Ireland is Certainly a Land Rich in Culture, But What About Its Soul?

The decline of the Irish language, or the death of it depending on your level of pessimism, is well documented. The debate on Irish’s status as a core second-level subject is ramping up and the idea of the language disappearing altogether continues to become more feasible. Is Gaeilge worth saving or is campaigning for the language just the delaying of the inevitable?

The core reason for our abandonment of the native tongue in favour of being a country of people speaking English is somewhat murky. Some historians argue that the nineteenth century Irish turned to English for a particular purpose, such as emigration to English-speaking countries or the potential to move up the social ladder. Others blame British occupation of Ireland for essentially making fluency of English.

Our history is important. The origins of modern Ireland and our centuries of struggle are of vital importance. They shouldn’t be and never will be forgotten. But they can somewhat distract from the task at hand as it relates to our language. How do we proceed? What does the maintenance of Irish in the education system do to benefit our youth? Is it all just something of a waste of time?

Opinions are somewhat divided. Some want to see the subject’s core status revoked, believing a language we no longer speak bears too much weight over student’s academic future. Others would see it removed from the curriculum altogether. I believe the solution falls somewhere in between.

The survival of Irish is imperative. The phrase ‘tír gan teanga, tír gan anam’ (a land without a language is a land without a soul, for you non-Irish speaking folk) has been repeated to the point of cliché and is more of a stock sentence for Irish oral exams than it is a call to action these days. The meaning at the heart of it remains, though. Irish is something we can all share in, something that makes our island truly unique.

Irish should not have core status in its current nature. The idea that someone who is otherwise a remarkable academic achiever could be unable to attend university because they couldn’t attain a good Irish grade is ridiculous. This is not to say that the subject should be cast aside entirely though.

It should still be mandatory to learn the language, at the very least up to and including junior cycle. It would be a similar model to schools that teach Junior Cert religion but not as an exam subject. The survival of Irish is preserved in this instance while removing the academic nuisance it provides.

This solution would perhaps quell some of the negative views on the Irish language. It’s often seen as a chore, a subject that carries dire consequences should one fail it in their Leaving Cert. By taking the pressure off, focusing on being able to use Irish in the real world and encouraging a positive attitude towards the language, we can try to reinvigorate people’s love for it.

The bottom line is that the current educational set-up for Irish isn’t sustainable and some change has to be introduced that both serves the best interests of students and ensures that our native tongue is not allowed to die out.