They’re at it again. I’ve just come from reading a newspaper article which essentially says that the use of Irish in our contemporary world is a waste of money. The scenario is sketched where a defendant in court speaks in Irish, his words are translated into English, the judge replies in English, that is translated into Irish, and so on. A huge waste of time and money all round.
The piece also attacks bi-lingual signage, especially if Irish comes first. And it has doubts about the advisability of an Irish Language Act.
It’s a bit like I-wouldn’t-start-from-here-if-I-were-you. It finds excuses for people who have an antipathy towards Irish by citing the fact that Irish identifies people as possible ‘raving republicans’.
Do me a favour. I won’t speak Irish because republicans (raving and non-raving) speak it: anyone who can’t see the bone-headedness of that argument should make their excuses and leave the discussion now.
At the heart of the debate over the use of Irish is, what value do you place on Irish? Personally, I think it is priceless. I can think of a huge number of things on which we spend money which are far less worthwhile. Use of the Irish language isn’t a simple matter of ‘Do you understand me in English?’ It’s about the preservation of a national treasure of inestimable value, the worth of things we don’t count in money, and the right of Irish people to use the language which was persecuted out of everyday usage by a bullying conqueror.
Maybe we need to rethink our priorities.
And the multi-translation costs of a bi-lingual court hearing? Make it a stipulation of the job that the judge knows Irish, maybe?
Can you tell my how that differs from national pride Jude?
According to your co blog host contributor, most nationalists don’t care about speaking Irish and such things are just part and parcel of natural change.
Here it is in his own words.
“That’s the thing about language Jude,… it’s like nations, countries, peoples, customs or whatever…it just keeps changing throughout time. We’ll soon have a generation of text-speakers who will know no other way….the future “Irishmen” , no doubt!”
“Many nationalists couldn’t give a toss for Gaelic games and even Irish traditional music. That’s a fact .Many don’t care for speaking Irish either . ”
http://www.judecollins.com/2016/01/what-does-it-mean-to-be-irish/
Better watch out Jude or you could be coming dangerously close to being considered in his eyes a “rabid republican”.
Preserving language is of course important there is no doubt about that whatsoever it doesn’t matter if it is Latin Irish or Armenian i have no problem with that and i suspect most people don`t either.
My problem is when money is being spent on letterheads court cases stormont when everybody knows and understands english.
When we have a situation here in Northern Ireland because of cash cuts that parents cant get their kids diagnosed with Autism or special needs because the appointment is a year down the line or handicapped kids are not getting the full treatment they deserve or schools sinking into more debt etc we have to focus on this more because these people are more deserving and we have a duty of care in society to look after the weakest if we dont we are not a society at all.
I think we have to evaluate what is more important and make decisions that way if I am interested in Irish i will pay for it out of my own pocket same goes for Ulster Scots etc. Did we need to spend a fortune on three stadiums that are barely used when one would have been sufficient can you imagine how well that money would have spent on the above group and the real difference that would have made on their lives?
I find it hard to see the connection between kids with autism and letterheads and signposts in Irish. Some Irish speaking kids have autism too you know.
Close the art galleries. Stop the marches. Erase Twaddell. Discontinue wars. Reject Trident. Spend what’s saved on repaying the debt to those from whom the Empire thieved in the past. How does that grab you,neil
I suppose the same case could be made for arts and sports subsidies. Th money spent on those could be better used for health and Autism. Should we really be giving money to bonfires, should we be supporting orange bands. The arts is mostly the preserve of the middle classes sure they could pay their own way and if people want to train for sports, well they should pay for themselves. Then there is money wasted on policing all those marches. people wanting to organise marches should pay for their own policing.
When the anti Irish brigade start supporting the above I will start to think they have an honest argument.
I agree with you there Neill. Take the likes of the Twaddell Camp. Its cost 18 million so far and what is its purpose? apart from raising sectarian tensions at an interface? (its not even at the point where the Orange men want to march, that makes its purpose obvious enough) It has none. How many nurses, doctors, beds for hospitals, vital medicines, etc could that £18 million (and counting) have paid for? As you mentioned how many kids are going to be lately diagnosed with things like Autism or even more serious, life threatening conditions? All because a group of people didn’t get their way and have no chance of now either. And yet this camp is supported by both main Unionist political parties…..
