I was in the Castle gardens the other day; stretched out completely from head to tail, relaxed and peacefully drinking in golden sun, when I heard the sharp, ear-splitting whistle, a whistle that woke me up from my sleep suddenly! But I realized in an instant who was to me, as who else but my old friend, Séimí an Droichid, would do the likes inside the heavenly gardens of the Castle. I welcomed him, and made a place for him beside me on the garden bench.

“Sit there beside me on this bench” I said to him, politely.

“Thank you very much,” he said, “and isn’t this a wonderful place you chose to meditate?”

“You said it my friend, but do you have any news on this blessed day?”

“I only have the story that is on the lips of every Irish speaker these days.”

“And what is his story?” I said, trying to provide a story telling opportunity to mad Séimí, as it seemed to me that he had some story to tell.

The Language Question

“You have probably noticed that a series of meetings of the Irish Joint Committee on the exemptions system is currently taking place?” said Séimí.

“I didn’t! Is there a big problem with our current system of exemptions, Séimí?” I wanted to develop an understanding on this topic.

“A very big problem, and if things continue like this, we won’t have a living language before long. There have been those unsupportive of the status of our language for a long time. There was a movement against the Irish language called “Language Freedom Movement” in the nineteen sixties, for example. The result of their campaign was the abolition of the requirement for civil servants to speak Irish since 1974. As a result, there were only 16 employees to deal with the Irish-speaking community in 2018 – a disgrace!”

“But,” I said, “the main goal of the Languages ​​Act 2021 is for 20% of new public service recruits to be competent in Irish before the end of 2030. Isn’t that a good thing?” I asked Séimí this question, seeking an antidote to his negative attitude towards the language.

Three steps back…

“Three steps back, and then only one step forward!” answered Séimí. “And these exemptions are just another step backwards. Initially, these exemptions were for exceptional cases – for pupils with special needs. But after a while, those rules were relaxed, and now quite a few parents are taking advantage of the flexibility of the rules, in order to get an exemption for their children – children who would not have a problem learning Irish, because more than half of them are learning other languages ​​without any question of exemption.”

“But maybe with the right management a scheme like this would work, wouldn’t it?” I said, asking Séimí the probing question.

“Whatever the Department of Education is doing, the scheme is not working well at all. And I’m not alone in that thought. Declan Glynn, assistant general secretary of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI), said that the system currently in place is “flawed and unsatisfactory”, and that it is now so easy to get an exemption that anyone would be forgiven for thinking it was mainly an automatic process.

Other representatives attending the meetings agreed with the opinion that there should be a curriculum for all students at whatever level of ability they are at and questioned the right to use ‘stress’ or ‘specific language learning disability’ as an excuse to demand an exemption. They are right, in my opinion, Michael, and this problem needs to be solved soon.”

“Well, Sam, I have to agree with you, because it’s clear you’ve done your homework well on the subject, and I didn’t have my eyes on that ball at all. Thanks for being patient with me, and I hope our government will do the right thing and put much stricter rules in place!”

“Me too! Nice to meet you in this wonderful place, Michael, as we discuss important matters together in Irish!

With that, Séimí left without delay, and I was left to my own devices with a new topic to with important matters for my consideration!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.