U.S. English Foundation Research

IRELAND

Language Research

3. Language issues: Where does one observe language to be a problem in the country?

There are some glaring shortcomings in terms of the availability of services in the Irish language to the public. Despite the strong constitutional position of the Irish language (as the first official and the national language) the actual position of the two official languages, Irish and English, is very unequal. The level of service to Irish speakers and the general level of planning for the provision of such services are not satisfactory despite initiatives taken both in the Civil Service and in the larger public sector. It is virtually impossible to ensure that, for example, a person living in a Gaeltacht area can receive professional services through the medium of the Irish language in, say, the medical field, such as those of doctors, psychologists, speech therapists, etc. It is generally quite difficult for a citizen to deal with Government offices and public offices through the medium of Irish.

In Irish-speaking parts of Ireland, concern has been expressed over the lack of healthcare services in the community's language. Small children in families who raise their children through Irish in Gaeltacht areas do not usually master English until they reach primary school age. The biggest problem is with psychological tests on young children to determine at what mental age they are. There was one example when the parents of a child of six years of age were told that their child only had a mental age of two. Of course, the child had been asked questions in English, which it had simply not understood. Mrs. Mhic Con Iomaire made a case about it and the Health Board re-tested the child, and apologized. But if someone had not had the courage to take a stand, this child would have been assessed completely wrongly.

Returning emigrants' children who do not speak Irish are becoming a major problem in schools in the Gaeltacht (Irish speaking areas). Now that Ireland's economy is booming, large numbers of people who left the country in the eighties and early nineties are now returning. Because emigration from Irish speaking areas was traditionally high, the number of returning emigrants is also significant. Whereas returning emigrants to the Gaeltacht were brought up and received their education through Irish, the same cannot be said about their children. Born and raised in places like London, Boston or Glasgow, Irish served little or no use for them, and their parents often did not teach them the language. "It is a big problem, and nothing is being done about it," Helen Ó Murchú, spokesperson for Comhar na Múinteoirí Gaeilge, the Union of Irish Teachers, said. "First of all, there is no support system for children who have difficulties with Irish, and secondly, there is no support system for the teachers who have to deal with it. For the Government it seems to be a question of "close your eyes and the problem is not there", which is scandalous, especially if you look to Wales, where problems like these were identified and dealt with twenty, thirty years ago," Ó Murchú said. In the school, there are at least one or two children in every class who cannot follow the lessons because they cannot speak Irish. Teachers do not want to teach their entire classes through English, because Irish is the language of the community. Although they do tend to spend some time with the children who have difficulties with the language towards the end of a class in order to go over the material with them in English. This, of course, takes valuable teaching time away from the rest of the class.

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Updated (January 2001)

In April, the Supreme Court in Dublin criticized the state's failure to provide Irish translation of legislation and ruled that this failure was the offence "to the letter and spirit of the Constitution", where it is stated that Irish as the national language is the first official language.

Following the ruling, there is now a clear onus on the State to provide the Irish language versions of laws as they are being signed by the President. The Court has made it clear that it will not countenance undue delays in this matter.

This historic decision of the Court was the response of "Comhdháil Náisiunta na Gaeilge" (The National Congress for Irish), an umbrella body representing the Irish language groups.

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Updated (July 2005)

AN DAINGEAN OR DINGLE?

At the end of March 2005, under the 2004 Place Names (Ceantair Gaeltachta) Order, the Minister Éamon Ó Cuív replaced the anglicized name "Dingle" with the Irish name "An Daingean". This move fuelled controversy which has raged in the national and local media ever since.

Recently the Kerry County Council, where this seaside town is situated, decided to organize a plebiscite on the issue. Although the council does have the legal right to ask the voters their opinion, still the Government will have the final say. A list of electors will be prepared before the council's September meeting when the date will be set for the vote. If the majority favors the anglicized version, the council will ask the government to change the name on signposts to Dingle. It is not yet clear though whether the surrounding Gaeltacht areas on the peninsula will also be allowed to vote on the issue.

Some local business people say that the change of the name will damage the town's substantial tourist trade. Others welcome this step arguing that as part of the Gaeltacht it is appropriate that the town should have an Irish name.

There is concern that voting for "Dingle" rather than "An Daingean" would have an impact on the town's future inclusion in the Gaeltacht and on Gaeltacht funding which the area receives at present.

Source: Eurolang News, Baile Atha Cliath/Dublin, July 20, 2005, by Eoghan O Neill, http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2411&Itemid=1=en

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Updated (April 2008)

ANNUAL REPORT REVEALED SIGNIFICANT BREACHES OF LANGUAGE LEGISLATION

The 2007 annual report recently published by the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga revealed significant breaches of legislation aimed at promoting the Irish language. A number of Government departments and other state bodies, including the Department of Education and Science, the Department of Social and Family Affairs, An Garda Síochána, the Health Service Executive, the State Examinations Commission, the National Disability Authority, Bus Éireann, and Fingal County Council, were found guilty of not making state services available through Irish.

One-third of all complaints made last year came from Dublin while 40 percent came from Gaeltacht areas.

An investigation carried out by the Coimisinéir Teanga found that the Department of Education has no Irish-language version of syllabuses available for 27 subjects on the Junior and Leaving Certificate courses.

The annual report also revealed that a second investigation concerning compliance with a statutory requirement was discontinued when an access to relevant files from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law reform was refused because they related to decisions and proceedings of the government.

An Coimisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin, says that the current recruitment and training regime in the state sector appears to be insufficient to ensure that an adequate number of staff is competent in the Irish language so as to be able to provide services through Irish as well as English.

Mr. Ó Cuirreáin does not want to return to make Irish compulsory for state employees but believes a policy of compulsory English is not adequate either when members of the public deal with state bodies. He suggests that a “rebalancing” action may be required to ensure an adequacy of staff with competence in Irish in the civil and public service.

“A system to help achieve cross-community rebalancing through positive discrimination was found for the Police Service of Northern Ireland as a result of the Patten report. A similar effort would be required here, even temporarily, to have a positive effect in rebalancing staffing levels in the state sector of those with competence in Irish and in English.”

He concludes that it would be more economical if the state sector employed more people with knowledge of both English and Irish than the current system, which in many state organizations requires resorting to external translation agencies to deal with the simplest letters in Irish.

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