We could also touch on the massive yearly policing bills for Orange and Loyal Order parades, which make up around 90% of the total parades here every year. Why should I or you for that matter, as taxpayers pay for the policing costs of an immensely wealthy organisation like the Orange Order? Its simply sponging of the taxpayer. That money could be spent on, like you said, to helping the weakest in our society, easing pressure on our Hospitals, helping people on sickness benefit, using it for cross community work, bringing in investment and jobs, etc the list goes on.
Unlike the Orange Order, the Irish Language doesn’t exclude anyone and is already embraced by some Unionists/Loyalists, like Linda Ervine. Yet we find money to police Orange Order parades to the tune of millions but we suddenly cant find money to implement an Irish Language Act, which was agreed upon I believe in the St Andrews Agreement?.
If we are serious and genuine about respecting each others culture then the nonsense and false excuses need to be cut out.
I wouldn’t give the Orange Order or the GAA a penny for their halls or their stadiums if you want to take part in this you pay for it twadell would be included in this as would the cost of fixing the environment due to republican harming it with their dodgy diesel
Please stop banging on about linda bloody ervine like her brother she is brilliant at shameless promotion.
I didn’t know I banged on about Linda bloody Ervine Neill, I think this was like the second time I ever mentioned the girl but her classes in East Belfast in Irish are well attended by people from the Unionist community. My point is the Irish language doesn’t belong to just nationalists or republicans or catholics, it belongs to everyone who considers themselves natives of this island.
Protestants have a very strong claim to the language since if it wasn’t for them the language would’ve maybe died out but didn’t due to proud Irish Protestants love of it in the past.
Douglas Hyde was the First President of the Republic of Ireland, a Protestant and a lover of the Irish language all his life.
I have kiffled and foothered at Irish for many years and it’s amazing to see the differing attitudes to the language in Ireland North. The most common among ‘nationalists’ is usually the apologetic excuse like ‘I am no good at languages/ I have no time/ I never got the chance/my children all learn it etc. These excuses are all offered voluntarily with almost an air of shame. Some people send their children to Irish medium schools to learn it by proxy. It used to be the reserve of the more learned middle classes and this scared off quite a few shrinking violets but now it belongs to everyman and this is where no small thanks is due to republicans and Sinn Féin in particular who encouraged their members – even subsidized them to go to classes. Non nationalists – for want of a better term – are usually very mannerly if the subject is raised. Some of them show a genuine interest and some even try (and succeed) to learn it. Some people sneer at the proficiency or lack of it in others but I think even one word shows respect. The dangerous people are the ones who have had a brief affair with Irish and have been repulsed. Poor teachers,too many provos, too many priests,no time,what use is it etc. are all trotted out and soon love turns to hate. Nobody is incapable of learning a language.we’ve all done it. Knock 10% of rates or taxes and you’ll see a magnificent rise in Irish users.
Some good points Fiosrach. I am bilingual in Irish and English myself but of late have started learning other languages. There is a technique to learning languages which has to be learned or developed. Such as donkey-bridging, word association, role-plays ect, games, making up wee sentences. Learning Irish is different for Irish people in the sense that you are learning your own language in many ways and you will be used to the sounds of the language due to our surnames and placenames the majority of which come from Gaelic. Learning about the landscape and placenames is one of the great pleasures of learning Irish. What I advice people who are seeking to learn Irish is to find someone at more or less your own level and to speak and write to this person in Irish. Use the Irish you learned at class in your home with your family. Oíche mhaith at night and maidin mhaith in the morning, go raibh maith agat. Build up your phrases until it no longer becomes necessary to depend on your knowledge of English and then you’ll be flying!
Maith thú, Colmán! Go h-iontach!
People are simply all different, as you know fiosrach. I was down at the local supermarket yesterday and I think i heard as much Polish being spoken as anything else , as pram-pushing young mothers chatted to each other.I heard an old Chinese couple too but I haven’t any idea what they may have been saying either. “It’s like the United Nations out there” , my wife would say and there’s some truth in that too.Sometime i’d meet an old schoolmate and we’d have a chat …maybe exchange words at the barbers even .We usually converse in English, just as I write in it, always, but we both studied Irish , French , Latin , English Literature and English Language at the same school so we know a little of all of those. it’s just that we never really use much of it forty or so years later. I got using a bit of cack-handed French in Morrocco a few years back when a sheik wanted to buy my wife and daughters as a job lot ….he was a bit of a card , that one!…but no, usually my barber will greet me with “Whataboutyaboy?!” and we’ll converse in English.
