LL-L "Diversity" 2006.03.02 (02) [E]

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02 March 2006 * Volume 02
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From: Críostóir Ó Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Diversity" 2006.03.01 (07) [A/E]


Mark wrote:
"This is my plea & appeal, sugered with self-interest, to Irishmen & 
residents of Eire who don't have the Erse. It gives you a foot in the door 
that others don't have. Learn it!"

I haven't heard Irish called "Erse" since about 1760, and even then it 
applied to Scottish Gaelic. :)

One of the major obstacles encountered by Irish is its relative invisibility 
in the economy. This is not because there is no market for or competitive 
advantage in Irish - when Tesco (a British supermarket company) set up down 
south a few years they conspicuously put Irish in smaller font under the 
English on their aisle signs. At the same time, Eircom (formerly Telecom 
Éireann) dropped the language from their phone books. So there's a general 
drive toward cutting Irish out from commercial activity.

This is ironic in a so-called "independent Ireland" and makes no business! 
sense, considering around 41 per cent of southern residents returned 
themselves as Irish-speaking in the 2002 census, and the last survey on 
language use (1993):

* 19 per cent said they were committed to using Irish as much as they could 
(up from 11 per cent in 1973 and 13 per cent in 1983)
* 39 per cent will always speak Irish if spoken to in Irish (up from 34 per 
cent in 1974)
* 45 per cent wished they could use the Irish they had more often (up from 
41 per cent in 1974)

Unfortunately at the same time 57 per cent did not like to begin a 
conversation in Irish (up from 51 per cent in 1973) and, perhaps more 
critically, 60 per cent did not like speaking Irish when others who do not 
know Irish are present (same in 1973).

The consequence is an almost entirely English-speaking Ireland with 
decreasing public visibility for Irish.

Go ra! ibh maith agat

Críostóir. 

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