Campaigners demand official status for Irish
When Ireland joined the the EEC over 30 years ago, it was offered the chance to make Irish an official language. It chose not to and instead opted for the lesser status of a Treaty language.
It was undoubtedly a blow to the language at the time, one which fuelled, and continues to fuel, the old cries of “what use is Irish?” amongst those who would have us believe this island is monolingual.
Dublin now has a chance to right that wrong and is being urged to do so by language groups and politicians across the political spectrum, including members of Fianna Fáil.
New EU member-states will insist on official status for their languages. Maltese, a national language spoken by a few hundred thousand, will find itself so honoured by its government and people.
Dublin as yet has no plans to do anything similar for Irish. Given its parsimonious attitude in so many areas, one might at first suspect that the decision is based on finance. Yet the Irish taxpayer will contribute to a translation fund irrespective of whether Irish is an official language or not.
In that case would it not be more sensible to create jobs for Irish-speaking graduates?
Obtaining official status for the Irish language would send a positive message to all those who hold the language in trust, not only in Ireland
but throughout the world.
There is now an international campaign to have our language awarded official status, and you can get involved. Get on the internet and take a look at
www.cnag.ie for letters that you can print out and send to the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, encouraging them to support the inclusion of Irish in the EU. There is also an online petition, which you can send to the Irish government. Go to:
www.cnag.ie/nuacht/letterT.htmn
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