Opening address - Network for Promoting Linguistic Diversity - Language Planning Seminar
Scríofa ag Eamon Ó Cuív Déardaoin, 10 Nollaig 2009
Níl leagan aistrithe ar fáil.Network for Promoting Linguistic Diversity
Language Planning Seminar
O’Callaghan Alexander Hotel , Merrion Square, Dublin 2
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Opening address by Éamon Ó Cuív TD,
Minister of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs
A chairde,
Firstly, my thanks to Meirion and to the Network for inviting me to be here today. I am delighted to be with you this morning and to welcome you to Dublin.
I believe that there is enormous value in people who are working for the future of different languages in Europe coming together to learn from each other about what is happening in our different areas. It is always important for us to learn about the situation that other languages face – to learn that we all face the same pressures and issues, even when the detail of our language situation is different. There is also, of course, a real benefit in learning about what has worked and indeed, what has not worked so well in other jurisdictions, as we try to deal with the issues facing our own particular language.
Another reason that I am particularly delighted to be with you here today is that I have substantial news for you: we recently published a draft of our 20-year strategy for the Irish language. We published it in draft format so that we can create space for a further debate and consultation at the Oireachtas committee (committee of our national parliament) that deals with Irish language issues. I will come back later to the detail of the Strategy itself, but at the outset I want to stress the importance of creating broad public support for language planning, especially in our case, amongst the majority of the population who do not speak Irish as a first language, but whose goodwill is vital to any serious revitalisation and preservation project.
I understand that for some of you this is the start of your second NPLD seminar in Dublin this week. I am told that the earlier seminar on Terminology was a success and that some useful ideas for co-operation on this topic amongst the language communities represented at the seminar were generated and will be followed up. Tá súil agam go mbeidh an seimineár seo chomh tairbheach is a bhí an chéad cheann. Tá sé i gceist agam ar dtús cur síos gairid a dhéanamh ar chúlra na Gaeilge sa tír seo agus ina dhiaidh sin léargas tapaidh a thabhairt ar an Straitéis nua-fhoilsithe 20 Bliain. To repeat in English, I propose to give a quick overview of the background of the Irish language in Ireland and then turn to the recently-published 20-year Strategy. You are here to look at language planning, so I hope that what we are proposing to do will be of interest to you all. We looked at experience in a number of other jurisdictions – particularly in Wales, Catalunya and the Basque Country – in the course of preparing this draft, so I can say that what you all are doing was of real interest and benefit to us in our work to date.
Context
Irish is the oldest written language in Europe that still survives as a living community language today. It is a sister language of Scots Gaelic and of Manx. Though separate languages for a few centuries now, Irish and Scots Gaelic are remarkably similar in written form; Manx remains quite close to Irish in its pronunciation.
1.6 million people in the State indicated in Census 2006 that they have an ability to speak Irish (41.9% of total population). Of these, 85,000 speak Irish daily outside of the education system. A further cohort of 97,000 speak Irish less than daily, but at least once a week in addition to the 85,000 daily speakers outside of the education system. Some 2% of the population have Irish as their first language and some 2% use Irish as the language of the home. Obviously, there is overlap between these two figures. So we are talking about a very small minority for whom Irish is their daily language.
Irish has remained the community language in a small number of areas, mainly on the Western seaboard. These areas are defined in the Gaeltacht Areas Orders 1956-1982. There are 64,000 Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht (total Gaeltacht population of over 91,000 people). Over 20,000 of these speak Irish daily outside of the education system.
Irish is taught in all schools as a core curriculum subject at primary and secondary level.
The position of Irish in our society is recognised by article 8 of the Constitution, which provides that Irish, as the national language, is the first official language of the State. This constitutional position and successive Supreme Court applications of it in case law in turn frames the legal and legislative position of the language.
The views of the elite in the new State that had fought the War of Independence in the 1920s – and the constitutional status they accorded Irish in the constitutions of 1922 and 1937 - were ahead of those of the general population. It took a long time for the legacy of negative attitudes to change, with three major influences leading to substantial change in the 1980s and 1990s: increasing prosperity, EU membership (with consequent exposure to a world wider than the Anglophone one) and the impact in the last 15 years or so of immigration – it became normal to hear other languages spoken in public. All this has had a very positive impact on attitudes to Irish.
For any of you who would like information on the framework of support we have put into place for the Irish language over recent years, I believe that there is a handout available with a summary of the main measures, the relevant agencies involved, legislation, and the implementation of language initiatives.
Let me turn to the future of Irish, and our aims and aspirations. The Government published a Policy Statement on Irish in December 2006. The Statement committed us to bringing forward a 20-year Strategy for the Irish language. As I mentioned earlier, the strategy was published as a draft in electronic format only just two weeks ago and is based on the objectives set out in the Government’s Policy Statement, taking account of the outcomes from a widespread public consultation throughout the country, as well as advice from international experts. It is intended that the strategy will be a comprehensive road map and will lay the foundation for practical action for supporting and promoting the language, based on a modern, integrated approach.
The headline objective of the proposed 20-year Strategic Plan for Irish has been announced as being to increase the number of people who are functionally bilingual in Irish and English and specifically, to increase the number of daily speakers from 85,000 to 250,000 and to increase the total number of those with Irish from 1.6 million to 2 million.
I think this is a realistic but challenging objective. It will require interventions across a range of public bodies and policy areas.
The Strategy also aims to:
- increase the number of speakers who speak Irish on a daily basis in the Gaeltacht, as its invigoration will be critical to the overall Strategy, and
- increase the number of people that use State services through Irish and can access television, radio and print media through the language.
The next step is to debate the draft strategy at the Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for a final round of consultation. I will then bring the Strategy back to Government for final approval in light of that debate. The first year of the strategy will be taken up with preparing for implementation, including bringing forward any necessary legislation and making sure that each of the key implementing agencies develops an operational plan for its area of responsibility.
Neither the final round of consultation at our national parliament, nor the first year implementation phase should be seen as procrastination – and thankfully none of our commentators have suggested that this is the case thus far. We cannot assume that the speakers of our languages will agree on the need for a language planning strategy, much less on its detail, unless we invest the time and energy in communicating the need and the rationale for such an approach.
I started by stressing the importance of creating broad public support for language planning, especially in our case amongst the majority of the population who do not speak Irish as a first language, but whose goodwill is vital to any serious revitalisation and preservation project. The communication task here is much more difficult, but it is essential that we succeed. More important indeed than much of the detail in a language planning strategy is the need to set a simple and easily communicable vision and to mobilise public support. I think our draft achieves the first objective and the next task for me and for my Department is to set about achieving the second.
My thanks again for inviting me to join you here this morning. I am sure that you will have a most enjoyable and worthwhile conference over the next two days and I hope that you all leave Dublin invigorated from sharing and exchanging your experiences, aspirations and ideas.
Go raibh maith agaibh.
