CONCUBHAR Ó LIATHÁIN
An síneadh fada curtha ar ais san áit cheart...
IS iad na rudaí beaga a ghealaíónn mo lá san aimsir aisteach seo.
Sampla de seo ná go bhfuil an síneadh fada á thabhairt ar ais ag an Rialtas nua. Níl siad istigh coicís fiú ach tá an Comhrialtas ar a bhfuil Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael agus an Chomhaontas Glas tar éis céim mhór chun tosaigh a ghlacadh tré an bheart is lú a chur i bhfeidhm.
Is é Leo Varadkar, an Tánaiste nua cheaptha, a rinne an fógra i dtvuít. Chuir sé griangraf ar an meán soisíalta le cur ár súile go raibh an síneadh fada ar ais ar teideal an Tánaiste.
It’s the small things which brighten my day in these strange times.
An example of this is the reintroduction of the ‘fada’ to the corridors of power. They’re not in power a fortnight but the coalition in which FF, Fine Gael and the Green Party are partners have taken a huge step with a small action.
The newly minted Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, has tweeted a photo of his new ID card, which shows the fada back in its rightful place.
Is comhartha é seo go bhfuil an Rialtas seo chun féachaint chuige nach ligfear do ranna rialtais beag is fiú a dhéanamh de ceart litriú ainneacha Gaeilge, rud ná raibh aon deimhniú go mbeadh sé amhlaidh roimhe sin. Go deimhin rinne an Choimisinéir Cosaint Shonrai, Helen Dixon, rialú anuraidh ag rá ná raibh gá ag an HSE bheith scrupallach faoi cheart litriú le sínte fada d’othair le h-ainmneacha Gaeilge.
Ní gá a rá nach raibh aon fháilte roimh an rialú seo nó cén mhaith cosaint sonraí mura bhfuil d’ainm litrithe i gceart. Is féidir liom a rá gur iomaí slí a litríodh m’ainm le linn mo shaol!
This is a signal, a bat signal if you want, from this Government to government departments and other public bodies that misspelling someone’s name because it happens to include a ‘fada’ is not the way to do business. This shoddy policy was reinforced last year by the Data Protection Commissioner, Helen Dixon, who ruled that a patient whose name happened to be in Irish didn’t have a right to have their name spelled correctly through the inclusion of a ‘síneadh fada’ in the appropriate place. This ruling was less than welcome as it seemed to suggest that data protection of someone’s personal details, and there’s nothing more personal than your name, could operate at a lower standard if your named happened to be in Irish with a síneadh fada.
Beidh le feiscint conas a oibreoidh seo amach agus an leanfaidh na ranna rialtais agus na h-eagrais phoiblí sampla an Tánaiste. Is cinnte gur dea-shampla é agus cé gur rud beag é, tá sé súntasach. Tá Leo Vardakar le moladh as gníomhú, agus tá súil againn nach bhfuil ann ach tús na dea oibre.
It remains to be seen how this will work out and whether the government departments and other public bodies will follow the Tánaiste’s good example. It’s a small thing but it’s significant and Leo Varadkar is to be praised for acting on it and it is to be hoped that this is the start of further good works.