Put Des Bishop in charge of the Irish language, his enthusiasm got me started!

They can have all the public bodies and quangos they want, or merge as they want, but nothing will change until we change the way Irish is taught in schools.

If we want to revive the Irish language we literally have to rip up the page and try something radical. No child learns a language through a book.

Lived in Spain for a few years and studied Spanish in a college where there was no English, nor any other language spoken, even for beginners. I learnt it the way a child does. Listening to native speakers speaking their mother tongue. Books shouldn’t be introduced until 4th or 5th class in National School.

Naturally children from An Gaeltacht could be treated differently but if we want to keep our language we have to do something new. And soon.

I’m sick and bloody tired of always having to fight for our language in our own country. I’m sick at the lack of respect people have for our community, bloody tired of the lot of it

If the only experience I had with Irish was in public discussion about it – talkshows and poltiical decisions and the like – I would be seriously gloomy about the language’s prospects. When I first moved down South I expected to find young people as negative and alienated from the language as the last generation seemingly was. I can’t speak for ten years ago, but what commentators and politicians seem to fail to realise is that Irish is actually pretty trendy right now. Young people carry a lot of the momentum of the ‘movement’, and though people still don’t speak good enough Irish when they leave school, in my experience they still feel positive about the language and are often confident enough to use what they have. Google and you’ll see some really clever and creative uses of the language – translating songs, several independent radio stations, a new social networking site dedicated to Irish and plenty of Irish spoken on Twitter too.
Not everyone likes the language, but in my anecdotal experience young people are far less negative than their elders (especially once they’re a bit older and no longer worried about orals). I have to assume that part of that is to do with improvements in how it is taught, but I don’t know. And I’m not only speaking about Gaelscoil or middle class kids either. What concerns me is that it is older people who are disconnected from the language who gripe about us spending money on it. Urban Irish is probably in a better position today than it has been for a long time but I fear that future of the language is in the hands of people who don’t appreciate its importance.

This issue about An Coimisinéir Teanga simply shows that government isn’t that interested in Irish speakers or their rights. Merging the role with that of the Ombudsman will save no money whatsoever and will only deprive the Irish speaking community of a valuable service.

But whatever decisions governments make – both in favour and against the Irish language movement – it is the actions of Irish speakers ourselves that will make the most significant difference.

Tá pobal na Gaeilge ag fás gach lá, ní mór dúinn an dul chun cinn seo a chinntiú trí theacht le chéile ar bhealach i bhfad níos gníomhaí – labhraimis ár dteanga sa teach, san obair, sa leaba, sa tsráid agus, níos tábhachtaí ná aon rud eile, lenár bpáistí. Cinnteoidh muid féin todhchaí na teanga.

Bíodh misneach againn.

Is probably going to cost more money than keeping it, however the commission helps enforce the official languages act which is something Fine Gael want to scale back, this is the real reason it’s being merged.

I didn’t study Irish in school so i don’t have the hatred some people seem to have. I agree wrh your man above, put Des Bishop in charge of Irish! Immersion is the only way, the teaching of it has changed and Peig is no longer a text and with an increased % on oral nowadays I believe kids wont grow up with the same disdain. However I think Irish should be split into a compulsory subject that is 80-90% spoken Irish and an optional Irish literature course. Lets get the childred speaking, i don’t care if they can’t read the Official Languages act, I care that they are able to have conversations outside the classroom and in the community, because that is the way to revive a language.

Ní ceist teanga í seo, ach ceist phost an choimisinéara. Ní bhfaigheadh an teanga bás gan an gCoimisinéir, ach cuideoidh an Coimisinéir lena fás agus lena forbairt. Mura n-aontaíonn sibh go gcuideoidh, bígí ag caint faoi sin seachas beatha na teanga. Tá an teanga slán, láidir go ceann glúine nó dhó eile.

The Minister himself said the move would probably cost money.

So what’s the real agenda?

Feic that!

Keep shuffling those deckchairs, lads, almost there.

Attempting to revive a language through the school system is a waste of time. I hope someday people will come to their senses about this. A language can only be revived by being spoken in the home and the community.

Merging all the quangos but still left with the same amount of staff left twiddling their thumbs

Could we sell the language, there must be some oil rich former soviet country that requires a new mother tongue.

Agus arís eile filleann comhra na mBéarlóirí ar Pheig bhocht! Ní dhearna an chuid is mó de dhaoine staidéar uirthi dála an scéil! Lig di fanacht as an gceann seo. Ceist an Choimisnéara atá anseo, agus cé gur lag atá Acht nadT is fearr sop measartha maith ná bheith gan scuab!

How come we teach kids French for years, and they leave school unable to have a proper conversation in French? We should scrap French. Its all the teachers’ fault.