TheMaster,

I'm going to write this as Béarla for you, as your repetitive claims to be a Gaeilgeoir sound less plausible each time you say it. As yet we have no proof- though your pitiful attempt to spell Gaeltacht- one of the most recognisable words in Irish, so common that it is synonymous in English- would weigh the evidence heavily in favour of the manure-like quality of your boast.

You complained early in this thread about people daring to come on and write in Irish on English-language threads. Hours after you challenged keeper7 to write in Irish if he's so fond of it.

Scram, scram and vamoose, you brazen humbug.

an tseabhac (Kerry) - Posts: 441 - 23/08/2013 16:22:11    1466611

Htaem,

Compare your stance to the recent referendum in Lithuania where the electorate voted against naming Russian as an official state language (with Lithuanian) despite almost everyone being able to speak it & 30% of the population considering themselves as Russian.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 23/08/2013 16:25:59    1466615

CobraVengeance

Way over the top?

Come on it was over the top, you said the irishman inside people who don't love the language has withered and died, that's a just a silly comment to honest.


you were probably one of our county men who was happy to see the M3 plough through the skryne valley.

Certainly not, haven't a clue why you'd accuse me of that.


Your citing of the English language as our national language says it all.

Why is Irish still our first language anyway, how long does it take for the language which everybody speaks (English) to become the official first language? Also 'Irish' wasn't the very first language ever spoken on this Island, surely whatever grunts the very earliest hunter-gatherers made is our official language if we're to go by your logic.


If you still feel the same then next time your in Croke Park have the decency not to be a hypocrite and please sit down during Amhran Na bfhiann because the sentiments expressed here by you go right against what that great song professes

You'll like this, I do stand up out of habit but I occasionally sing the words of God Save the Queen just to annoy my mates :-)

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 23/08/2013 16:40:20    1466628

an tseabhac, you are basing this entire assumption on the fact that I miss-spelled a word once. I have made a few mistakes in my english spellings on occasion. Obviously I cant speak a word of english either...
Nonsense man.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 23/08/2013 16:44:29    1466633

I have no great love for the irish commentary on RTE. Its bad enough that the club finals are on TG4 in irish. When RTE did change to an english commentary a few years back there was an outcry form the Irish language lobby and they were forced to reverse what was a very sensible decision.One of the problems is that most GAA hierarchy are proud irish speakers when it suits them and use an irish version of their names also when it suits. Most people dont speak irish in their daily lives. It prevents cultural minorities from participating. It prevents new people from being involved because so much official business is conducted in irish and only primary school teachers are really that good at reading and writing in irish. Let people who want listen in irish but for the rest of us just put a red button in the corner and give us the option of listening to our most loved games in a language we can understand.

jpcampion (Laois) - Posts: 194 - 23/08/2013 16:46:39    1466637

Htaem...because its part of our natural and cultural history. Even not speaking Irish, the way we use English (accent and pronunciations etc) has been formed by our original use of Irish.

The question of why not get rid of Irish is valid if, for example, you also believe we should take the contents of the National History Museum on Kildare St. and toss them too. The stuff is old and no one uses them anymore, so why keep them?

witnof (Dublin) - Posts: 1604 - 23/08/2013 16:50:48    1466641

Actually an tseabhac, I cannot find an instance of me spelling the word wrong on this thread... Could you point it out please...

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 23/08/2013 16:55:19    1466649

witnof

The question of why not get rid of Irish is valid if, for example, you also believe we should take the contents of the National History Museum on Kildare St. and toss them too. The stuff is old and no one uses them anymore, so why keep them?


Why would you toss that stuff out? It's pretty to look at and most importantly it isn't compulsory!

Ps, I have NO problem with the existence of the Irish language and I have NO problem with anybody who wants to learn it, I just don't want anything to do with it because I don't use it and I don't need it. Am I entitled to that opinion?

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 23/08/2013 17:06:37    1466657

I hope the people running the Irish language down on this thread are doing it for a windup, or just to pass the time. If I thought that these were genuine sentiments, I wouldn't be angry, I'd just be very disappointed, and very sad and depressed. Is 60 minutes of Irish a year that much of an imposition? Are we that easily put upon? And for those claiming that Irish was shoved down our throats at school, everything is shoved down our throats at school, that's how school is. I wouldn't have elected to learn 'The lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock', and its been of no use to me since. But the fact that I was made learn english literature hasn't scarred me for life. Hasn't turned me off speaking english.

Maybe its down to insularity, and the unwillingness of people to expose themselves to cultures other that anglophile ones. Maybe people need to mix more with people of other cultures to appreciate their own. Maybe people need to quit looking for reasons to whinge.

Marlon_JD (Tipperary) - Posts: 1823 - 23/08/2013 17:12:15    1466662

Htaem....you have your opinion and I have mine! Problem is that mine is correct :):):).

Then don't watch the matches but at the same time those who want to listen As Gaelige should have the right as well.

witnof (Dublin) - Posts: 1604 - 23/08/2013 17:13:54    1466663

witnof

Then don't watch the matches but at the same time those who want to listen As Gaelige should have the right as well.


But I want to watch the matches, we have a conundrum!

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 23/08/2013 17:22:19    1466669

Well said, Marlon_JD, maithiú!

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 23/08/2013 17:22:46    1466670

Games are not in irish to suggest we all love irish and that everyone understands it. It is to promote the language.

But that isnt promoting the language, that is forcing the language. Also, why do people need to be able to speak a language in order to follow a sport?

