Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LABOUR PARTY LEADER Eamon Gilmore has agreed “in principle” to Micheál Martin’s proposals for a series of election debates.
After being elected the eighth leader of Fianna Fáil this afternoon, Micheál Martin said he had written to Gilmore and Enda Kenny suggesting they have two debates: one at the start of the election campaign and one at the end.
Gilmore has written to Martin, congratulating him on his new position and agreeing “in principle with the broad outline” Martin had proposed for the debates.
Gilmore said he had been calling for agreement on such debates for “almost a year” and said it was “now urgent that the three parties enter into discussions with each other and with broadcasters to finalise logistical” issues to facilitate the debates.
The Fine Gael press office told TheJournal.ie it had not received any correspondence from Micheál Martin, and would respond if and when that correspondence was received. It would not discuss Enda Kenny’s position on a leadership debate.
TV3 said earlier this week that it already had the blessing of all the political parties to hold a leadership debate. Sky News has also indicated its interest in airing a debate. In 2007, RTÉ hosted two debates on Prime Time ahead of the election.
Resources for normal day to day policing have been slashed. Surely the money that this initiative will cost could surely be better used to help provide a better day to day policing service?
Everyone here is missing the point completely. As someone who speaks Irish daily one of the main criticisms is that it’s a waste of money to have services in Irish because “nobody uses them”. Here is a simple example where someone who speaks Irish did try to use a state service- and what happened: he was arrested.
The whole point of this Is that it is no extra cost for a Garda ask someone “Cad is ainm duit?” It’s not a waste of resources or money. It’s a simple change of attitude. We have such a negative attitude towards the language it’s shocking. I know so many people in this country speak Irish as their first language with family, friends etc and are forced to switch back to English for daily tasks because of this attitude.
In my personal experience of using the language people from Poland as per example above (and all other countries) are so much more open to people using the Irish language with state services, they have experience of being multilingual. They get it that people have a right to speak their language. The only time I have ever had trouble using Irish is with Irish people because of our own attitude towards the language
That chap who was arrested was being a difficult pain in the arse as he was probably well aware that the Garda wouldn’t be able to converse in Irish while at the same time being perfectly fluent in English himself. He could easily have saved himself some grief but chose to make matters worse. Maybe if it wasn’t compulsory in school we wouldn’t feel so hostile as we could have learned something useful.
Why not teach them to speak Polish? It’s the second most used language in the state. We’d serve a greater number of people than focusing on Irish.
@Kevin, that’s a common but erroneous misconception. Check the census figures.
In response to the response that I know you’re going to make, i.e. “but I never hear Irish being spoken on the streets but I hear Polish all the time” — the reason you don’t hear Irish on the streets is because of the attitude of many Irish people towards the language and people who speak it, as is only too evident from the comments on this article.
Can’t we please just take the Irish language off life support now?
ni thuigim
Irish is a luxury we can’t afford.
Ni thuigeann moran faoi aon rud a Johnny!
Agreed! 700 plus made a complaint, there are 4 million living here approx; and the authorities feel the need to devise a plan to teach the Garda, to be able to converse in a language that evidently isnt used by the majority.
What a waste of time and money, again, no less.
It is part of our history and for a great many of us (more than you might think and growing. Yes, growing) it is part of our present. We shouldn’t be made to feel bad for speaking the native language of our country. We shouldn’t be resented for keeping alive a tradition of this Island; a unique feature of our heritage.
I understand the frustration on many people’s behalves, I do. I’m not saying that I think it’s despicable that the average Garda doesn’t have much Irish, I’d love if he/she did but I know that it’s not all that realistic. What does annoy me is the attitude on I’ve seen in the comments. The same Irish begrudgery we show to far too much. Take a big of pride in it.
Oppression and emigration were also parts of our history Fionn. Being a part of one’s history isn’t a raison d’être.