Now , I’m not saying we shouldn’t learn a language that is altogether native to our country.Why not , indeed, seeing as there was an attempt tp eradicate it in times past?It’s a fact though that many try to learn all sorts of things and give up before they get any way proficient in them . It takes dedication to learn to play an instrument to your satisfaction, for example , or play a sport …or do anything really well…. and it is also a fact that many who have been born speaking English never get any good at that either…so it takes dedication.
It takes a certain amount of inner enthusiasm to do anything right, doesn’t it? It can’t really be forced and it doesn’t always work .I love that you “kiffled and foothered at Irish for many years “, fiosrach, because even using those words belies the fact that you love the sound of language .Currently, it all derives from Shakespearian English, Ulster Scots, Irish and even Viking influences and is forever changing . Some make a mighty “hogo” about the immutable nature of wordforms and language but just as we and our children are creating a new text language on our phones, languages are in constant flux and do not remain stable from one generation to another .The Englis we speak now in everday mundanities would not have been recognisable a few generations ago.New words are placed in dictionaries every years and others are put out to grass. Indeed there are constant arguments among linguists and lovers of words that our children are being deprived of words and are losing the ability to recognise some of them.‘Acorn’, ‘kingfisher’ and ‘otter’ were recently dropped from the Junior Oxford English Dictionary in favour of mor “urban” words.children , no longer need them apparently because they spend all their time in their bedrooms instead of getting out in nature…..It’s an evolving world all right…
What I see more is that in general,is that peoplecan have have less and less application or attention-span for many things . …not just language .I see it in the way many don’t read books anymore after they leave school ,or even in the way films are edited to maintain a level of excitement.
That all said , I have a notion that Latin should be taught more now because it seems to be the root of most of it all …and if anything I wish i’d paid a little more attention to it than anything else I was ever taught. It is the key to understanding a lot of the origins of the words we use . There should be no problem with Irish either. Classes should be there for all of our children and any adults who wish to catch up on it but believe other languages are busily growing in our Irish life now on the streets outside and they will eventually bend some of our “Irish” into some interesting shapes.
You would think after all that,Harry, that we Irish should find it easier than anybody to relearn our own language. Then you notice that numero uno in A level Irish a few years ago was a Polish girl. What drove her to do what you couldn’t? I’m not being nasty – just musing. It’s hard to be a narrow chauvinist and nationalist and still be a citizen of the world, nach bhfuil?
Yes fiosrach..That’s it really. the need has to be there.Some would rather spend their spare moments tinkering with motorbikes , keeping pigeons, learning to dance ,playing some sport or whatever . That Polish girl obviously had a great facility for language and loved the idea of learning a new one .I have a sister like that who is fluent in several languages…On the other hand, I like to paint, draw, write , play guitar , walk..cook ..mess with my garden and make stuff for keeping my honeybees among a few other things… so my own days are pretty full. Like I said we’re all different.
It’s said that the lightest item of luggage one can carry with one is a language, PK, a chara.
Which brings to mind a business-classy piece you posted recently on negotiating your way through the Departure Gate. It certainly did the biz for this blog trotter.
In linguistic terms, English for an Irish person can be classified as carry-on luggage while Leprechaun is definitely in the check-in category.
The value of Leprechaun ‘to sell a pig at the market’ has been called into question and it is for this reason that English is your own man on board a plane. A lot of pig-trading goes on while cruising at 35,000 feet. Ordering an inedible pasta, catching the good-looking cabin crew member’s eye (strictly gender neutral comment, be in noted) and wondering whether one should borrow the glossy in-flight magazine, purely for the sake of borrowing. That sort of thingy.
(Mind you, when it comes to carry-on luggage there is only one airline which comes to mind (sound of cavalry bugle call) : RYANAIR ! For whatever reason, the defining line of the defining character in the Carry On series, Kenneth Williams always occurs to one on joining the blue and yellow line:
-Infamy ! Infamy ! They all have it infamy !
Especially, since Ryanair adopted this new customer (i.e human) friendly dodge. Don’t let that fool or fuel you, potential frequent flyer).
