Ya d’ar Brezhoneg

…de La Télégramme:

Cette normalisation de l’écriture est faite dans la perspective de la prochaine adhésion à la charte de l’Office de la langue bretonne « Ya d’ar brezhoneg ». Elle sera signée par le P-DG de Radio-France, à la rentrée. Du coup, la signature RDS, lisible sur les postes de radio, a déjà changé. Il est vrai que Bleu-Bzh est plus seyant que l’ancien Bleu-Bre.

La grille d’été de la station illustre la mission de service public de la radio. « Dans le contexte actuel, il est important de rendre compte de notre travail, financé à 100 % par le contribuable », souligne Emmanuel Yvon. Bleu Breizh Izel va s’engager fortement sur neuf événements festifs. Une équipe d’une vingtaine de personnes va s’installer durablement sur Brest pour suivre le départ du Tour de France, puis enchaîner sur Brest 2008.

Abair.ie

...de Foinse:

Tá sé dhá scór bliain i mbliana ó chum Stanley Kubrick an ríomhaire cainteach ‘HAL’ sa scannán 2001: A Space Odyssey is tá leagan Gaeilge de le fáil anois - cineál. Ní féidir le Cabóigín I, ríomhaire cainteach Abair.ie, beola a léamh fós ach cuir téacs Ghaeilge ar fáil dó is tosaíonn an chlabaireacht.

Tionscadal de chuid Choláiste na Tríonóide atá in Abair.ie atá maoinithe ag Foras na Gaeilge. Oibríonn an suíomh, a bhfuil leagan trialach di ar-líne anois, mórán mar an gcéanna le leithéidí focal.ie nó aon cheann de na suíomhanna cuardaigh.

Cuir focal isteach ann is tiocfaidh freagra ar ais. An t-aon difríocht atá leis an suíomh seo ná go n-aistríonn sé pé téacs Gaeilge a chuirtear isteach ann go comhad fuaime mp3.

Baineann dúshlán ar leith lena leithéid d’áis a fhorbairt don Ghaeilge a deir stiúrthóirí an tsuímh mar caitear nach mór ’chuile shórt a dhéanamh as an nua. Tá neart áiseanna den chineál seo forbartha don Bhéarla ach is é seo an chéad uair gur forbraíodh ceann don Ghaeilge

Irlandlingvaj Signoj

...de la Herald:

This issue may not be the sexiest in the country but currently the potential radical growth of the Irish language is under threat.

On most of our road signs, Irish holds a smaller, inferior position. Under the Official Languages Act (2003) it was envisaged that in the future both Irish and English would command the same prominence.

The inferior position that Irish commands on our road signs sends out the message that the Government is not serious about the language. Bluntly, the current position that Irish commands on most of our road signs smacks of tokenism.

This is an issue that I hope will focus the minds of Irish speakers and lovers of the language.
All that is needed is for the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey -- himself an Irish speaker -- to change the current road signage guidlelines in his department.

Gearóid Mac Adam

...de Sinn Féin:

...An Acht na Gaeilge is not an optional extra.

These are part of an agreement made between all of the parties and the two governments.

Sinn Féin has recently entered into a negotiation with the DUP and the two governments. We do not envisage this being a long process.

The outstanding issues from St. Andrews including the Irish Language Act can be sorted out if there is the necessary political leadership and resolve. But let me be very clear.

The rights and entitlements of citizens cannot and will not be subject to the whims of the most right wing or reactionary elements within political unionism. We will simply not allow it...

Nord-Irlando

…de The Economist:

Another quarrel has to do with the Irish language: Sinn Fein want to give it official status; the Unionists demur. And handing control of policing to the power-sharing executive is also thorny.

Mr Robinson’s early appointments may steady his party after the discombobulation it felt at the sight of Mr Paisley laughing and joking with the former arch-enemy. They may also make it harder for him to rub along with his nationalist partners in government.

