An 5 rud a tharlaíonn nuair a labhraíonn tú Gaeilge in Éirinn….
Labhair Gaeilge os ard i dteach tabhairne éigin sráid éigin san Ardchathair agus fan cupla nóiméad. Gan mhoill, beidh plé ar siúil leat, le nó gan cuireadh, faoin gcaoi a múineadh an teanga don té nach labharann a thuile é.
“Tá níos mó Fraincis agam ná Gaeilge”.
“Ok”.
“Ní múintear i gceart í”.
“Yeah, tuigim”.
“Níl a fhios agam cén fáth a mbíonn páistí ag foghlaim dánta de ghlan mheabhair.”
“Yeah, mise ach oiread, an féidir liom dul ar ais chuig mo phiúnt anois?”
Dár ndóigh, níl seans ar bith go bhfuil an fhadhb sa chaoi a fhoghlaimítear í?
Chomh luath agus go bhfaigheann daoine áirithe amach go bhfuil Gaeilge agat, tagann na sochtheangeolaithe amach as an vardrús.
“An bhfuil a fhios agat nach bhfuil aon fhocail sa Ghaeilge i gcomhair ‘Yes’ nó ‘No’?”.
“Eh, Tá.”
“Ní fhuaimníonn tú aon rud mar a litrítear é sa Ghaeilge. Tá sí chomh casta.”
Caithfidh go bhfuil sin garbh agus deacair, áfach, amach is amach.
Ní chóir go mbeadh an Ghaeilge á maoiniú ag an rialtas, a chloiseann tú arís agus arís eile, go háirithe ó dhaoine nach bhfuil a fhios acu cé mhéad airgid a chaitheann an rialtas ar an dteanga. Cinnte, níl sé ceart go mbeadh an Stáit ag caomhnú cearta teanga! Cad é an chéad rud eile a chaithfeadh siad airgead air? Cearta daonna? Cearta dlí? Coimriú Sóisialta?
Ráiméis!
Seo an cheann is fearr liom féin, nuair a deirtear leat go bhfuil tuismitheoirí ag seoladh a bpáistí go gaelscoileanna chun páistí eachtrannacha a sheachaint. Cinedheighilt chultúrtha atá i gceist, dar le roinnt ‘tuistí anaithnid’ a scríobhann do na forlíontaí oideachais. An bhfuil mise i m’aonar ag ceapadh go bhfuil bealaí níos éascaí bheith ciníoch, má’s sin atá uait, ná teanga iomlán nua a fhoghlaim nó a mhúineadh do do pháistí?
In ainneoin na rudaí eile a tharlaíonn duit nuair a labhraíonn tú Gaeilge in Éirinn, tá pobal na Gaeilge fós ag gluaiseacht. Tá idir choimeadaigh agus liobrálaigh, idir dhaoine LADT agus an chléir, idir shean agus óg ag labhairt na teanga. Bíonn sí mar nasc teibí ag ceangailt daoine leis na mílte meon éagsúla i leith gach ní ar domhan. Foghlaim an Ghaeilge agus osclaíonn tú doras chuig cláracha raidió agus teilifís éagsúla, litríocht ársa agus stuama, ceol, drámaíocht agus na céadta gnéithe eile de theanga. Níl aon chainteoirí aonteangacha Gaeilge feasta, agus is é an saol dátheangach an saol a chaitheann siad. Saol saibhir, saol lán le spórt agus spraoi atá ann, agus nach breá sin?
Craoltóir agus iriseoir é Peadar Ó Caomhánaigh ó Bhaile Átha Cliath. Bíonn sé le clos ar Fios Feasa ar Raidió na Life gach Luan ag 8pm.
And as bearla…
Speak Irish out loud in any pub, on any street in the nation’s capital and wait a few minutes.
Soon, with or without your express invitation, you’ll be involved in a one-sided debate on the way Irish is taught with someone who doesn’t speak any.
“I speak more French than Irish.”
“Ok.”
“It’s not taught properly.”
“Yeah, I get you.”
“I don’t know why kids are forced to learn poems off by heart.”
“Yeah, me neither. Can I get back to my pint now?”
Of course, there’s no way the problem lies in they way Irish is learned.
As soon as you’re outed as an Irish speaker, the closet sociolinguists come out in their droves.
“Did you know there’s no word for ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ in Irish?”.
“Eh, I did.”
“Nothing is pronounced the way it’s written. Irish is so hard.”
Yes, that must be rough and tough, though, through and through.
You hear it time and time again, the government should not be funding the Irish language.
You hear it mostly from people who have no idea how much money is actually being spent on the Irish language. Of course the State shouldn’t be supporting language rights! What next? Human rights? Legal rights? Social Protection? Nonsense!
I have to admit, this is my personal favourite; when you hear that parents are sending their children to gaelscoileanna to avoid having non-national classmates. It’s a form of cultural apartheid, according to ‘anonymous parents’ who write for the education supplements. Am I alone in thinking there are far easier ways than learning a new language or teaching one to your children to be racist, if that’s what you’re into?
Despite everything negative that happens when you speak Irish in Ireland, the Irish language community is still flourishing. It’s a community of conservatives and liberals, LGBT people and clergy, old and young all speaking the one language. Irish is an abstract connection between people with thousands of different viewpoints about every subject under the sun.
Learn Irish and you open a a world of new and different TV and radio shows, ancient and stimulating literature, music, drama and hundreds of other aspects of the language.
Monoglot Irish speakers are a thing of the past, and today’s Irish speakers live a bilingual life: a rich life, full of fun, and isn’t that a good thing?
Peadar Ó Caomhánaigh is a broadcaster and journalist from Dublin. He can be heard on magazine show Fios Feasa on Raidió na Life every Monday at 8pm.
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