[lg policy] Ireland:

[Harold Schiffman]

Kenny under fire for language policy

17/02/2011By Paul O’Brien, Political Correspondent

FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny came under heavy pressure over his party’s
controversial Irish-language policy in the first three-way debate of
the election campaign on TG4 last night. Fine Gael has proposed
abolishing Irish as a compulsory subject in the Leaving Certificate,
believing this could help the language flourish as it would attract
passionate students.

But Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and his Labour counterpart Eamon
Gilmore claimed such a policy would destroy the language and wreak
havoc on the economies of the Gaeltacht areas. The debate itself took
place in Irish, with all three men showing a comfortable command of
the language. It saw frequent clashes between Mr Kenny and Mr Martin,
with numerous interjections by each man as the other was speaking.

Mr Gilmore was more restrained, choosing mostly to stand back and wait
for his opportunity to explain his party’s stances. The hour-long
debate opened with each leader offering his vision for the country. Mr
Gilmore said he wanted to build a “Second Republic” by 2016 and give
the country back to the people from the bankers. Mr Kenny said he
wanted to make Ireland the best small country in the world to do
business, raise a family and grow old with dignity by 2016.

Mr Martin said Ireland could look to 2016 with hope, but the economy
first had to be put back on a sound footing, claiming Fianna Fáil had
a credible plan to do that. The debate then moved to the bank
guarantee scheme, the EU-IMF bailout, unemployment and emigration.
Mr Kenny said the Government’s “silly mistakes” would see €100 billion
pumped into the banks, €35bn of which was going to Anglo alone. That
money could have created 200,000 jobs, he said.

Mr Gilmore claimed that Fianna Fáil had destroyed both the economy and
the country. He defended his party’s plan to extend the deficit
reduction deadline to 2016, saying too much taxes and spending cuts in
a short period of time would stifle economic growth. But Mr Martin
said neither Labour nor Fine Gael would reverse a single cut which
Fianna Fáil had already made in government. He also said the EU-IMF
agreement could not be renegotiated unilaterally, and that the bank
guarantee had been necessary to protect businesses and the 1.8m people
still working.

The debate moved on to farming, fishing and tourism. All three leaders
denied that the era of the small farmer was over. But there was
disagreement on the subject of the state subsidies provided to
regional airlines, which are being cut by the Government. Mr Gilmore
pledged that a Labour government would retain the subsidies, but Mr
Kenny noticeably failed to do, having been pushed on the issue several
times.

“I’m not making any commitment here,” he said. Mr Martin skirted the
issue, saying the Government had developed a motorway network which
was “a major step forward” for the regions   Mr Kenny came under
pressure again when the subject of his party’s Irish language policy
arose.

The Fine Gael leader insisted that Mná Tí and Gaeltacht areas
dependent on seasonal influxes of Irish students had nothing to worry
about.
Mr Kenny said that as a “former teacher, a politician and an
Irishman”, he was dedicated to the language and wanted to see it
flourish.
“I plan to strengthen it,” he said, saying Fine Gael would review both
the curriculum and teacher-training before making any decision.

But Mr Martin said that the Fine Gael policy, if implemented, would
mean the death of the language. Mr Gilmore similarly claimed the Fine
Gael policy would “destroy the language”, the summer colleges and the
Gaeltacht areas.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/election/analysis/kenny-under-fire-for-language-policy-145600.html

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