I saw this article this week in the Irish Times and the reader's comments that follow it - thankfully some are in Irish, but I really am taken aback by the level of bitterness of some of the comments made here.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/bre ... ing31.html
Gaeltacht Bill prompts Dáil walkout

If you want bitterness, just visit thejournal.ie they regularly have Irish columns because they are the most controversial and promt tonnes of comments, take this for example http://www.thejournal.ie/video-oppositi ... 6-Jul2012/

Unfortunately most of the comments on either article dont have much to do with the Gaeltacht bill itself and quickly descend into rants against teaching Irish, spending money on it, the language being forced down throats etc. but the bill is to do with the Gaeltacht and as someone who doesnt live in the Gaeltacht it is not for more or anyone else to have much of a say in the future of the language there, thats up to the peoples of the communities.

As someone who lives outside And has a love of the language, I respect that the gaeltacht is the only way to maintain the richness of the language and want to see these communities survive, but then on the other hand these are real villages with real people, they arent there for the rest us for our cultural entertainment, its up to them what language they speak. I, unlike most Irish lovers it seems, think the bill is quite good in that it allows urban areas to become gaeltacht networks, these could be viable in many places near me such as Ballymun, Clondalkin & Cabra, so I totally support that. i also support areas losing their gaeltacht status if they dont speak it, for me that would allow the scarce resources to be focused on the areas where it genuinely is the strong community language. The Gaeltacht (im the true sense if the word ie Irish speaking regions) has been in decline for 400 years since English started making inroads from Dublin & other towns, we should stop dreaming abiut Irish spreading out of the current gaeltachtaí to other areas and confront the fact it is shrinking, since the boundaries were drawn in 1956 it has further eroded. The below study predicts it wont even be the main community language in the strongest gaeltachtaí, of which only 17k live (total Gaeltacht population 94k), within 15-20 years. If your interested in detailed analysis of Irish in the Gaeltacht read the Comprehensive Linguistic Study of Irish in the Gaeltacht.

These are the issues I think we should be discussing when it comes to the Gaeltacht.

It's quite a unique situation, when a language is quite strong when the State is created, when the State is meant to support it, to teach it etc, and then the language doesn't stop becoming weaker and weaker every year. I mean, then what would have happened if the State hadn't supported (or pretended to) Irish? Could it have been worse? It's unvelievable how ineffective the policies were... Compare with Catalan...

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

The difference is I think is the people, from what I know the Catalans are proud and want to assert their identity through language. The majority of Irish people are indifferent to Irish, they dont need Irish to express their cultural identity. I actually think the state had the best intentions, but people on the ground voted with their mouths, they weren't wlling participants in he Gaelic revival.

We will see where the Gaeltacht bill takes the Gaeltacht, but for me unless there is a miricle and current trends continue we will be the gerneration that sees Irish die as a true community language, ironic that it will be on an independent states watch too.

why? I mean, English is the language of those who've colonized them, right? Why do they prefer speaking it rather than the language of their own ancestors?
Sin rud nach dtuigfidh mé go deo.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

I dont think theres much cultural attachment to it, people were giving it up voluntarily ever since the collapse of the Gaelic kingdoms in 1607 prior to the gaelic revival of the late 1880s, as a people i dont think much has changed, the gaelic revival was lead by lawyers, teachers etc, and I dont think much had changed today with 'elitism' often thrown at parents who send their kids to the gaelscoil, but as an Aran Islander said to the Irish Language commission set up by the state in 1926 to find out the status of irish "its only them with plenty english what care about irish" and I think that sums it up, people are more concerned with their prospects & employment than what they speak. Daniel O Connell a patriot And native told people to speak english and that Irish was of no use, Michael Collins' own parents both natives raised him with only English & refused to speak Irish, yet they raised a great patriot. I think there has always been a divide between speaking Irish and being Irish, unfortunately mar a dúirt mé the people have voted with their mouths since the foundation of the state, so it cant have been all colognialism or famine.

Feel free to contadict me! I think its very complex and nobody is ever going to agree, but when you look at reality today noone can doubt the outcome of whatever happened

both are possible at the same time, because anyway speaking a language doesn't cost a penny...
You can find a job and speak Irish or English at home, and you can have no job and speak Irish or English at home. Or both languages, I don't see what's the link with work issues.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

Unfortunately, Irish people are to lazy to learn their own language. Of course it is connected to their identity, any Irish person who says it isn't are lying to themselves because they don't want the bother of it. Unlike the continent where people can speak 2, 3 or 4 different languages, because they see the value of them. This is not just an Irish phenomenon, most of the Anglo-phonic World has this ignorant believe that because they speak English they don't have to speak anything else. When the majority of English speakers go abroad they expect anyone who deals with them to have perfect English, whenever the shoe is on the other foot i.e the tourist come here we expect them to cope with English.

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Please wait for corrections/ more input from other forum members before acting on advice

I wonder what happens (especially how Irish people feel) when some tourist speaks Irish and not English (or doesn't want to) and when the Irish shopkeeper etc doesn't speak Irish.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

For the most part I think they'd think "what the f*ck" and then say "ah no I dont speak Irish but fair play to ya for learning it", and then when your gone "did you hear the eejit?" probably accompanied by a flashbacks of school-days reciting peig