réir an méid atá cloiste agam, is tacadóirí Shinn Féin den chuid is mó na baill atá ar mBórd seo. B’fhéidir gurb iad na Gaeil is Gaelaí ar chlár na cruinne, ach ní leor sin. Na h-ainmneacha a …

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Court of Appeal upholds Administration of Justice (Language) Act of 1737

As the BBC notes the Court of Appeal has rejected a legal action claiming that the Administration of Justice (Language) Act of 1737, which specifies that all proceedings in NI courts must be in English, was discriminatory and breached the European Convention on Human Rights. And UTV has extensive quotes from the ruling Lord Justice Girvan ruled: “Conferring on individual litigants a right at their option to convert court forms from English into a language not understood by the vast majority of …

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Quality of education at Gaelscoil na Daroige “inadequate”

The Irish News education correspondent, Simon Doyle, notes that a Northern Ireland Education and Training Inspectorate report has stated that the “quality of provision in Irish and English was inadequate” at a Londonderry Irish-medium primary school which the NI Education Minister, Sinn Féin’s Caitriona Ruane, has twice awarded funding to against the advice of her departmental officials.  From the Irish News Ms Ruane approved the first proposal in 2007, but the school never met the necessary intake numbers and was forced to re-apply. The second proposal …

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“It is hard not to feel a certain sense of pity for Sinn Fein over this issue..”

Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams, MP, MLA, has reprised his role as spokesman for the UK government by announcing a further four year funding of the Irish Language Broadcast Fund ahead of any official statement. Just as he did in 2008. It’s still a reserved matter. ‘The Blog’ had the ‘scoop’ this time. The level of funding, £3million per year, is the same as the previous announcement in 2008 – which means it’s a decrease in real terms – and …

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Labhraionn Mac Giolla Eoin amach

Tá ráiteas déanta ag leascheannaire an SDLP, Patsaí Mac Giolla Eoin ar an Ghaeilge : “Irish language must be above all party side deals”. Ag labhairt dó i mBéarla Deardaoin seo chuaigh thart dúirt sé : “It is simply untrue and harmful when Gerry Adams claims that Sinn Fein is the only party fighting for the language”. Mhaigh sé gurbh é an Bille Teanga de chuid an SDLP an dóigh leis an teanga a ‘dhí-pholaitiú’. Is doiligh a thuiscint cén …

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