The SDLP

[marty34]

If all the Irish you know is "Dia duit,  Sinn Fein", "A Chara" & "GRMA", then feck knows why an ILA is needed in the first place.

ILA is not just about the language - it's more important than that.

It's really not!! The Irish language is a hobby and having an Irish Language act serves no real purpose only than to wind up Unionists!

Don't get me wrong I love Irish and was decent at it back in the day but it's nowhere near important enough to be collapsing Government. There are myriad other reasons why the institutions could have been collapsed but an ILA should not have been close to one of them and should not be the stumbling block now to get things up and running again!!

Pure waffle from you - the ILA is about recognition of being Irish in the north.  The English and unionists, by extension, did everything they could to destroy it and wipe it from the island of Ireland and make us all 'little englanders'. 

That's what the Irish Language Act is about - seems you have become 'the little englander', as envisaged by the Sassanaigh.

Plus, at the time, I never heard heard one nationalist complain when the assembly was pulled - the list of Liofa grants, RHI, Red Sky etc. etc. was endless in how the DUP were treating the nationalist people.

The Irish language is 'a hobby' oh my good God. 

[screenexile]

If all the Irish you know is "Dia duit,  Sinn Fein", "A Chara" & "GRMA", then feck knows why an ILA is needed in the first place.

ILA is not just about the language - it's more important than that.

It's really not!! The Irish language is a hobby and having an Irish Language act serves no real purpose only than to wind up Unionists!

Don't get me wrong I love Irish and was decent at it back in the day but it's nowhere near important enough to be collapsing Government. There are myriad other reasons why the institutions could have been collapsed but an ILA should not have been close to one of them and should not be the stumbling block now to get things up and running again!!

Pure waffle from you - the ILA is about recognition of being Irish in the north.  The English and unionists, by extension, did everything they could to destroy it and wipe it from the island of Ireland and make us all 'little englanders'. 

That's what the Irish Language Act is about - seems you have become 'the little englander', as envisaged by the Sassanaigh.

Plus, at the time, I never heard heard one nationalist complain when the assembly was pulled - the list of Liofa grants, RHI, Red Sky etc. etc. was endless in how the DUP were treating the nationalist people.

The Irish language is 'a hobby' oh my good God.

Oh no I'm less Irish because you say so ...  Wise up!!

You need recognition of being Irish in the North? Get an Irish Passport/play Irish Music/be involved in the GAA. You can't even speak Irish what the f**k are you on about?

I was OK with the assembly being pulled for the reasons you listed and more. Not an Irish Language Act. That is not the hill to die on.

There is no discernible reason to learn the Irish language other than working for TG4/RNG/working as an Irish teacher. Ergo it is a hobby and while it's nice to know it and history and everything else it shouldn't be holding up pay increases for our Nurses or funding for our schools!

[tonto1888]

If all the Irish you know is "Dia duit,  Sinn Fein", "A Chara" & "GRMA", then feck knows why an ILA is needed in the first place.

I would say that is exactly why an ILA is needed

[Rois]

There is no discernible reason to learn the Irish language other than working for TG4/RNG/working as an Irish teacher. Ergo it is a hobby and while it's nice to know it and history and everything else it shouldn't be holding up pay increases for our Nurses or funding for our schools!

I agree with half this part of your post (last half) and fundamentally disagree with the other half (first half). Weird.

Stephen Farry spoke a few words as gaeilge in his maiden WM speech there. I believe he  and Chris Hazzard were educated at the same school, so maybe not that surprising.

[seafoid]

If all the Irish you know is "Dia duit,  Sinn Fein", "A Chara" & "GRMA", then feck knows why an ILA is needed in the first place.

ILA is not just about the language - it's more important than that.

It's really not!! The Irish language is a hobby and having an Irish Language act serves no real purpose only than to wind up Unionists!

Don't get me wrong I love Irish and was decent at it back in the day but it's nowhere near important enough to be collapsing Government. There are myriad other reasons why the institutions could have been collapsed but an ILA should not have been close to one of them and should not be the stumbling block now to get things up and running again!!

Pure waffle from you - the ILA is about recognition of being Irish in the north.  The English and unionists, by extension, did everything they could to destroy it and wipe it from the island of Ireland and make us all 'little englanders'. 