Stay classy Chris
If I get stopped for speeding any chance I could insist on communicating by interpretive dance only?
Ní aithnítear é mar teanga bunreachtúil, so …ah…no.
I am sick of this nonsense. While people should have the right to request services in Irish, if there is no person available to deal with their issue in Irish they should be obliged to conduct their business in English.
The person quoted above was apparently quite happy to complain about this in English, if he was being consistent he’d have refused to make a statement/complaint in English to the journalist or whoever got the quote also.
We are becoming a more mixed society. There are many people who live here, have the right to work here, and have not ever learned Irish, and they are entitled to be civil servants, guards, whatever without the barrier of knowing Irish being put in their way. There are also large numbers of Irish children exempted from Irish in school, due to dyslexia or other learning difficulties. They should not be excluded either.
Yes, the facility should be available where practicable, but it should not, not, not be the right of anyone to refuse to interact in a language they understand and can speak just to make a point.
Yes because knowledge of your native tongue is such a menace to society.
@Katie Does Where in the report does it state that the complaint was made in English? The quoted part could be a translation by the commissioners office. The commissioner was the one interviewed by RTÉ news. I’d assume it’d be illegal for the commissioner to give out the name of a complainant in the news.
Your comments are wrong on so many levels.
@leonard Knowledge of your native tongue is a great thing. But the reality is that not everyone who lives and works here is a native, and not all natives have a knowledge of the language. Lack of knowledge of Irish is no menace to society either.
@Bubba I may not have been clear – the person who complained spoke to RTE News in English, and he was perfectly fluent in that language. He thus will have had no problem understanding what the guard in question was saying to him. He was not arrested because he spoke Irish. He was arrested because he did not cooperate with a guard when stopped.
@Katie do you have a link for the complainant talking to RTÉ news about being stopped. The link on this article is to two reports one a Telly report and the other a Radio report in both cases only an RTÉ employee is talking. You’re making things up to make a point or else you score lowly in English comprehension.
I was born and raised in Ireland. Irish isn’t my native tongue and I’m sure I’m not the only person who wouldn’t identify with the Irish language in any way. Please don’t assume that everyone does because it’s a baseless assumption.
@katie “I am sick of this nonsense.”
Nice to see you empathising with your fellow countrymen there. The more hatred and disgust I see hurled at Gaeilge, the more I cling onto it for dear life.
Your attitude is laughable.
A competency in Irish in the delivery of public services is desirable, but should never be considered essential, that’s just nonsense
Amadáníocht don chead scothar siúl ag na daoine seo. Tá mo thacaíocht iomlan ag an tenaga ach ní mór dúinn mar gaeilgeoirí tuiscint nach bhfuil Gaeilge labharthá go hiontach ag na serbhísí poíbli a thuile agus ní fíu duinn fadhbanna a cruthú nach bhfuil ann fad is a bhfuil an tír i deachrachtí airgeadais. Ar eagla go gcrutheoidh muid fuath don teanga amach anseo.
(Foolishness of the first degree. The Irish language has my full support but as speakers we must understand that Irish is no longer universally spoken in the public services and there is no point in us creating problems where non exist while the country is in poor financial shape. For fear that we engender a universal hatred of the language in future)
Is é do cheart do cheart-sa.
Cén chaoi nach dtuigeann sibh nár chruthaigh mo dhuine fadhb ar bith? Más rud é go bhfuil sé mar ceart aige a ghnó a dhéanamh leis na péas trí Ghaeilge, níl an locht ar mo dhuine. Tá an fhadhb cruthaithe idir an garda ar dhiúltaigh mo dhuine a cheart agus an Garda Síochána mar eagraíocht.
Arís eile a deirim: is é do cheart do cheart-sa. Níor chuala mé ó éinne ar an bhforam seo atá in ann an fód a sheasamh i gcoinne an pointe sin. Más cóir an ceart a bhaint amach ó phobal na Gaeilge ionas nach mbeadh ‘fuath don teanga amach anseo’, sin topic eile.