It's not forcing the language. There are a few games each year where the game is in Irish. I enjoy watching them in Irish. I think having some games promotes the use of Irish. I don't see how it is forcing the language- we have two official state languages, one native and the other due to foreign occupation. All senior intercounty championship games are in English.

The coverage of minor games in irish is a flagship event for the cause of spoken irish every year.

Again, the method is wrong, they are forcing it, not promoting it. People have no choice. Id have no issue with a choice of language, which should be possible now with the digital change-over.

Again, I disagree. I don't believe it is forcing it. I'd like to see all intercounty games in Irish, with an option of watching in English. I'd agree with you there.

GAA should in the main be commentated in English but minor games should be kept in irish. It links more to history and promotes the language.

What link? Do brazilians have to speak in english when they play soccer? There is no link between sport and language.

We are not discussing soccer. Or rugby. Or any other globalised game. GAA is a sport which originated in this country and with one or two exceptions is played within this country or by diaspora of this country. It is, definitely, a cultural aspect of our game in my opinion. Your comparison to Brazilian soccer is in incorrect comparison I'm afraid.

By having minor coverage in irish is not forcing anything down anyones throat. if people don't want to listen to irish they can turn down the volume and watch game on tv without sound.

So basically, either watch it is irish or make-do without sound - I would be embarassed if that was the attitude towards the minority, nevermind the majority. Isnt that a nice way of saying like it or lump it? I fail to see how people would have any other reasonable option than listen to the irish commentary, therefore it clearly is being forced onto us.

I'd like to watch live coverage of this Sunday's game between Mayo and Tyrone in my country's native official language, Irish. Is it possible? Am I forced to either watch it in English or turn the sound off? Yes I am. What you are arguing is that either half of ALL the games are shown in one language and half in the other, or that digital stations should show ALL games with an option of commentary in either language. I'd agree with that.

There is no argument for having EVERY game in English. Irish is our native language, one of two official languages in Ireland. There should, by rights, be games shown in Irish. What is the argument that all games be in English? Because most people speak it? Rubbish.

icehonesty (Wexford) - Posts: 2581 - 23/08/2013 17:55:16    1466699

22/08/2013 12:27:03
TheMaster
County: Mayo
Posts: 8390

1465668
witnof
Jesus we are...It is similar in the gaelthacht areas where signposts...





Next!

an tseabhac (Kerry) - Posts: 441 - 23/08/2013 18:46:01    1466727

People saying learning Irish in school is useless should realise that a large amount of what you learn in school is useless.None of The History,English,Geography I did for my leaving cert us much use to me in my career to date and I doubt will be any use to me in the future.Alot of the maths course wasnt really necessary either, I havent had to do any calculus,trigonometery or quadratic equations where I work and I work for a financial services firm.

The truth is that the abandonment of our language by the people fo this copuntry is shameful (i'm one of them but it's too late for me) and something drastic should be done so the language doesnt die out.It wouldn't be overly difficult to revive it if there was some willingness on behlaf of the government.turn every primary school into a gael scoil and you would have the next generation fluent in Irish and English by the time they go to secondary school and then Irish wouldnt have to be a compulsary subject.Irish is tought very badly in schools, you write essays and read short stories and poetry as part of the junior cert programme despite not being able to fluently speak the language.Studying the written word in irish should only happen after you are fluent in the language.

Learning a language if you start by speking it for 6 hours a day from the time you are 4 would not be very difficult, its difficult to learn I imagine if you do 5 hours of classes a week and never speak a bit of it outside the classmore which is what is happening currently.

For those who say it is pointless to start reviving the language it is no more pointless than any other country speaking in their native tongue.We are the only country in europe who has their own language and doesnt speak it.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts: 1296 - 23/08/2013 19:06:32    1466734

The only time I ever found Irish useful was chatting up women abroad, and deciding which one of us would get the best looking ones in Irish with the lads.

bryanadams (Kildare) - Posts: 733 - 23/08/2013 19:24:20    1466747

So I put an extra 'h' in there one time, out of the 10 odd times I used the phrase on the thread. I thought you said it was a pitiful attempt?

The only thing pitiful is that excuse of an excuse for an argument. The irish language is pretty much useless, unfortunate but clearly the case. The only jobs that come from learning irish - is teaching other people irish. Functionally, it has no use at all. Its only use these days, is for a people to feel smug by using it in the presence of others who dont speak it, that's it.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 23/08/2013 19:31:47    1466751

uibhfhaili1986

For those who say it is pointless to start reviving the language it is no more pointless than any other country speaking in their native tongue.We are the only country in europe who has their own language and doesnt speak it.


Really? Correct me if I'm wrong but don't the Welsh and the Scottish have their own languages and they speak English also, anyway listen the Irish language is not that important, don't worry about it.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 23/08/2013 19:33:52    1466753

Htaem no we don't. Go to the matches.

I am do not great Irish but can generally follow the commentary.

Having lived and worked in three different continents I always find it sad how people in Ireland place no value on the language and fill the need to run it down when it should be protected and developed.

By the way the best sports program on TV is in Irish .

witnof (Dublin) - Posts: 1604 - 23/08/2013 19:44:25    1466760

It's sad to see some posters on here with a problem with their language. The G in G.A.A. is for Gaelic and all things Gaelic.The G.A.A. is far more than sports and so called G.A.A. people should remember this. But then there are others who probably have a problem with it in Irish or English and would prefer commentary along the lines of, OMG that was like a totes amazeball goal. Labhair í agus mairfidh sí.

peile (Mayo) - Posts: 180 - 23/08/2013 19:54:06    1466765