Dearg le Fearg!

Red with Anger!

by | 2024/06/05 | Current Affairs, Language Affairs, Politics

Red with Anger!

The lack of support from the government for our mother tongue saddens me. I have read article after article on tuairisc.ie recently, discussing the terrible stories of the decline of the Irish language. The government keeps saying one thing but doing the opposite. It is clear that the government is ignoring our language. What kind of things are involved? There is not space to mention them all here, but here are a few examples.

People are able to get jobs dealing with language matters and Gaeltacht matters, who do not (even) speak Irish! For example, in the past, a few people were appointed as Ministers of the Gaeltacht, who were not fluent in Irish - including Joe Mac Hugh and Jack Chambers. TD Catherine Connolly is worried that it is still happening - even in her home county (Galway)! Speaking before the Irish Language Committee of the Oireachtas, Minister of State for the Gaeltacht Thomas Byrne said he hoped the national recruitment plan would tackle the problem, but he also said he believed there was a "moral duty" to officials who are responsible for matters Irish to learn the language.

And what about Breandánn Ó Beaglaíoch, who was fighting with Kerry County Council for 15 years over his plans to build a small house on his family's land on the Dingle peninsula! The Kerryman warned that the Gaeltacht communities are in danger of losing their language without new laws that prioritize Gaeltacht folk (wanting) to build houses on their own land, and to avoid the depopulation of the Gaeltacht.

Or how about Cormac Chambers, Principal of Gaelscoil Lis na nÓg in Raglan. This is what he had to say. "Because there is no Irish language secondary school in the area, many children fall out of the Irish language school system. This is a scandal and shows the State’s and the Department of Education's lack of respect for the development of the Irish language and Irish education."

Dúirt an Teachta Dála Éamon Ó Cuív go bhfuil an Ghaeilge fágtha in áit na leathphingine, nuair a bhíonn buiséad na Roinne Turasóireachta, Cultúir, Ealaíon, Gaeltachta, Spóirt agus Meán á leithroinnt. “Má bhreathnaíonn muid ar bhuiséad na Roinne, tá méadú ollmhór ar an gcaiteachas atá ar an gComhairle Ealaíon, mar shampla, agus ar na healaíona ar fad,” a dúirt sé, “agus ag an am céanna, thóg airí sinsearacha éagsúla cinneadh sa Roinn sin go bhfáiscfí an t-anam as foilsitheoireacht na Gaeilge.”

Thomas Byrne is the first Gaeltacht minister of state to accept the irrefutable evidence that it is an emergency in terms of Irish being spoken in the Gaeltacht. "There is a crisis, there's no doubt about that."

Workable solution?

Although we have strong political advocates for language rights, they do not have the capacity to make the necessary changes, because they do not have the power directly. I am talking about language heroes like: The Language Commisioner – Mr. Séamas Ó Concheanainn; The Complaints Manager – Ms Órla de Burke; TD Catherine Connolly; TD Éamon Ó Cuív; TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Chairman), and Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee. There are also great organisations fighting for the Irish language, organisations like Conradh na Gaeilge and its General Secretary Julian de Spáinn. They and their likes have been notifying the government for a long time that the language crisis is ongoing and that the government is obliged to take steps to preserve it and even expand it. You would be ashamed to see what is going on with Welsh in Wales! And what about the North - isn't it an incredible story what has been done for the Irish language in the North - where it is much more difficult to get language rights? I think the seeds of the solution can be seen in that story.

Political Activism!

Very often, politicians are able to ignore Irish language activists, and put Irish matters on the sidelines. That is exactly what happened in the North. Although official recognition of the Irish language was promised in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, it was ignored. But the Irish language activists did not accept that and held protest rallies demanding official status for Irish. More than 50 language activists started the Red Dream (an Dream Dearg -a pressure group for language rights) in 2016, and organized a major protest in Belfast in 2017 - Lá Dearg! Around 15,000 people marched on the City Hall in Belfast, demanding the passage of the Irish Language Act, which was promised by the British and Irish governments in 2006. The British government had an easy excuse in Brexit, and Irish language matters were ignored during Brexit.