Mura gcruthaíthear fadhbanna dóibh siúd nach bhfuil in ainm is ár gcearta teanga a gcomhlíonadh ní gcomhníonfar iad i riamh!
tá sé chomh simplí sin
Someone will get promoted yet out of those Irish flash cards. PC bulls**t. What a country.
If anyone is in any doubt as to the value of the Irish language spend a week in the Gaeltacht. Our language, music and history is what defines us. Why do anything other than strengthen our sense of our identity?
The persistence with this mandatory need for a conversational ability As Gaeilge for members of An Gárda Síochána is an absolute joke, and in a way has an almost xenophobic element to it.
Why; because we now have Members of An Gárda Síochána being recruited from the ‘polish community’ and the ‘aisan communiyt’ in Ireland. An absolute insistence on enforcing the required standard of conversation As Gaeilge would preclude such people from joining if we are honest . . . and that would be a real shame because they certainly have something to offer.
Having a simple day to day conversation as gaeilge is one thing, but to have an ability to discuss legal matters and technicalities is beyond all but the best ‘learned’ speakers and the native speakers in this country.
This has nothing to do with pride, heritage, nationalism etc . . .this should be about simple common sense.
They’re not being asked to have detailed legal discussions on the side of the road. They are taught Irish in Templemore and should be able to deal with Irish speakers in our chosen language on a basic level at least.
Ummmmm. I’m a foreign national. I’m learning Irish, and nearly all the people in my classes so far have been from all over the world. And those who have English as a second language pick up things the fastest, followed by those are able to speak another language leaving us monolinguist for dust (that’s just an observation from my own experience).
I understand you don’t want a language requirement to be a deterrent of attracting Gárda from different backgrounds, but I’m not sure any of the communities you mentioned are unable to learn Irish
@sally Is breá liom gur dhúirt tú é sin!
Aren’t there more people living in Ireland fluent in Polish than Irish? When are the Polish lessons starting lads?
“Aren’t there more people living in Ireland fluent in Polish than Irish?”
No
If I was the guard and that little smart arsed gurrier started that crap I’d hop off him.
Thanks for reinforcing my point James.
The Guards are employed to enforce the law, not their personal prejudices, something many of them seem unable to understand. Your asinine comments denigrate those officers who act professionally even when provoked.
Barry its plain as day you’ve a grudge against the gardai. Your bile and nonsense would be welcome on indymedia
@ Barry – The majority of Gardai do not command sufficient Irish to be able to handle the complex business of questioning and arresting someone “as gaeilge”. That is less a reflection upon them, than it is upon our education system which forces kids to learn Irish for 13 years and yet somehow, whether through failure of curriculum or of teaching methods, manages to have the majority emerge with little or no Irish. Compare that to continental kids who are generally reasonably competent in English before leaving primary school. On the other hand, you can be absolutely sure that the complainant had perfect English, probably more fluent than his Irish. If the Garda involved had gone to a gaelscoil or for some other reason had fluent Irish, it’s fair enough to invoke your right to conduct business through Irish. If he doesn’t, it’s still fair enough but just realise that you’re being unreasonable and it may inconvenience you just as much as you intended it to inconvenience them.
This has nothing to do with Irish.
It is Another case of uniformed bullyboys abusing their powers.
Hold on.
The person stopped insisted on speaking Irish and not English?
Why would they do this except to be an ass?
The world is a far different place than when we enshrined Irish into places it doesn’t need to be and is costing us all money to keep it there.
Comment of the week right there!
Amadán
@barry
Quite the opposite I would say. I believe it’s a case of an arrogant person caught for an offence who decides to use Irish as it suits them to make the situation awkward.
Barry. Do you not find it ironic that the complainant made his complaint in English and not Irish. I stand corrected, but I would wager this gentleman thought he was a smartass and his cunning plan to communicate with a Garda through Irish who probably was not proficient in our ” Native Tongue” backfired. Good enough for him!
