More leadership needed from state organisations to save Irish language

A Eagarthóir, a chara, It is not surprising that our Gaeltachtaí continue to be eroded. This is what the ‘Staidéar Cuimsitheach ar úsáid na Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht’ forecast in 2007. That comprehensive study led to the Government of the day developing a 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language.

The key factors behind the erosion of the language are not so much funding as policy, and progressive policies need sound leadership.

Unfortunately, leadership in this area is lacking in most state and public organisations, and particularly in Government. This is why a minister, and not just a minister of state, is required for the Gaeltacht and Irish language at cabinet level. A minister is needed to ‘language proof’ policies and to ensure that they support and do not erode the use of Irish, and our Gaeltachtaí.

It is a simplistic truism to say that ‘It’s up to people to speak Irish.’ Certainly, people can be more pro-active in using their Irish, but how do people maintain Irish if the state and public sector refuse to facilitate its use? How can people, even in the Gaeltacht, use their first language when the state fails to employ staff to deliver services in Irish in the Gaeltacht?

With the lifting of the state employment embargo, a recruitment policy to employ a third of new front line staff with fluency in both Irish and English would help the state play its part in facilitating its citizens in speaking Irish. Such a policy, at no additional cost, would continue to provide a full service for the public through English, and be in compliance with the constitutional recognition of the language. Beir bua, Pádraig Mac Fhearghusa, Rúnaí, Fóram Gaeilge Chiarraí.