But the Red Dream did not stop trying to achieve its objective, and when the Brexit had been completed for some time, they organized a rally in 2022, in which more than 17,000 people marched for language rights. At the end of the same year, 'The Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022' was passed in Westminster, giving official status to the Irish language in the North, with the various advantages associated with that status. As Churchill himself said – “Never surrender!”

And that is the way forward in Ireland too. We need to bring the government to account regarding its lack of support for the language, regarding the proper implementation of the Languages Act and to resolve the various problems mentioned above. Why wouldn't the Red Dream or similar organize protest rallies at Leinster House in Dublin, demanding that a specific plan be implemented soon to tackle the language crisis that has finally been admitted by the government itself ? Why wouldn't that work?

Hot off the press - green shoots!

As this article was going to press, I saw that a protest at Leinster House about the housing crisis in the Gaeltacht had just taken place. Among the protesters were the people of the Gaeltacht, the people of the community, and representatives from various organizations - Conradh na Gaeilge, the National Language Planning Committee, BÁNÚ, the Red Dream, the Students' Union in Ireland, the Post-Primary Students' Union of Ireland and CATU Ireland [Union for Communities and Tenants]. Good for you all! I hope that protests like this will take place as often as necessary, to publicly express the will of the people and the government's promises regarding language rights in a way that the government can no longer ignore them!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Kunza!

Kunza!

by | 2024/05/29 | Language Affairs, International News

Kunza!

 

 

 

Every now and then, I have an exciting story about the revival of a certain minor language that is barely alive. Today I have a story about the revival of the indigenous minority language in the Atacama Desert - a minority language that according to UNESCO became extinct around 1949 when it was thought that not even one person could speak it.

Kunza

 

There is a funny sketch in the old movie 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'. One man is carrying a poor man on his shoulders, trying to put him on a cart that is collecting the dead during the Great Plague in Britain. But the poor man is still alive, and he says "I am not dead!" That's a famous line in the movie.

 

When I heard about the 'Kunza' minority tongue, I was reminded of that line. Because it is the same story in relation to Kunza. Kunza was pronounced dead but was barely alive. There are still Kunza speakers, and now they are trying to revive the language.

 

The Spanish Empire

 

Ilia Reyes-Aimani is a Kunza speaker who wants to keep the language alive. She has composed songs to teach children colors and numbers. She is a member of the Atacameño tribe - a tribe that has overcame every challenges down through the centuries. The tribe lives in the Atacama Desert - one of the driest places on earth. The salt flats, gorges and oases have been under the control of the Atacameño for more than 11,000 years. But with the arrival of the Spanish in the 17th century, great pressure was put on their culture and language and gradually that situation worsened. That is a story we know very well, when an empire oppresses a subservient race, trying to destroy its language and culture, and to civilize the Natives. Does that remind you of anything – the Irish people and the British Empire, perhaps? For the first time, in 1993, Chile recognized the country's Aboriginal people, with the Indigenous Peoples Act.

 

Mandatory Subject in school

 

Since 2017, every school in Chile attended by more than 20% native students has a legal obligation to teach a native language. In one school in Kalama, a mining town located in an oasis in the desert, Kunza is taught to students up to the age of twelve. Melissa Arenas Alabena, the principal of the school, says that Kunza is on par with any other subject in the school, and that she is proud that the students of the school are learning Kunza.

 

Thomas Finke

 

Thomas Finke is teaching Kunza in that school. He grew up speaking both Spanish and Kunza. When he himself was a student at school, his teachers used to worry because he would use words and phrases that they did not understand. They did not know that he was speaking Kunza! Even on the edge of the desert, the natives are able to practice sustainable agriculture, including Thomas Finke. He is using an irrigation system, with irrigation channels directing water from a small stream down through gates into a few enclosed fields where maize is intensively cultivated. He also has a greenhouse, where carrots, tomatoes and beets grow. He does not accept UNESCO's assessment that the Kunza language is dead. We are not dead, our culture is not dead and our language is not dead, he says – and he himself is a prime example of that fact. He is extremely positive that he will be able to help revive the language, but at the same time he accepts that it will be very challenging to do so. Tomás is putting words into action, however, as he is about to launch an online course for those who want to learn Kunza.