A lady most well known does this all the time at sheel to sea protests but being irish speaking area plenty of guards to greet her.
Saying that last time any of us used irish was school. Whereas before id very brokenly hold my own, now id be just awful at it. Irish should not die but we really should not have it listed as high as the english we speak now.
@youdontknowme all languages are equal but some are more equal than others haha fair play to you Napoleon
@Jimmy I think you should go see a Doctor about the Stockholm syndrome you’ve got going there.
I’m confused Bubba, discuss!
This fcuking country is a joke! Why did he want to be engaged with through Irish in the first place? Sure it is his right but was it from a wish to have a pleasant interaction in our ‘native tongue’ or was it to be awkward and to try to prove some point by taking on ‘the man’. The fact that the govt are now going to spend money on teaching Gardai Irish because of some jumped up gaelgoir is beyond me. The country is having the life squeezed out of it by successions of self absorbed politicians devoid of any sense of reality and this sh1t is being entertained. Did he demand to be dealt with as gaelige on our national tv station?
He should have been done for wasting police time.
One can only assume that he didn’t speak a word of English, as explained in the article he was quite intimidated and I think it’s quite reasonable that nobody would willingly put themselves through that if they could just as easily speak English and sort everything out. That is unless of course this person saw themselves as a militant enforcer of some misguided cause!
Bingo^^
God Ted, you’re very naive! I doubt if there is any Irish person driving around who doesn’t speak English.
Reg I fear I may have just had a humour fail on that one! I’ll work on my sarcasm!
Imagine the hypocrisy of an Irish person living in Ireland, educated through the medium of Irish, who speaks Irish to their family, socialise through the medium of Irish, work through the medium of Irish – creating economic value, pays tax to the Irish Government is forced to communicate with the Irish State through the medium of English?
And people wonder what is gone wrong with the country?
“Mo chlann féin a dhíol a máthair”
Gardai not being able to communicate in irish is the least if our problems. Crappy equipment and falling numbers might take precedence
There’s an awful lot more wrong with the country than the fact we don’t speak Irish and I think if we did all speak our native tongue as our primary language we’d still be tripping over pigs in the kitchen. This man was not in the Gaeltacht he was in Dublin and he was more than happy to communicate everything else through English.
Like it or not the fact that we as Irish have English as our primary language is what has helped us to achieve our international successes in the past and is a major factor in external economic investment.
@Daithí About how many people do you think that would be? Realistically? And how many of those people are unable to understand and speak English?
Forget about resource issues / pay cuts/ low morale in the Gardai . This FG government want to concentrate on making sure Gardai can speak irish so that in the off chance that they are asked a question in Irish they will be able to answer it . Says it all really about FG and shatter .
What are you talking about?
The amount of anti-Irish bigotry being posted here is clearly a reflection of that post-colonial (or neo-colonial) illness of people who are ashamed of their own identity and want to inflict their ‘inferiority complex’ on everyone else! Yet every opinion poll carried out on this issue clearly shows that no less than 70% in Ireland (26 Counties) want the Irish language to be protected and revived, yet we live in a state that for 90 years refuses to abide by its own constitutional responsibilities to revive Irish as a spoken language in all public spheres.
TO ALL THE BIGOTS WHO WANT TO SEE THE DEATH OF GAEILGE:
If you want to be British, go live in Britain or go join your ‘fleg’ waving brethren in East Belfast!
Have you a URL for that poll? I am very surprised at so high a number tbh. Protected I can see, revived as our first language? Not seeing much support for that idea.
What gibberish are you spouting? Come down from your soap box before you fall and hurt yourself.
That poll asked if people thought others should learn it, very different if you ask should they have to learn it themselves.
