Irish language will make our nation great again

From Kathleen McAuley

I'm sorry David Kenny had a bad experience with an ignorant teacher at a coláiste Gaeilge at the tender age of 16 (Comment, 18 April).

It makes me so sad that your thinking in relation to our first language and the oldest spoken language in Europe has been so warped that you spend so much energy walloping it instead of embracing it. You could use all that energy to find out more about why people like me love and respect it and believe deeply that a great part of what makes a people special is their language.

A very important part of restoring our identity and self-respect as a nation is being ignored if not clobbered to death by fine young people like yourself.

I can only lament that the aforesaid ignorant teacher did not apply the ancient Irish edict: 'Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh siad'. What opportunities have been squandered by generations of teachers that have failed so miserably to 'mol an óige'.

But there is always today. I am convinced that a great swell of self-respect and pride could be salvaged out of the dreadful morass of despondency into which those in power have so shamefully dragged us if we could reclaim our language.

Without big grants, promises from politicians or wielding of big sticks, our language could be reclaimed overnight by an act of will. 'A leap of the imagination', mar a duirt Heidegger fadó. Our children would grow up with a respect for our past illuminated by the very meaning of the ground we walk on, every field of which had a name. A great hole in the soul of our people could be healed by one great unity of purpose.

So anois a Dhaithí. Your time has come to make amends and and do your bit for Ireland and Gaeilge.

Kathleen McAuley

(by email)

April 25, 2010

Comments

#1 Jim Walsh commented, on April 29, 2010 at 9:27 a.m.:

As for identity or self respect, are Canadians, Australians, South Africans, Scots, Welsh, New Zealanders or Americans to mention just a few lacking in identity or self respect as English speaking peoples?

#2 Mary commented, on April 29, 2010 at 4:47 p.m.:

I learnt Irish in school and could never grasp it despite being intelligent in other subjects. As a consequence I couldn't do my Intermediate certificate and had to take a Commercial course instead which meant I left school at sixteen. To this day I resent having had to leave school so early and would have loved to have gone on to do my Leaving Certificate.Fortunately today students no longer have to have Irish and can do the Leaving certificate without it. Will someone please tell me what good having Irish is in the modern world? Most students leaving Irish schools don't seem to have basic grammar even those employed on national Radio and Television. It's about time schools concentrated on proper English and forgot all this nonsense about a language which most of us couldn't care less about.

#3 phil commented, on April 29, 2010 at 10:35 p.m.:

Dear Kathleen,I am amazed to discover that people like you still exist!people who allude over"GREAT NATIONS"and"SPECIAL PEOPLE"-"SELF RESPECT AND PRIDE"..you sound like my demented RE teacher who was subsequently arrested and jailed for membership of the IRA.You are so blinded by PRIDE and the irrelevance of a language that you can no longer SEE your native people.Not a tiny hint of consideration as to how your wonderful fellow countrymen lost their"great hole in the soul"to begin with??Oh God No,this is just too tiring,so I will retire to bed with my nightcap scotch and say yet another prayer for dear old Ireland.

#4 Jaker commented, on April 30, 2010 at 4:30 a.m.:

The past in this country is something a lot of us are trying to forget...& beating Irish into the children of that past was one of those nightmares of that past. So it's good now children today have a choice whether to take it as a subject, rather than be subject to being force fed it down their throats. & when ever I hear somebody speak the same language I hear them throwing in the odd english word that they have no irish word for...so to me it's really only half a language, if much of a language at all. So anais a dhaithi...whatever that means...for it is still all double Dutch to me!

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