The Irish language: céard é seo?

By Elaine Ni Canny

The Irish language is "no use". That was the one of the comments from some Leaving Certificate students in Galway this week. With fears growing that the Irish language is dying out, it is one of the major issues that needs to be taken into consideration when the Irish youth goes to vote this Friday. Thousands of young people think Irish is more a useless subject at school rather than a recognised working language by the EU.

Speaking with Paschal Mooney on the importance of maintaining interest and awareness of the language "we led a robust campaign in getting the EU to recognise the Irish language as a working language, as a senator myself I was involved in this campaign, even though there is limited time for debating purposes, I would urge MEPs from Ireland to use Irish more frequently. I am not a native speaker myself, my conversational Irish is basic, but as an MEP I would ensure that the Irish language, as a wider cultural dimension that Ireland brings to the EU is not only respected but protected".

Jessica Kenny, a Leaving Certificate student from Galway said "I enjoy Irish as a subject but to be honest, after I do my Irish paper one and two next week, I’m never going to use it again, I’ll have no need to, no one from my area speaks it, and after all English is really our primary language".

Celebrities like Hector, Des Bishop and the Seoige sisters have helped make Irish appear more ‘appealing’ or ‘ cool’ to an extent but do we need some more political heads to further this link with celebrity and Irish.

Joe Canny, also a Leaving Certificate student, said "the likes of Hector have made Irish seem cool, but they still haven’t made young people want to put any effort into using Irish as a working language, only for my mother is a native speaker, I would never have even bothered putting an effort into the language, I still find it one of the hardest subjects that I’m facing in the Leaving Cert, and I don’t think I’ll ever be in a situation where I’ll need to use it".

Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins was sure to put his Irish skills to use when he visited the Aran Islands on his canvassing trail. He encouraged his young canvassing team to use the Irish as their primary language in respect to Ireland and its Gaeltacht areas. So it appears that the Irish language needs some more attention in making young people want to use it and not just because they have to in school . The European elections take place on Friday 5 June.

Jim Higgins using his Irish skills canvassing in the Aran Islands