Lol. .. are you drunk? So your argument is that people who choose not to want to speak irish are in fact British or want to be British? … we could extend on that theory For example if someone living in Canada does not speak french then they aren’t Canadian? And I’m sure there are many other examples. ….I don’t have to speak gaelic to be a proud irishmann…. nor do I have to listen to drivel and nonsense from the gaelic paratroopers to pay my taxes as an English speaking irishman to support gaelic speaking areas. .. by all means speak gaelic and enjoy it but don’t bully our countries majority who aren’t interested in gaelic
http://www.mayococo.ie/en/Services/OifignaGaeilge/Publications/PDFFile,15645,en.pdf (L. 124)
Preserve (52.5%) & Revive (40.9%): 93.4%
Discard: 6.6%
@ ieoinu – Standing up for your cultural heritage may well be gibberish to you, but for people with a basic self-respect for who they are, it is obligatory to challenge the kind of cultural racism from the likes of you. The fact that anti-Irish racism comes from an Irish person makes it no more acceptable! As for the soap box, perhaps you could squeeze in there so we can confine you to the dustbin of history!
@ Marc Anthony Power – How about you read my posting more carefully before you spout illinformed misquotes and other such drivel! In actual fact what Irish speakers are demanding are essentially their constitution rights of being able to use our language in all official capacities.
@ Seán Ó hAdhmail – Maith thú a Sheáin
@ Katie Does – Here’s your URL, honey! – http://www.mayococo.ie/en/Services/OifignaGaeilge/Publications/PDFFile,15645,en.pdf (L. 124)
You are right. Canadians are still proud Canadians even if they don’t speak french, but the majority of Canadians are not ashamed to be able to speak french in fact, in all provinces french is a bonus. In Quebec, where I live the language is protected. You can not get a job if you do not speak french and as a civil servant in the provincial level and federal level, you are required to speak french and english. Please do not put your nose into our business when you have no idea of what is going on or the real attitudes that are part of our society. You have many issues still to sort out in your language disputes. Tá Gaeilge agam. An bhfuil tú aon Gaeilge agat? mo náire thú! Vous n’avez aucune raison pour parler du Canada. S’il vous plait, cessez votre commentaires inoutiles. Cela n’en vaut pas la peine.
As a person who lives in a Gaeltacht where people speak Irish in their daily life. The local shops, hardware store, petrol stations, stationary shop, library and (yes) Garda Station (If it hasn’t been closed down!) and Court House etc all honour that. I expect that the state addresses me first in the language of the district and the people of the district.
Last year the Commissioner found that the Guards were breaking the law in an Irish speaking area by not providing personel competent in the language of the district.
The complaint described in this article occurred when a person took the words of the State and the Garda Siochána at face value and was arrested for his trouble even though, as the report stated, ‘witnesses and the Gardaí all agreed that the driver was polite to the extent of being “passive”.’
Not only was this against the law but it transgressed the rules of the Garda Siochána itself formulated as late as 2009:
“An Garda Síochána recognises the right of citizens to conduct their business in Irish and is committed to the full implementation of the Official Languages Act 2003.”
Finally for Jimmy, the complainant made his complaint in Irish and the trnslation was made be the Comisinéir Teanga, whose report is as again by law is in both Irish and English!
With all the problems facing the country this is what they choose to care about. Its an absolute joke!
A competency in Irish in the delivery of public services is desirable, but should never be considered essential, that’s just nonsense
Want a country that speaks English only?
Wonderful one across the way there lads! And Ryanair fly there so cheap… cén fáth nach ndéanann sibh deifir dul ann?
More silly, money wasting nonsense. … the country is in meltdown and some clowns are moaning about a language that is used by a Tiny minority of people…… get a grip. ..the vast majority of us speak English and more speak Polish, Chinese or other more global languages on a daily basis than gaelic
Some amount of westbrits posting on here! I have some advice for them: Go down to the passport office hand in that one with the harp on it and exchange it for one with a crown on it.