Leprechaun, as the bilingual bowsie Brendan Behan, once shrewdly noted, ‘is a language you can get away with blue murder in’. True, too true, and the reason why Perkie’s inner long haul passenger always opts for the check-in luggage option where the Big L is concerned. (Again, don’t let its alleged height-challenged reputation either fuel or fool you).
How else could one possibly expect to go places with one’s (gasp) snow globes, gels in a container larger than 3 ounces, hunting knives, box cutters, samurai sword, sawn off shot puns, bazooka, that sort of t.?
Bon voyage, PK, agus go n-eiri an scamall leat / may the cloud rise with you.
As …Might Perk….I am truly blessed to have been the mere conduit of your poesy…
Tá oidhreacht luachmhar againn. Is cuid dár n-oidhreacht chultúrtha í an teanga. Is mian linn oidhreacht a chaomhnú.
Once again we have evidence of,
“…the brutal actualities of cultural power.” (Kiberd 1995:618 – 619)
Legislative efforts have been made to eradicate all traces of the Irish language since 1366, while there are some who would be linguistically challenged or perhaps rendered speechless, if certain mionnaí móra were prohibited in a colloquy with a fidus achates. Surely it is time that someone in the British establishment sat down and calculated the actual financial cost of colonial domination, not just in Ireland but throughout the world.
It is said that,
“the last bastion of overt social discrimination will continue to be a person’s use of language.” (Baurer & Trudgill198:65)
Language is about communication, not domination. Who is to say what is of worth or not of worth, elegant or corrupting in any language? In spite of all the obstacles and constraints, the Irish language and culture remain vibrant and dynamic aspects of life throughout the world.
De réir a chéile a thógtar na caisleáin.
Next year is the fiftieth anniversary of the Welsh Language Act 1967 – It says “it is proper that the Welsh language should be freely used by those who so desire in the hearing of legal proceedings in Wales”.
Fiftieth!
The condition just seems to be that if you want your trial in Welsh you have to ask in advance. I wonder what the court does with people who try to change their minds half way through when they realise the prosecution has better Welsh than they do.
I lived in Wales for a bit. Cardiff was like opposite land compared to here. Small Victorian city but with fluent Welsh speakers who were Maggie Thatcher fans. No-one I ever met thought of the protection of a minority language as anything other than an good thing.
As someone who speaks Irish on a daily basis I can say that If it wasn’t for the Irish langauge I wouldn’t stay in this country. Irish is the real alternative to the monotomy of life in post colonial Ireland. Some journalists in Ireland make there living out of their hatred towards the Irish language and their lack of knowledge of it. Such is life in a former colony where the colonised learn to hate themselves to such an extent that they mimic the attitudes of their former masters.
Colman, agree with everything you have said, despite the truth that I do not speak Irish myself, but hate to hear of it being derided.
I have a little Irish, a few words, phrases, not a lot but I do treasure the bit I have. Irish was persecuted and the least the British can do is pay for it to be taught, to reverse the centuries of anti Irish bigotry inflicted on speakers of our native language.
I suspect you should blame the Catholic Church as well.
Good.story.Jude.
Sin. Fior. Seamas.
Chuaigh mé go rang gaeilge cúpla mhí ó shin agus d’inis an fear dúinn,-‘a lot of people didn’t learn Irish years ago cos republicans were using it’! An absolute cop out but I guess it’s all too easy to blame republicans for people’s laziness.
The country is full of folk who will take the easy/safest way out and there’s no better way to do that than blame those pesky republicans. Heck we even have Irish people who are sheepish about commemorating some of the most unselfish people ever to grace these shores ie 1916 uprising participants. Never mind the fact these people and their ilk ensured the future freedoms for those sheepish people today.
Price is of course an easy excuse to deny Irish speakers rights enjoyed elsewhere in the UK. The cost is of course proportional to the use of the language in courts.
Which I suspect will be minimal. Meanwhile, millions continue to get spent at twaddle and there isn’t a peep from our would be economic experts.
paddy at the back of the q again this time in his own country.
20,000pounds a year each for english lessons for 50 refugees.yet irish is struggling you couldnt make it up and racist doesnt come into it.
Is it a coincidence that those that are hostile, in a lot of cases extremely hostile, towards the Irish Language are also hostile to all things Irish in general? Even down to the very people who consider themselves Irish?
