Irish First

[deiseach]

Religious Education in secondary schools these days is more philosophy and history than instruction. Schools still have a religious ethos with masses and carol services, but they are peripheral to the curriculum.

NB I imagine it's different oop North.

[seafoid]

"Rise above it"

This is the kind of slippery language that implies that being Irish is a mere act of revenge on British Empire. We don't have to touch the forelock and there is no shame in being Irish in Ireland.

None. It's empowering. Look at the football post 1990.

If the Shinners were really interested in promoting the language as a positive force they'd print O'Donaill dictionaries for everyone who wants one. There are so many words in it that describe how we behave today. And a lot of Protestants share the behavior. It's a funny old post colonial world

[Stall the Bailer]

Why is religion forced on kids at GCSE level. my son picking his now and it's mandatory?

Wouldn't have a problem with that if it were an actual course on world religions and the philosophies behind them. Problem with the GCSE curriculum I got pushed into doing was it was all about the taig church, and all other belief systems were either misrepresented or given lip service. I'd prefer it if RE were replaced by a broader subject called philosophy which would include some of the stuff now studied in RE, but put in a clearer context.

Strange that, a religious school teaching religion. What next Irish people wanting things Irish?

[Jeepers Creepers]

Sorry for derailing the thread in the last post, it's a bit tedious when every thread becomes the same old discussion about religion.

I agree with a lot of the sentiments on this thread about how Irish tends to be abused in the north. Sinn Fein seem to be hell bent on weaponizing the language, which does it a disservice and ultimately alienates the unionists even more, which is the opposite of what we should be doing if we want to bring them under the umbrella of a united Ireland.

Spot on.

That Sinn Fein are politicising the language is nothing more than a feeble excuse by Unionism for them to oppose the language. The vast majority of Unionism has despised the Irish language and other aspects of Irish culture since long before Sinn Fein began running election campaigns. What was their excuse then?

+1 The simple use of the word weaponising by unionists says it all. Driving fear into their community. Obviously working down south.

[Orior]

The English language is a gathering of Latin, Greek, Saxon, German, French and various others such as Indian and Irish.

Who can name the Irish words adopted into English?

[seafoid]

Sorry for derailing the thread in the last post, it's a bit tedious when every thread becomes the same old discussion about religion.

I agree with a lot of the sentiments on this thread about how Irish tends to be abused in the north. Sinn Fein seem to be hell bent on weaponizing the language, which does it a disservice and ultimately alienates the unionists even more, which is the opposite of what we should be doing if we want to bring them under the umbrella of a united Ireland.

Spot on.

That Sinn Fein are politicising the language is nothing more than a feeble excuse by Unionism for them to oppose the language. The vast majority of Unionism has despised the Irish language and other aspects of Irish culture since long before Sinn Fein began running election campaigns. What was their excuse then?

The Unionists have a serious identity problem. Who are they? For years it was enough to say "we are not Irish" but that isn't really coherent any more. This is one reason they are so anti-Gaeilge.

[Milltown Row2]

Irish wasn't compulsory in my school on the Falls, nor was it taught in primary school, I'd have liked to have taken it up but that would require night classes, our club ran classes each year, probably still do. Is this common in most Gaa clubs?

[foxcommander]

The Unionists have a serious identity problem. Who are they? For years it was enough to say "we are not Irish" but that isn't really coherent any more. This is one reason they are so anti-Gaeilge.

Unionists have no problem being "irish" when the egg-chasing is on. Even Ken Maginnis forgets about the border on those days.

[charlieTully]

The Unionists have a serious identity problem. Who are they? For years it was enough to say "we are not Irish" but that isn't really coherent any more. This is one reason they are so anti-Gaeilge.

Unionists have no problem being "irish" when the egg-chasing is on. Even Ken Maginnis forgets about the border on those days.

doesnt the boul Jackie McDonald have an Irish passport, forget your loyalities if it interferes with a week in the sun. Plenty of 'Irish' lads have a British one for the same reason.

[michaelg]

Sorry for derailing the thread in the last post, it's a bit tedious when every thread becomes the same old discussion about religion.

I agree with a lot of the sentiments on this thread about how Irish tends to be abused in the north. Sinn Fein seem to be hell bent on weaponizing the language, which does it a disservice and ultimately alienates the unionists even more, which is the opposite of what we should be doing if we want to bring them under the umbrella of a united Ireland.

Spot on.

That Sinn Fein are politicising the language is nothing more than a feeble excuse by Unionism for them to oppose the language. The vast majority of Unionism has despised the Irish language and other aspects of Irish culture since long before Sinn Fein began running election campaigns. What was their excuse then?

The Unionists have a serious identity problem. Who are they? For years it was enough to say "we are not Irish" but that isn't really coherent any more. This is one reason they are so anti-Gaeilge.

Many Unionists are happy to identify themselves as Northern Irish, Irish or British, which is fine and dandy in these post GFA times - Why do you preceive this to be a problem?

[Eamonnca1]

Sorry for derailing the thread in the last post, it's a bit tedious when every thread becomes the same old discussion about religion.

I agree with a lot of the sentiments on this thread about how Irish tends to be abused in the north. Sinn Fein seem to be hell bent on weaponizing the language, which does it a disservice and ultimately alienates the unionists even more, which is the opposite of what we should be doing if we want to bring them under the umbrella of a united Ireland.

Spot on.

That Sinn Fein are politicising the language is nothing more than a feeble excuse by Unionism for them to oppose the language. The vast majority of Unionism has despised the Irish language and other aspects of Irish culture since long before Sinn Fein began running election campaigns. What was their excuse then?

The unionists are hostile enough to Irish as it is without the Shinners only encouraging them. The don't need an excuse to oppose the language, but the last thing our ones should be doing is giving them excuses.

[Eamonnca1]

Why is religion forced on kids at GCSE level. my son picking his now and it's mandatory?

Wouldn't have a problem with that if it were an actual course on world religions and the philosophies behind them. Problem with the GCSE curriculum I got pushed into doing was it was all about the taig church, and all other belief systems were either misrepresented or given lip service. I'd prefer it if RE were replaced by a broader subject called philosophy which would include some of the stuff now studied in RE, but put in a clearer context.

Strange that, a religious school teaching religion. What next Irish people wanting things Irish?

If religious schools want to brainwash the children they can knock themselves out. But don't use taxpayers' money to do it, and there's no way any state-funded institution should be in the hands of a church.

[Eamonnca1]

The English language is a gathering of Latin, Greek, Saxon, German, French and various others such as Indian and Irish.

Who can name the Irish words adopted into English?

There's a decent list here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Irish_origin

[Eamonnca1]

The Unionists have a serious identity problem. Who are they?

+1.  You can tell them they're confused about their identity but ask ten unionists what they are and you get ten different answers.

"I'm not confused, I'm British."
"I'm not confused, I'm Irish."
"I'm not confused, I'm an Ulsterman."
"I'm not confused, I'm Northern Irish."
"I'm not confused, I'm Northern Irish and British."
"I'm not confused, I'm British and Irish."

Or the best one of all, and this is a quote:

"We're not Irish, we're pratistints."

[Eamonnca1]

The Unionists have a serious identity problem. Who are they? For years it was enough to say "we are not Irish" but that isn't really coherent any more. This is one reason they are so anti-Gaeilge.

Unionists have no problem being "irish" when the egg-chasing is on. Even Ken Maginnis forgets about the border on those days.

They used to be Irish when the soccer was on too. Then the FAI split away from the IFA and there were two teams each claiming to be "Ireland." We all know what happened next.