Primetime debate on Irish more interesting for what’s not said.

When you introduce a debate on the Irish language with the words ‘should we be propping up a language’, as Claire Byrne did in her intro to last night’s Primetime debate, then what you are not explicitly saying, tone and attitude, becomes as interesting as the words you actually use.

Languages are not spoken by tin cans or lampposts but rather by people.  Neither are languages spoken by people in isolation but by communities.  When the Primetime presenter spoke of ‘propping up a language’ in a pejorative way, she was actually talking about ‘propping up a community’ and the implication being that the community is a burden on the State, ‘but sure we have a historic responsibility towards them’.

Statistics were rolled out that were designed to cast the language in a negative light.  We were supposed to be appalled at the lack of people speaking Irish on a daily basis (83,000 according to the latest census figures), and yet the census figures that showed 1.7 million people could speak Irish was completely dismissed, indeed mocked! 

The amount of money being spent on Irish was highlighted with a ‘tut tut’ attitude.  One interesting note was that RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta were said to be given €10million per year and had ‘only’ 90,000 listeners daily.  Wait a minute… if the census states that we ‘only’ have 83,000 daily speakers of Irish and RnaG are attracting an audience of 90,000 every day then I say: send the big wigs of RTÉ down to Casla to learn a thing or two! 

Sunday Indo journalist Declan Lynch gave the language a good old bashing too.  He comes from the school of commentators who consider Ireland to be full of eejits doing idiotic things such as supporting their own language financially and of course he considers himself as the comic genius that stands apart. 

Another journalist, Brenda Power, displayed a completely confused attitude.  She was against ‘compulsory Irish’ and claimed that it took up too much class time - time that could otherwise be spent on subjects such as science, yet on the other hand she wanted every school in Ireland to spend one dedicated hour per day at the subject.

Of course there was an attempt at balance – we had a number of language activists amongst the audience.  Most of these people produced a more nuanced and thought out argument but the tone of the programme put them on the back foot and made them defend their ‘case’.

The truth is that most Irish speakers are tired of the constant argument.  We are tired of having to defend compulsory Irish, the amount of money spent on the language, the perceived advantage given to Gaeltacht students and more.  The arguments against Irish seem to be the exact same ones that led to the abandonment of the language by many Irish people in the 19^th century:  it’s no good to us economically.

Perhaps it’s time the Irish speaking community helped to ‘change the record’.  Firstly, state support for Irish shouldn’t be considered a complete ‘failure’.  Making Irish a central part of our education system, right up to leaving cert, has helped to keep the language very much alive.  Secondly, 83,000 daily speakers of Irish is not insignificant – this is a sizeable community of people that speak a language unique to this Island in a very real and modern sense on a daily basis.  Thirdly, why should we dismiss the 1.7 million people who claim on the census to ‘speak Irish’?  My experience is that people throughout the country can actually speak a lot more Irish than they give themselves credit for – yet we have this enormous sense of self-loathing in relation to the language.

Lastly:  should we not consider marketing the language more in its heartland, the Gaeltacht?  The Basques do this so well – they make a virtue of their uniqueness and children follow the example of adults who achieve beyond the norm because of their ‘otherness’.  The Gaeltacht should promote their own ‘stars’ internally:  TV presenters, footballers, artists and business people who have made an impact nationally and who are from the Gaeltacht, proud of their language.

Isn’t it time to change the record?