Take Gregory Campbell for example. Gregory a while back went out of his way to mock the Irish language, in the Assembly, at the DUP conference, etc. He even continued doing it when Irish language learning children videoed a message to him requesting he stop and asked for respect. He refused to apologize on the Nolan Radio show and said he did it because Sinn Fein use the language in the Assembly…..
Now everyone knows Gregory Campbell, a man in his 60’s its important to remember, is quite a pathetic individual, especially for a man his age. But Gregory’s hostility to anything Irish is well known going back decades. This pathetic little man says there was no discrimination or gerrymandering against Irish Catholics under the Unionist Government but does believe that Republicans had a “genocidal campaign” against Protestants in Derry in the 1960s and drove them out (even though masses from both communities were driven or choose to relocate to different areas, the vast majority of homes burnt down in the 1969 riots were Catholic homes). Gregory is also outraged at the use of the name “Derry”, the original and rightful Irish name of the city, especially in Derry City Council. And of course Gregory despises the fact Irish Catholic players can play for the Republic of Ireland football team and regularly accuses them of being “stolen”. Listening to Gregory you’d think FAI officials were conducting “12 years a slave” style kidnappings and raids of northern players like James McClean (Gregory’s a big fan of James…) and use whips to keep these players in line at ROI international games….
Now, lets just say Stormont had a wind fall of billions of pounds of extra funding, more than enough to pay for an Irish Language Act, do you think those Unionists like Gregory would support an Irish Language Act then? I don’t think so. They would find another excuse and then another excuse after that to refuse. It basically all comes down to bigotry of anything Irish. The same bigotry that denied Irish Catholics access to proper jobs, housing, civil rights, etc for so long.
The Orange Order recently showed its disdain for Irish too. It said that the Polish language should have higher priority than Irish here. Now, this is an organisation that demands that we “Respect Orange Culture” and yet it puts in great effort to disrespect Irish culture and the Catholic religion at every opportunity. The Orange Order also stated we were in times of austerity and that there just wasn’t the money for an Irish Language Act. This is coming from the same band of old bigots that cost millions in policing every year and support a sectarian camp at Twaddell that has cost £18 million so far and is there knowing full well it wont get what it wants, so it remains in order to raise sectarian tensions.
I obviously support an Irish language act but is it affordable? I would say it is and well worth the money, its our native language, it deserves to be cherished and spread throughout society but money is a factor. So, I have an idea. Since the Orange Order says we are in times of austerity, and I agree with them there, then lets make people who parade and who use up PSNI resources pay the policing bill themselves. The Orange Order is a wealthy organisation, why should I as a taxpayer pay for their parades? They should pay for any of the costs associated with their parades/activities themselves, same applies to all other parades that occur, the organisers should pick up the tab. That would save taxpayers millions and could easily pay for the likes of an Irish Language Act.
Sinn Fein, SDLP, Alliance, etc should push for laws for parades to pay for their own policing costs, I think they have similar laws in Scotland. I’m sure the Orange Order would agree, we are in times of austerity after all……
I hope that was a jest about compelling Judges to learn Irish.
Exactly the sort of stuff that makes the Irish language lobby seem like extremists
I know you’re joking, gio. Or do you doubt the learning abilities of our eminent gavel-wielders?
Surely it’s not just a question of Judges learning Irish.In a typical criminal trial both the prosecution and defence lawyers would have to be fluent as well and you would need a jury that was capable of understanding the evidence .I think we are some distance off that!I’m not aware of many proceedings in the Repubic being conducted exclusively in Irish.How many people given the option would opt to have their cases felt with in Irish?
Indeed, Argie. And how many women would want to join a males-only golf club? Or Catholics ascend the English throne? Etc. The option should be available. Simples.
How many citizens would take up the option if they were facing a term of imprisonment or other criminal sentence?What level of fluency in Irish is there in the general public in Northern Ireland?
Argenta
Not only that but in the interests of justice being seen to be done, a translator would have to be provided for the public gallery and press, complete with headphones to listen in, just like the UN.
It all seems a bit unwieldy.
If only there was some common language we could all already use but it just seems impossible.
“If only there was some common language we could all already use but it just seems impossible.”
You could just go and live somewhere else if the Irish language offends you or you have a problem with its importance being recognised and enshrined in its native home.
jessica
It neither offends me nor do I think it unimportant.
