Tuesday 1 September 2009

C de Búrca


…de la Irish Independent:

When I see articles in the press running down the Irish language, I tend to ignore them. However, Declan Lynch's piece (Sunday Independent, August 23, 2009), is somewhat of an exception, as I believe he has put his finger on a sore point. How is it that so many reach the end of their schooldays virtually incapable of using the Irish language in any meaningful way?

I went through the Irish school system, and like so many of my classmates, in my primary school days I learned to say "I hate Irish" (and "I hate school", too). That attitude diminished and finally disappeared as I headed towards adulthood, and it is now the language I speak to my children, as well as many of my friends and my work colleagues. There are people like myself up and down the country, while a great many more are ensuring that their children come out of school with a satisfactory grasp of Irish, generally by sending them to a Gaelscoil or through attendance at a good colaiste samhraidh...

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