A very dense and philosophical article in the Irish Times today considers the revitalization of the Irish language from a number of different angles. Unfortunately, although the article raises some valid and interesting points, it sadly becomes bogged down in its own internal arguments. Trying to pull the intellectual wheat from the chaff is something of a challenge.
As someone with a strong interest in Irish revitalization and Irish culture, it’s always struck me that if a language isn’t personally or publicly relevant then it’s going to have an uphill battle achieving wider acceptance. It also doesn’t help if Irish people remain ignorant of the enormous wealth they miss out on by not having access to that part of their heritage and culture.
All the same, there’s been an unmistakable groundswell of support and interest in Irish over the last two decades and that’s certainly linked created an increasing number of opportunities for Irish language users. As with all articles on the Irish language however, you’ll find the usual frenzied nutters moaning in the comments section about how Irish is a dead language, etc. etc. The best response to such people is ‘Fág an Bealach!’ – Get out of the way! You might be too dumb to work out the benefits of using our own language but you sure as hell aren’t going to stop the rest of us.
You can find the Irish Times article here: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/rethinking-the-meaning-of-revival-of-the-irish-language-1.3980457