Please stop lying about what people say.
I don’t know what you mean by enshrining it, that sounds a bit too mystical.
I simply think in the real world we have to make sensible decisions about how we do things.
It makes sense to have a translation service available for those who desire it. No need to send the entire legal profession to night classes.
What about making every GP learn Irish? Every police officer? Every civil servant.? Crazy stuff.
Nothing mystical about enshrining, not with good old google
enshrine
preserve (a right, tradition, or idea) in a form that ensures it will be protected and respected.
It is our national language, there will always be a majority who want it protected and respected.
If you don’t like it, tough.
jessica
Please try to read what people say before you jump in.
I am in favour of preserving the Irish language.
I am not in favour of making it compulsory as Jude suggested.
I can’t put it any plainer than that.
I didn’t say I was in favour of ‘making it compulsory’, gio. I said if the judge needed the expense of a translator, wouldn’t it make sense for him/her to learn Irish. Just sayin’, like…
“I am not in favour of making it compulsory as Jude suggested.
I can’t put it any plainer than that”
I know like all unionists you value your opinion over anyone else’s gio, but I and I am sure many more would agree with Jude.
The Irish language is native to this island and should be given precedence. It should be taught in schools from primary onwards and as well understood throughout Ireland as French is in France.
I don’t expect everyone to be forced to learn it, it will take generations to undo the damage to our nation that England has caused.
A good start would be legislation giving Irish precedence over English, similar to the south where the majority speak English and which is unlikely to change in the short term.
Jude
You did say”make it a stipulation of the job”.
OK – it’s a fair cop, guv. Just a suggestion, mind you. And they’re well paid…
Jude
Promote. Don’t compel!
You’d think with the sky high wages Judges get paid it wouldn’t be too much to ask for them to learn the Irish Language……I know I wouldn’t if I was making what they do…..
*would
Ryan
I would prefer them to learn Sign Language which might actually be useful.
During the course, Esteemed Blogmeister, of a long, varied and yet, astonishingly unproductive life, Perkie has been the recipient of many a disdainful gander on account of one’s perceived goose-stepping take on the Leprechaun.
On one occasion, indeed, it went beyond a mere gander and morphed into a buttonholing. By one who was, at the time, (gulp) a major cog in the media wheel on Liffeyside. Like all of that cognoscenti he was a fluent Monoglot having spent many years on Fleet Street in Monoglotia.
-Tell me one good reason why I should bother my tush with Leprechaun. Hah !
-Can’t be done, old bean.
Somewhat taken aback, Major Cog quickly recovered his balance and shot back as if one were Liberty Valance.
-Hah, honesty at last from the Leprechaun lobby !
Perkie sighed.
-I mean, old bean, you cannot be told just one good reason.
Perkie took advantage of the silence which followed a gob being smacked, to expand.
-In Leprechaun land, matters of a bureaucratic nature are always conducted in triplicate. Thus, three wishes, three prophecies, three wills, three curses, three blessings, and in this instance, three reasons, of the positive variety. Has to do with an ancient Celtic tradition, that sort of thingy.
Which, as far as memory suggests, went as follows:
1. The mind of Sean O Riordain. (If it wasn’t for that sublime phenom the Free Southern Stateen would have completely regressed into a dark era of intellectual barbarism. Luckily, he was at his peak during the Black and Tannish Inquisition which was the Big Wheeze of Conor Craze O’Brain).
2. The speaking voice of Micheal O Muircheartaigh. ( It speaks for itself).
3. The singing voice of Albert Fry. (This reason comes with a health warning, as it is utterly addictive. Belonging as it does, to what addiction counselors term ‘the cocktail sausage syndrome’. Listen once to the Albert wrapping his glorious glor around ‘Thios I lar an ghleanna, trathnona beag areir’ and you will have to listen a hundred times. Why it hasn’t been designated the perennial theme song for the Winter Olympic Games / Cluichi Oilimpeacha an Gheimhridh must remain one of the sorrowful mysteries. After all, sheasfa cosnocht sa tsneachta ag eisteacht leis / Only those with a cloth ear would not stand listening to him, barefoot in the snow).
Major Cog was last seen beating a hasty retreat, muttering in Monoglot:
-B.O.M. warning, B.O.M. warning, B.O.M. warning.