Náireach ach is ar éigin go dtiocfaidh aon feabhas uaidh. Níl aon caint faoi píonós ar na gardaí a bhris an dlí fiú
And when you applied for your passport which form did you use, English or Irish?
From the point of view of a foreigner who has never been to Ireland (this news has been also published in other countries), I think there are two main opinions in this thread:
Those who go for diversity (languages are richness and they should be preserved) and those who go for practicality (languages are barriers, what’s important is communication). Both points of view are totally valid and coherent.
However, what is not coherent is the attitude of the Irish government in this matter. You can’t demand Irish to be official in the EU and claim that all Irish citizens are equal and have the same rights and then have a police force who can’t speak one of your official languages. That is very ridiculous.
Some criticise the attitude of the complainant. Obviously he did it to show an incoherence in the system and how some citizens have the right to speak Irish to the public administration and others don’t. And he succeeded!
To those who criticise the money spent on Irish: if all schools in Ireland taught in Irish only (like it is done in Catalonia with Catalan, for instance), the government wouldn’t have to spend a SINGLE penny in translations or in campaigns for promoting the Irish language because everyone would be perfectly bilingual. Problem solved!
Some English-speaking people in Ireland should understand that the country is not made for them only, there are other citizens who don’t have English as their first language and they also have rights! If the State fails to provide services for them in their language, don’t blame the speakers!
To Catie Does, who said that Ireland is a mixed society with people who have come here and who don’t speak Irish: do you know that languages can actually be learned? You should try it!
Táimid in ann caint as gaeilge ach aon duine a tosnaíonn ag caint as gaeilge leis na gardaí agus níl siad ón gaeltacht, níl siad ag déanamh aon rud ach being a d**k
It is a complete waste of money and resources to even attempt to teach Irish to any member of the Garda or indeed any other government employee. Every person on the island of Ireland who speaks Irish can also speak english. It is quite clear that the young man who was arrested for speaking Irish was, more accurately, refusing to speak to the Garda in english. He was basically doing it to be a nuisance and undermine the Garda. Amend legislation to close this loophole… and it is a loophole. Other pieces of legislation have been contested and invalidated due to the fact that there is no Irish translation published. It’s nothing more than a silly technicality.
So irishness is based on your ability to speak irish? Who’s the bigot now. Times have changed.
So what if he could speak English, language rights are human rights.
I have no doubt every guard can ask “cad is ainm duit?” and “cá bhfuil tú i do chonaí?” but, as far as I’m aware, when a guard demands someone’s name and address, they’ve to have a power in law to do so and quoting that power in law as gaeilge mightn’t be so easy. In any event, I’m sure whatever Irish the guards used with that young fellow at the side of the road, he wouldn’t have been prepared to work with them unless they spoke to university standard. I suspect he was effectively asking to be arrested from the start so an article like this would be written about it at some point.
Ridiculous incident, and once again the government are even more ridiculous…
I know, why don’t we spend billions resurrecting the Irish language. That would really help our economy at the moment.
Billions? Actually the cost of the Irish language to the economy is negligible compared to the money it brings into the exchequer, emigrate if your that unhappy, we don’t want the likes of you.
What money does it bring exactly? Just out of interest.