 

Celine Navadas

 

The evidence on the plains suggests that Thomas is right and that Kunza is still alive. Every year in October, the men clean the irrigation channels to the accompaniment of songs in Kunza sung by the women. It is an ancient ritual called 'Talator'. Now in her seventies, Celine Navadas started participating in this annual ceremony more than half a century ago, and she still hasn't stopped!

 

Conclusion

 

As the old saying goes: Where there’s a will there’s a way! We wish the Atacameño all the best in their efforts to revive their native language – no more than ourselves!

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

Cúpla Ceist orm!

A few questions for me!

by | 2024/05/22 | Language Affairs, Personal, Opinion

A few questions for me!

A project I've been working on has finally reached completion, and my site www.mickgb.com is now live. Initially, I put together the site to put my weekly columns for the 'Kilkenny People' online, so that they would all be easily available online.

It is a bilingual site, with an Irish and English version available for every article I have written in the last few years. A soundtrack is available, using artificial intelligence (AI) to read out the Irish text. And teanglann.ie is also available, so you can click on a word to find out its meaning, right on the page you're reading. I've archived all my columns on the site, as I've written nearly three hundred of them up to now. It occurred to me that I would be able to upload my father's writings as well, and I filled another archive with 805 columns from him.

This is an illustration of what one person can do on their own to help revive the language.

I have been in contact with www.peig.ie regarding my site, and they asked me a few questions. They published the questions and my answers in a column on their site, and the same column follows.

.

A person wearing a hat Description automatically generated

A Few Questions for Micheál Bairéad

Mícheál Bairéad is a writer and columnist who founded a bilingual website as an archive of his writings, mickgb.com. We asked him a few questions about his website and his background as a writer.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Micheál Bairéad and I am an Irishman who has lived in the United States for many years. Although I was born in County Mayo, I grew up in Dublin and Kilkenny. I spend a lot of time in Ireland, and I enjoy attending Irish immersion courses every chance I get. After I retired from my job as an electronic and computer engineer, I was able to revive my Irish.

When did you start writing?

My father was a weekly columnist for 40 years, writing for the local paper called 'Kilkenny People'. As my father got older I started helping him. Before long he was my editor, and I was the writer. My father passed away at the end of 2019, but I continued with the column, which I am still writing.

What inspired you to set up the site mickgb.com?

Although the paper has an internet site, my column was not available there. I asked the paper's staff to provide my columns, but only a few appeared on the site, and they were not easy to find. Also, Irish speakers in Kilkenny were interested in being able to access my columns online.

It is precisely for these reasons that I decided to put together my own site. It occurred to me that there would be other benefits as well. I would be able to store a collection of my writings online. And I would also be able to store my father's collection of writings on the site, because he had written a lot that I had on my computer. I designed and developed a website for a non-profit organization when I first retired, so I knew website technology. I got to work and before long my site was up and running. I made revisions and changes after that.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

What was the biggest challenge you faced with the project?

My biggest challenge now is to advertise my site publicly, to promote the use of the language, and to help people who are learning or improving their Irish.

You said that your father, Peter Barrett, was also a writer. Tell us a bit about him and his writing.

Peadar Bairéad was born in Erris in north-west County Mayo and lived in Kilkenny until his death in 2019.

Peadar Bairéad was an Irish teacher, and a writer of prose and poetry. Four collections of his poetry (Duilleoga Fómhair, Cleití na hAislinge, Fataí Rómhair agus An Fómhar Deireanach) have been published, as well as his autobiography (Doirse Dé). A fair amount of his poetry was on school and student curricula. Peadar's writings have been published in many magazines, including Feasta, Comhar, An Sagart, An Timire, Anois, and Scéala Éireann. He was also a weekly columnist for the Kilkenny People, from 1979 – 2018. 805 of his columns are available on my site.

To read Micheál and Peadar's writings, visit mickgb.com.

I hope you enjoy my site, and tell others about it!

.

.

Agóidí Síochánta sna hOllscoileanna!

Peaceful Protests in Universities!

by | 2024/05/15 | Current Affairs, International News, National News, Politics

Peaceful Protests in Universities!