(B.O.M. being the great acronym bestowed on the hackitariat: Bog Oak Monolith).
To conclude: the dangers have been outlined.
Otherwise, a body is liable to end up like the sad spectacle of a former Minister for Horse Manure, who made a bolt for it after the stable door had been bolted. To branch into another branch of the equine business.
Having failed as a bookie, he was declared bankrupt and was compelled, sadly, to resurface as an expert on financial matters. Doomed for the rest of his natural to pop up on every other radio show south of the Black Sow’s Dyke to repeat his mantra:
-I, Yates, I hates Leprechaun. I, Yates, I hates Leprechaun. I, Yates, I hates Leprechaun……..
Ta an focal faire raite / Youse have been warned.
–
BRILLIANT riposte, Perkin. Not that I ever doubted you. You wouldn’t have Periscoped it, by any chance???? Then we all could mock the pox-merchant…
Periscope, Esteemed Blogmeister ?
Perish the very t. !!
Zounds, that would only put one in the camp of Sean Pilip O hUallachain (aka John Philip Holland) the fiend who began life as a Leprechaun speaker in a coastguard cottage in Liscannor, County Clare.
And whose life deteriorated even further when he (a) joined the (gasp) Christian Brothers; before (b) finally fetching up in the land of Uncle Sam where, in 1881, he designed that engine of crass destruction, the first submarine, ominously called (gulp) Fenian Ram.
Leprechaun, the lingo of underground and underwater malcontents !
Beir bua, a Mhaistir Ionuin Blog.
PS One minor correction: apologies for giving the false impression that the Major Cog in q. was ‘a pox merchant’. Alas, that would be only promoting him beyond his abilities. More the pox merchant’s clerk, he were, despite his grandiose notions of self.
PPS (Memo to one’s inner main chancer : Hmmmm. Wonder would said Periscope be available for, say, leabhar datheangach a sheoladh / the launch of ‘a bilingual book for gals and Gaels of every class and creed who can barely read’ under, perhaps, the auspices of Flogabook PLC in, possibly, the not too distant anytimesoon?).
Hardly …”a long, varied and yet, astonishingly unproductive life,” Mighty Perk ….not when it has produced such grande largeurs of wit and wisdom …and wondrous phrases such as ..”the recipient of many a disdainful gander on account of one’s perceived goose-stepping take on the Leprechaun.”…
No , I reckon you will eventually… requiescat in pace …satisfied that your life carried weight and worth …
Giinagay.
I am of Irish descent. When my ancestors were sent to Australia in chains, they were flogged for speaking Irish.
During the time my family has lived in Australia, over 700 Australian languages have disappeared from human culture.
The word “giinagay” means “hello” in the Gumbayngirr language, the language of the people on whose land I live.
There is one person left alive who is an actual speaker of this language, but hundreds of people where I live are attempting to preserve and revive its beauty.
Fair play to them, I say.
Slan.
“The Cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
A cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
An bhfuil focal nios treise na “Bostun”?
Comh laidir le “Gobshite?”
The Irish I learned at school and the English in the classroom was very polite.
Here in London, in the 14th Century in the Parish of St Pancras there was a passage
called “Gropec**t Lane, a good 2 miles from Hornsey Rise.
called “Gropec**t Lane” and it was a good 2 miles from Hornsey Rise
Well there you go..Donal …I simply had to look it up , given that we’ve been discussing the use, misuse and the gradual evolution of language ..and you are absolutely right..Here’s the gen on that little nugget…and i quote …. trusting that Jude will not apply censorship , given the context and as a matter of education and elucidation between readers …or your sainted auntie might look away now before being turned to a pillar of salt…”and i quote…..”
“Gropecunt Lane /ˈɡroʊpkʌnt ˈleɪn/ was a street name found in English towns and cities during the Middle Ages, believed to be a reference to the prostitution centred on those areas; it was normal practice for a medieval street name to reflect the street’s function or the economic activity taking place within it. Gropecunt, the earliest known use of which is in about 1230, appears to have been derived as a compound of the words grope and cunt. Streets with that name were often in the busiest parts of medieval towns and cities, and at least one appears to have been an important thoroughfare.
Although the name was once common throughout England, changes in attitude resulted in its replacement by more innocuous versions such as Grape Lane. A variation of Gropecunt was last recorded as a street name in 1561.”….what can I say …now you know for sure…!!
