Can Irish be normal?

10th Mar 2008

Can Irish be Normal? (part 1)
Alan Ger

Seachtain na Gaeilge is the signal for the mainstream media's annual discussion on the Irish language. Writers are usually in one of two camps. One columnist arguing that Irish is alive and well but can do better. Another scribe will insist that it's dead in the water, a useless irrelevant thorn in the side of school children, a draw on tax payers money and that we'd be better off learning Chinese, or whatever language would be most beneficial to feed the Celtic Tiger.

Alleged percentage of people who can speak Irish.

The latter argument generally subscribes to the view that the economy must take precedence over culture. Lists of expenses that the Irish language dumps on the ordinary tax payer are used to highlight it's "burden" on the state. Radio presenters line up their logical arguments and those that try to defend big money spends like translating public service documentation into Irish are sitting ducks in the face of largely unjustifiable expense. Few, if nobody at all, are looking for local development plans or driving license applications in the native tongue.

These arguments enrage Irish language enthusiasts and for the few weeks following Paddys Day diatribes signed by raging gaelgóirs with unpronounceable surnames return the vitriol in newspapers letters columns. They quote from wise Gaeilc poets and concoct complex arguments about the constitution, consumerism and long term strategies.

For the ordinary feen it's all a real turn off. To most people, Irish is an exam and something you see on signs and not an enjoyable alternative to the most prolific language in the world, which it should be.

Various failed attempts have been made to make Irish 'cool' with the aim that the young people might decide to speak it but one kid's cool is another's naff. Instead of trying to make it trendy to speak Gaelic, it makes far more sense to just try to 'normalise' it.

Ask a born and bred Cork shopkeeper if he's got a copy of the Echo left in Irish and the reaction will not be normal. If you were approached on Patrick Street for directions to the City Library by someone speaking Irish your reaction would not be the same as if you were asked, even in broken, English. Asking for a pint in Irish, shouting support at a Cork City match or trying to tell the petrol pump attendant that you want 30 euros of petrol in Irish is not normal.

Dev: he'd turn in his grave if he heard about Club DP

The argument that the vast majority of Irish people wouldn't understand basic conversation in their own language is not valid however. The misconception that we don't understand the language comes from what we are exposed to.

RTE's Nuacht is often read in an Ulster dialect by a Donegal newsreader speaking in fifth gear and using a range of very specific vocabulary. Donegal accents are already impossible to decipher in English, not to mind their own gaelic dialect.

Despite their own perceptions the vast majority of Irish people, after over a decade of schooling, still have thousands of Irish words stacked in the far echelons of their brains. Tapping back into it isn't the problem - having a reason to tap into it very much is.

The aspiration of any language enthusiast should surely be to see the number of people speaking Irish grow. Therefore it is slightly disconcerting to watch millions in tax payers money plunge into an apparent black hole without a major year-on-year increase in use of the language, a growth in the borders of gaeltacht areas or some other tangible and measurable evidence to justify the cost to the ordinary head on the street.

Paisean faisean: fluency isnt required to enjoy

So, even if leaving cert students left school with decent conversation skills and, God forbid, a genuine affection for the language, is the investment in their education slightly naïve when Irish society contorts its face in surprise at its unexpected use? Where are the resources and facilities to keep those no longer tied to academia using the language? Where are the Irish language cafés or pubs in Cork where a feen could go in and practice even the cúpla focal?

One part of the problem could be that expansion of use of the Irish language has been left primarily in the hands of the education system. In areas like science, the industry itself lobbies universities and schools to tweak their courses to produce graduates that will fit economic realities. Social realities need to be recognised by those setting Irish courses.

The best Irish language resource is of course TG4. Its programming is relevant, the presenters are articulate, young and good-looking* and its unapologetic and prolific use of subtitles doesn't poke at your guilt.

Although partly government funded TG4 runs ads like any other station forcing it to compete for audience ratings and compelling it to remain contemporary. This is a sign that there are good ideas within the Irish language community and people capable of implementing them.

So outside of our tiny gaeltachts is the only place for Corkonians to benefit from 13 years learning the native tongue the couch in the living room? So rather than taking sides in the 'culture versus wasters' debate we decided to conduct our own experiment in February to see if there was any interest among young Corkonians in using the language in a normal social environment. A pub.

The result and subsequent conclusions are of great importance and may be a sample of a trend and resource of speakers that remains largely untapped by both government, media and the Irish language scene itself.

To be continued next week...

* Hector has left TG4