Although some of them have been broken up by the police, many camps are still located on university grounds around the world, as a measure of solidarity with the people of Gaza, and to peacefully protest against the merciless slaughter that is wrought by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on the people of Gaza. It is estimated that at least 35,000 people have died and 78,000 were injured as a result of this horrific fighting. The war began with surprise terrorist attacks by the terrorist group Hamas on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 250 people were kidnapped in that attack. The Israeli government consequently promised to eliminate Hamas. Israel began a ground attack in the Gaza Strip on October 27, 2023, and they are not finished yet. Unfortunately, the civilians of Gaza are the most affected by the war. There are not many buildings left standing in the strip, and there is now a shortage of food. More than a million people, or half the population in the Strip, do not have enough food or clean water. That is a major disaster as it is, and the people of Gaza are facing even more disaster - especially if the IDF attacks the city of Rafah, now home to more than 1.5 million people, most of them refugees from elsewhere in Gaza.

Unconditional support

The Hamas attack shocked countries around the world, and all countries understood that there would be a strong response from Israel. The United States and the European Union stood firmly with Israel and understood that Israel had the right to defend its country and to counterattack and subdue Hamas. They also understood that the punishment should fit the crime, and that Israel had an international duty to avoid killing innocent civilians. But the IDF carried out attack after attack indiscriminately, and on average, a child dies in Gaza every ten minutes. This is unacceptable and in all likelihood Israel is breaking international law. But despite everything, the United States and the European Union are too slow to move their position and withdraw their support until Israel fulfills its international obligations. The United States is still supplying Israel with offensive weapons, when they know full well what will be done with them. That approach does not sit well with the view of the majority of the western public.

Public Protest

When there is a significant difference between the government's policies and the public's point of view, the public shows its displeasure and often takes to the streets in protest and organizes protest marches. It is now the case regarding Gaza, and large protest marches take place in Ireland, the United States and many other countries, demanding an end to the terrible violence taking place there.

A protest movement is also emerging in universities around the world, with students setting up camps on their university grounds. The students at Columbia University were among the first to set up camps, and that movement spread to campuses across the country, from California to Ohio to Georgia. Then, it spread around the world, including to universities in Ireland and to Trinity College in particular. The students have issued a list of demands, asking their universities to issue a statement criticizing Israel and to stop dealing with Israeli companies, and especially those companies involved in human rights violations against the Palestinian. On the Columbia campus, the students took over the university building (Hamilton Hall). On account of that, the president of the university called the police. They entered the campus and closed down the camp and arrested more than 300 people. A total of 2200 people were arrested across the country on university campuses. A few universities in the United States - including Brown University, Northwestern University, Rutgers University, University of Minnesota, UCLA and the University of California at Riverside - have said they would take steps to divest.

Ray of Hope

Over 40 tents were erected on the Trinity College campus on May 3, and therefore, a meeting was organized between the university and the protesters on May 6. The university has yielded to several demands saying it will stop investing in three Israeli companies that are on the United Nations Human Rights Council's list of companies involved in illegal Israeli settlements. The university also promised to establish a task force to investigate Israeli institutions, and to provide eight scholarships to Gaza students . Although the university did not give in to all the demands of the protesters, and although the protesters did not stop their campaign, it is a good sign that the two parties are talking and making progress together. As this article goes to press, President Biden has just intercepted a large shipment of bombs from Israel – 1,800 bombs weighing 2,000 pounds and 1,700 bombs weighing 500 pounds. That's a step in the right direction, and it's quite possible that the peaceful protests, including in the universities, had a significant impact on President Biden's decision. If so, it shows how powerful peaceful protests are against unrestrained violence!

.

.

Léirmheas Leabhair- Madame Lazare!

Book Review - Madame Lazare!

by | 2024/05/08 | Reviews, Literature

Book Review - Madame Lazare!

Some time ago, when I read that the book 'Madame Lazare' won the European Union literature prize in 2022, as well as an award for 'Irish Book of the Year' at the 'An Post Irish Book Awards' in 2021, it amazed me and awakened my interest in reading it. After that, I read a few reviews. The more I read, the more my interest grew regarding this book and its author Tadhg Ó Dhonnagáin. But would the book be as good as it was said to be?