Jude, ye don’t mention where the case was being heard.
If in an Saor Stat, then, the Constitutional right of the language takes precedence over the learned Judge, and the newspaper.
If in the six Ulster counties, does the same media put forward the proposition that, foreign nationals, before our courts as Defendant’s, or Respondent’s, should be unable to understand the proceedings?
The combination of ‘bi-lingual signage’ with the long overdue language Act may lead one to believe the author is perhaps situate in one of those homes straddling Armagh/Louth, or Monaghan but fails to explain just how they combine a Constitutional Article od Bunreacht na hÉireann with a proposed legislation of the Dundonald Dail.
When I attended primary school (a Catholic one) our master really considered himself a master of English, and to that extent I never doubted his talent.
But one day a classmate asked him why we were never taught languages like French, Spanish or German.
‘Why would you ever want to learn one of those foreign languages’ he replied. ‘Sure everyone in the world speaks and understands English’.
Goodness knows how many schools had teachers with this attitude, so how can you blame children for growing up without ambitions in the linguistic direction?
“Do me a favour. I won’t speak Irish because republicans (raving and non-raving) speak it: anyone who can’t see the bone-headedness of that argument should make their excuses and leave the discussion now.”
Dr C, if I look at a ‘learn Italian’ CD I’ll see a bowl of pasta, a coliseum and a renaissance portrait.
If I look at a ‘learn French’ CD I’ll see a baguette, a glass of wine and some onions.
But, during the greater part of my life the only time I saw Irish was on the billboard of a SF poster.
When I started learning Scottish Gaelic there was NO religion involved and NO Scottish politicians associated with it. In NI that is not the case, there is one political party that associates itself to the language at every opportunity.
This taps into a part of the human mind.
Phone Saatchi & Saatchi and ask them for advice on how NOT to promote a language and I imagine they’ll recite SF policy.
I see the point you’re making but it’s based on the notion that SF shouldn’t be promoting the language. I’d argue it the other way round- those repulsed by SF’s affection for the language should help themselves. There’s room for everybody. Some of the biggest bastards I’ve known have spoken English…:)
Jessica
Your comment (at 9-48am) suggests that Gio is a Unionist.What is your evidence for this?Just because he challenges some of your assertions,you apparently see fit to attach labels to him.
“Your comment (at 9-48am) suggests that Gio is a Unionist.What is your evidence for this?Just because he challenges some of your assertions,you apparently see fit to attach labels to him”
I don’t see unionists as being people from what are defined as unionist communities. Unionists can live in the centre of a republican area just as much anywhere.
A unionist is someone who supports British occupation in Ireland, who sees the British as superior whether that be their flag is more deserving to fly, their anthem is more deserving to be played, basically that British needs outweigh Irish needs in Ireland. It has nothing to do with religion or what someone declares themselves to be, he could be lying and simply pretending to be republican so he can push the ideals he wishes republicans to have. He could also use multiple accounts for all I know
You seem very concerned about him, what is your relationship I wonder.
You are like two peas in a pod. 🙂
jessica
Is it not possible that I am republican and pushing the ideals I wish republicans to have?.
But what does it matter?
In the end it is best to argue against the point being made rather than attack the person, don’t you think?
If my argument is good (or bad) it does not matter whether I am a unionist making it or a republican does it?
As for Argenta I wouldn’t know him/her from Adam/Eve, but s/he seems a fellow/fellowess of exceptional taste and learning.
“Is it not possible that I am republican and pushing the ideals I wish republicans to have?.
In the end it is best to argue against the point being made rather than attack the person, don’t you think?”
Putting you in the category of what I consider to be of unionist opinion is hardly an attack gio.
We all have our own agendas, mine is to promote the robust pursuit of the irish nation reclaiming this island. Not at the detriment or disadvantage of any single person but in the absence of a willingness to seek agreement as equals, we must not bend in our resolution to stand against the sectarian nature of unionism, so unwilling to tolerate irishness in Ireland.
As for Argenta, I have no problem with that, but it sort of backs up my point about our individual agendas does it not?
An bhfuil Gaeilge agat, a Jessica?
Tá beagán Séamas
Tá iarracht níos mó a mhúineadh na hÉireann ag teastáil