That's what the Irish Language Act is about - seems you have become 'the little englander', as envisaged by the Sassanaigh.

Plus, at the time, I never heard heard one nationalist complain when the assembly was pulled - the list of Liofa grants, RHI, Red Sky etc. etc. was endless in how the DUP were treating the nationalist people.

The Irish language is 'a hobby' oh my good God.

Oh no I'm less Irish because you say so ...  Wise up!!

You need recognition of being Irish in the North? Get an Irish Passport/play Irish Music/be involved in the GAA. You can't even speak Irish what the f**k are you on about?

I was OK with the assembly being pulled for the reasons you listed and more. Not an Irish Language Act. That is not the hill to die on.

There is no discernible reason to learn the Irish language other than working for TG4/RNG/working as an Irish teacher. Ergo it is a hobby and while it's nice to know it and history and everything else it shouldn't be holding up pay increases for our Nurses or funding for our schools!

Irish comes with a huge cultural back catalogue. Ireland is easier to understand with the language. It gets to the places English can't.

[Fear Bun Na Sceilpe]

If all the Irish you know is "Dia duit,  Sinn Fein", "A Chara" & "GRMA", then feck knows why an ILA is needed in the first place.

I would say that is exactly why an ILA is needed

People are confused about ILA. It won't increase the numbers learning it.. Its mostly a bereaucratic, governance and regulatory tool. It won't change my life as an irish speaker unfortunately, I just resent how unionists view it in such a sectarian manner

[playwiththewind1st]

If all the Irish you know is "Dia duit,  Sinn Fein", "A Chara" & "GRMA", then feck knows why an ILA is needed in the first place.

I would say that is exactly why an ILA is needed

Tongue in cheek. An ILA would be all fine & dandy. However, it's not in the same league as needing a Fair Employment Act & agency, because Catholics couldn't get a job; having to set up the N Ireland Housing Executive, to remove control of housing from Unionists; ending gerrymandering, which ensured total Unionist control of local government ; dealing with the Unionist government's refusal to fund 100% of building costs for Catholic schools. Those were serious systemic issues, that took years to resolve. The ILA would be a piece of piss, by comparison. No one is stopping Irish medium schools from springing up, as far as I know.

[Evil Genius]

Interesting discussion on the Irish Language Act.

Perhaps you might be interested in the perspective of a Unionist (though never a DUPer) who is actually quite handy with foreign languages himself and so reasonably well-disposed to the idea of people learning another language.

First and foremost, SF have devalued the IL by "weaponising" it. That is, they have already gained almost all of what they demanded in return for coming in from the cold at St.Andrews, which gains have served them well at the ballot box. So that by now they're running out of excuses for not just buckling down to the task of providing good government for NI, which itself would constitute a tacit recognition of the state which they dare not make explicitly. (In that sense, I sometimes think we Unionists should call their bluff and just give them the bloody act, and then see what they've got to complain about next);

Two, with the way things are in NI, whenever one tribe declares that they want something, the other tribe is instinctively against it. Or comes up with their own wee makey-uppy version - in this case, Ulster Scots. Such posturing by both sides serves no-one;

Three, it is well known that while some people have a flair for languages, especially when young, nonetheless it is firmly established that anyone can learn any language providing they're sufficiently committed to the task. Therefore it is galling to be lectured on the need for Irish by people who patently couldn't be arsed to learn it for themselves, even when eg they were in prison, and might have been expected to have time on their hands;

Four, the whole point of language - any language - is that it should be a means of communication. Yet in this present context, it is being commandeered by partisan politicians for exactly the opposite purpose i.e. we've got a language that the Prods can't understand. Frankly, that is pathetic (imo).

Finally, I suspect that those people who genuinely love the language for its own sake, its beauty, its poetry and its rich position in the cultural history of this island etc, must despair at the way its being abused (by both sides), but fear to speak out, or get ignored when they do.

So for all those reasons, I believe that the Irish Language should be promoted and supported in schools, arts, festivals and night classes etc, but only in the same way as any other hobby, whether it be Scottish Country dancing, Gaelic games, flute bands or flower arranging.