The author

It would be appropriate to write a few words about the author himself, Tadhg Ó Dhonnagáin. Although this is his first novel, this is not his first 'rodeo' as they say in the United States. He was a teacher from 1982 -1987 at Gaelscoil Uí Dálaigh in Léim an Brádáin. He got a part-time job with RTÉ from 1984-1987 as a presenter on the children's show called 'Dilín Ó Deamhas'. He retired from teaching in 1987 and got a full-time job with RTÉ as a presenter on the show 'Cúrsáí' and then in 1995 on the show 'Cúrsáí Eálae'. Also, he was moonlighting as a Celtic rock star, and released two albums: 'Solas Gorm' in 1983, and 'Raftiríir San Underground' in 1993.

Tadhg and his family moved to An Spidéal in 2000, and he started working on various projects - including a presenter for TG4. He released a book and CD called 'Gugalaí Gug: Traditional Rhymes in Irish' in 2006. When he was working on Gugalaí Gug, it occurred to Tadhg that he would be able to start his own company (Futa Fata) to publish Irish books for children. He attended the 'Bologna Book Fair' in 2006, and was encouraged to translate books into Irish, and his company did so, publishing books such as 'Frog sa Spéir', 'Eileanór an Elifint Éagsúil', 'Mac Tíre na Draíochta', 'Neilín and the Cat', 'Béiríní ag Troid' and the series 'Cathal'. Futa Fata is also very strong on picture books. A few of them achieved places on the shortlist for the KPMG Children's Books Ireland Award: 'Míp', a picture book written by Máire Zepf and illustrated by Paddy Donnelly, and 'Scúnc agus Smúirín', a picture book about a skunk and his toy written illustrated by Muireann Ní Cíobháin and illustrated by Paddy Donnelly. In 2021, Tadhg started a new brand – Barzaz, to publish novels for adults. The first books he published under the brand were 'Khalil' written by Yasminda Khadra and translated into Irish by Máirín Nic Con Iomaire, and 'Madame Lazare'. Undoubtedly, Tadhg Mac Donnagáin is a polymath, with an excellent and long CV. In my opinion, he excelled with 'Madame Lazare'. Tadhg has also written other books, and a couple of them - 'Bliain na nAmhrán' and 'Mise Raftearaí an Fiodóir Focal' won awards. However, we will now turn our attention to 'Madame Lazare'.

Madame Lazare – plot

According to the author himself, his father's mother had a neighbor in the 1920s who only ever spoke English to everyone. As he grew older, he began to speak Irish. No one knew that he had a word of Irish, but he had excellent Irish, because he was brought up with Irish. That was the seed of the book, and Tadhg created his story based on that.

In the story, we follow Hana Lazare through the last days of her life – Madame Lazare of the title. She fled Estonia when the Nazis were persecuting the Jews. She ended up in Paris, and started a new life for herself and her daughter there. Like many Jews, she never spoke about her life in her motherland, before the Nazi attack. But things are not as they seem, and bit by bit, little things leak that open up questions that cast doubt on the story of her life before reaching Paris.

As Hana gets older, it becomes clear that she is competent in a language other than French or Estonian. This confuses her granddaughter, Levana. The young woman goes on a language journey, trying to find out what the language is, what her mother is saying, and what the truth is about her grandmother's life. It is detective work, and we follow that work from Paris to Brussels and even to the west of the Ireland, to discover the truth, and to reveal the secret of the old woman. There are many twists and turns in this thriller that would keep you on edge, and you would not be satisfied until you had read the last word.

Recommendations

I have only one suggestion for you – read this book. All the elements of this novel come together beautifully, and it constantly keeps us in suspense. It is not difficult to understand the Irish in the book, and at the same time the writing style is wonderful. This book is as good as any English book I have ever read, without a doubt. Tadhg also has a special skill with metaphors, and the similarities between the story of Hana Lazare and the story of Ireland are obvious, and especially the story of our own culture and language. They have been suppressed for a long time, but you also see signs of recovery from time to time. It is important for us to always keep our hope, regarding our culture and our language. So, there is depth in this book, and food for thought for all of us. 'Madame Lazare' is a serious work of art that I would recommend to you without hesitation.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

en_USEnglish
en_USEnglish gaGaeilge