Tá postanna ar fáil agus á gcruthú le Gaeilge le tionscadail ar nós TG4, Raidió na Gaeltachta, an mhúinteoireacht, an iriseoireacht, sa státseirbhíseacht, Údarás na Gaeltachta, obair riaracháin ar fud na tíre, na Coláistí Samhraidh a reachtálann cúrsaí ar fud na Gaeltachta gach bliain, scoileanna teagaisc srl
Mo náire sibh atá ag caitheamh anuas ar an nGaeilge, agus a rá gur cur amú airgid í. Is cúid lárnach agus luachmhar dár n-oidhreacht í. Murach an Ghaeilge agus an cultúr Gaelach, ní bheadh ionann ach Brits. Goilleann sé go mór orm nuair a fheicim daoine ag scríobh nó nuair a chloisim daoine a rá nár cheart go mbeadh seirbhísí poiblí ar fáil trí Ghaeilge. Tá cónaí orm i gCeanada faoi láthair, tír atá go hoifigiúil dátheangach: Béarla agus Fraincis. Dá ndéarfaí leis na Francaigh nár cheart go mbeadh seirbhísí ar fáil ina dteanga dúchais, nó sa teanga gur mian leo a ngnó a dhéanamh, bheadh raic ann. Ní ghlacfar leis. AR CHOR AR BITH. Tá an ceart ag an bhfear sin a stopadh ag na Gardaí; ba cheart go mbeadh sé in ann a rogha teanga a úsáid.
There are idiots out there who are content to deny the value of Irish because they feel threatened by it. Irish has become a symbol of cultural appreciation and of intelligence in recent years, and those who are ignorant to it are simply terrified by it. They should be ashamed of themselves, and think again when they call themselves Irish. As an Irish teacher, I am sick of this attitude. Tá mé braon de.
An té atá thuas óltar deoch air. An té atá thíos buailtear cos air.
That’s your interpretation of the Irish identity. It isn’t necessarily a universal one. None of us have any right to say what’s Irish and what isn’t. That’s a personal opinion and nothing more.
Move on with the times, Irish isn’t essential, English is! Regardless or pride/heritage/ancestry/rivalry etc. when it comes down to it its English that you need most.
Allegedly 1.7 million people speak Gaelic yet none of them are in the national police force. Enough said.
“Hurling is also an integral part of our culture, but we don’t force people to study it to Leaving Cert” – Colm Tobin.
Colm Tóibín; cultural quisling extrodinaire
All my support to the Irish that love and fight for their language E V E R Y D A Y!!!! While I lived in Baile Atha Cliath I’d always use the few sentences in Irish that I knew. Stor klem fra en Katalansk i Finnmark :-)
Some on here don’t seem to be able to accept any comment that differs from their own. How sad.
Nobody “gets arrested for speaking Irish”. The type of people that make these complaints are the type of people that would get arrested for being a smart arse! Yet another waste of money on yet another quango!
I’m from a Gaeltacht and very proud to be a fluent Irish-speaker however I’m astounded and ashamed of the Gaelgoirs posting here. Your aggressiveness and racism is only further putting people off the Irish language and confirming what they’ve said about the young lad using the Irish language to aggravate the situation. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, not everyone has to agree with it but at least be civil and constructive!
Do you mind that Frank2521 insinuated that you’re a ‘Sinn Féin/IRA terrorist’ because you speak Irish?
The basis issue here is that a man was arrested for exercising his right to speak Irish to the Gardaí, the Gardaí were literally treating him like a foreign national (their words) in his own country.
People on the thread go crazy because he wouldn’t speak English with one saying the Gardaí should have assaulted him. Is that not agressive?
ta se ag teach,immm
Sean Padraig you muppet.
Another comment with no factual basis whatsoever…
Irish is a total waste of money. How much does it cost for a teacher for every school, the translations, signage, paperwork, etc and for what? To me it is a language used by IRA/SF terrorists to deceive people. Yet our government insists on spending huge amounts of money which they borrow to pay for it. After finishing. School at 17 having had Irish classes for 10 years most people can’t speak more than 3 or 4 sentences. Not very clever. Put the money into better services and if people want Irish let them pay for it like any other luxury.
‘ To me it is a language used by IRA/SF terrorists ‘ – so anyone who speaks Irish is a terrorist? Pure and utter bigotry is what that is.
What an absolute muppet. Enda Kenny speaks fluent Irish, in fact every major political party leader in the Dáil does. You’ll soon be giving Willie Frazer a run for his money if you keep up your ‘Sinn Féin/IRA’ conspiracy theories.
have your say