Then if or when we got to the stage where it was beginning to be revived amongst the wider population (ideally both sides), that is the point at which we should consider making it official/enshrined in law.

Of course, such an event will never come about, not least because rather than getting their head down and actually learning the language, the likes of Gerry Adams prefer instead to just bang on and on about it from a public stage.

In English. 

[armaghniac]

Whether SF have a particular policy on the ILA is neither here nor there, they are not the only people in Northern Ireland, as Stephen Farry's opening words in Westminster showed.
It simply isn't acceptable to "oppose Sinn Féin", if SF proposes more buses then you cannot just abolish buses to spite them and the same with the Irish language.

[marty34]

Whether SF have a particular policy on the ILA is neither here nor there, they are not the only people in Northern Ireland, as Stephen Farry's opening words in Westminster showed.
It simply isn't acceptable to "oppose Sinn Féin", if SF proposes more buses then you cannot just abolish buses to spite them and the same with the Irish language.

Yes, some people here would do away with the Irish language if they got a chance - only a hobby.  Only job you can do is be a teacher etc. etc.  Same people are the biggest GAA people about!!!

The ILA, according to Conradh na Gaeilge and An Dream Dearg etc. is the best way, through the various language experts, to protect minority languages.  It's best practice but it needs to be a stand alone act.

Welsh and the Scots have their own acts and there's not the same uproar. 

[marty34]

If all the Irish you know is "Dia duit,  Sinn Fein", "A Chara" & "GRMA", then feck knows why an ILA is needed in the first place.

I would say that is exactly why an ILA is needed

People are confused about ILA. It won't increase the numbers learning it.. Its mostly a bereaucratic, governance and regulatory tool. It won't change my life as an irish speaker unfortunately, I just resent how unionists view it in such a sectarian manner

Agree totally.

[marty34]

If all the Irish you know is "Dia duit,  Sinn Fein", "A Chara" & "GRMA", then feck knows why an ILA is needed in the first place.

ILA is not just about the language - it's more important than that.

It's really not!! The Irish language is a hobby and having an Irish Language act serves no real purpose only than to wind up Unionists!

Don't get me wrong I love Irish and was decent at it back in the day but it's nowhere near important enough to be collapsing Government. There are myriad other reasons why the institutions could have been collapsed but an ILA should not have been close to one of them and should not be the stumbling block now to get things up and running again!!

Pure waffle from you - the ILA is about recognition of being Irish in the north.  The English and unionists, by extension, did everything they could to destroy it and wipe it from the island of Ireland and make us all 'little englanders'. 

That's what the Irish Language Act is about - seems you have become 'the little englander', as envisaged by the Sassanaigh.

Plus, at the time, I never heard heard one nationalist complain when the assembly was pulled - the list of Liofa grants, RHI, Red Sky etc. etc. was endless in how the DUP were treating the nationalist people.

The Irish language is 'a hobby' oh my good God.

Oh no I'm less Irish because you say so ...  Wise up!!

You need recognition of being Irish in the North? Get an Irish Passport/play Irish Music/be involved in the GAA. You can't even speak Irish what the f**k are you on about?

I was OK with the assembly being pulled for the reasons you listed and more. Not an Irish Language Act. That is not the hill to die on.

There is no discernible reason to learn the Irish language other than working for TG4/RNG/working as an Irish teacher. Ergo it is a hobby and while it's nice to know it and history and everything else it shouldn't be holding up pay increases for our Nurses or funding for our schools!

[/b]

You sound like my old careers teacher - Irish is no good, a dead language, no future in it etc. etc.

Funding our schools...lol...I take it you don't mean gaelscoileanna...they only teach that old 'hobby' language.

Ironic you're using the name 'screenexile' don't you think?

[Milltown Row2]

Marty34,what the extent of your Irish? And what do you think makes you Irish?

[bannside]

Tell you what! No one is a single dot more Irish than me... with or without the Irish Language act. I'm as 100%  Irish as I want to be with or without Gailige. Yes /No.

[Milltown Row2]

Tell you what! No one is a single dot more Irish than me... with or without the Irish Language act. I'm as 100%  Irish as I want to be with or without Gailige. Yes /No.

Exactly