Gregory Campbell, a Westminster MP, is now Stormont’s minister for culture, arts and leisure—putting him in charge of the Irish language (and Ulster Scots) and grants to Protestant marching groups. He has in the past attacked equality and anti-discrimination legislation, the purpose of which, he insists, is to disadvantage Protestants. Sammy Wilson, another Westminster MP, is minister for the environment. Popular within his own party for dubbing Irish “leprechaun language”, he marked his appointment by questioning the link between carbon-dioxide emissions and climate change.

Ysgol Eifionydd

…de la Daily Post:

A teacher who has inspired the next generation of Welsh speakers yesterday spoke of the secret behind her success.

Carys Lake set up the only school of its kind for teaching Welsh to English speakers in Porthmadog and was yesterday named Wales’s best at encouraging the language. She revealed the key to encouraging children to have a passion for the language was a combination of “hands on” rap, singing and role play, to immerse children in Welsh.

Carys helped to found a centre at Ysgol Eifionydd, which teaches children aged 11-14 who have moved to Gwynedd. Canolfan Iaith Uwchradd Gwynedd is the only school of its kind in Wales.

Lingvoj de Francio

…de la Guardian:

For years France's regional languages were seen by Paris as a taboo that threatened national unity and should be repressed - children were punished for speaking Breton in the playground, banned from speaking Occitan in southern schools or Alsatian dialect in the east. But now, just as the French parliament has taken a historic step to recognise minority languages in the constitution, a new war of words has broken out.

L'Académie française, the institution that defends the purity of French, yesterday issued a furious warning that recognising regional languages in the constitution would be "an attack on French national identity". In turn, local language militants criticised the academy as a ridiculous relic of outdated nationalism.

The row has highlighted how far France differs from other European countries in the defence of minority tongues. Unlike the UK, which has acted to protect languages such as Welsh and Scottish Gaelic, France is one of the few European states which refuses to ratify the European charter for minority languages and give legal status to its various language groups.

France boasts 75 regional languages, including those spoken in far-flung territories from the Indian Ocean to South America. Regional languages such as Alsatian, Occitan, Corse, Breton and Basque, and even smaller ones such as Béarnaise and Picard, have increasingly powerful and well-organised lobby groups…

Gordon Brown kaj la Irlandalingvo

...de la Irish Times:

British prime minister Gordon Brown has pledged £6 million (€7.6 million) to secure the future of Irish language broadcasting in Northern Ireland.

Sinn Féin said Mr Brown confirmed he would provide support for the threatened Irish Language Broadcast Fund during a meeting with Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness at Stormont yesterday.

The future of the project, which was created out of the Belfast Agreement, had been unclear after a failure to secure substantial funding beyond 2009.

Foras na Gaeilge chief executive Ferdie Mac an Fhailigh welcomed the pledge of funding, which he said “would help to support television production companies to produce top class programming in Irish in Northern Ireland.”

A total of £12 million has already been pumped into the fund since 2005 with a target of achieving 75 additional hours of Irish language programmes on screens per year….

Kornvalaj Libroj

...de la BBC:

A series of Cornish language storybooks for children commissioned by MAGA, the Cornish Language Partnership, have been launched in Cornwall.

The picture books, written by Cornish author Will Coleman, are based in the fictional village of Porth.

Through a Bookstart partnership every Year 3 child in the county will receive one free copy of one of the six titles. MAGA will also be organising training for teachers wishing to learn more about using the materials in class.

"These stories and their accompanying DVD have been piloted at both Lanlivery and Marlborough Primary Schools with great success," said Jenefer Lowe, development manager for the Cornish Language Partnership.

Irlandalingvo kaj la Referendumo

...de la Irish Independent:

The Government's entire marketing campaign for the doomed 'Yes' campaign is facing a grim post-mortem after bitter recriminations from TDs.

One deputy criticised the official FF slogan of 'Good For Ireland, Good For Europe' as "infantile", and said it justified the criticism that the party was not putting forward specific reasons to vote for Europe.

He also tore into the decision to print large numbers of Fianna Fail posters in Irish, but declined to be identified.

"I believe the Taoiseach wanted posters in Irish, but we had too many of them. If you are going to bother to communicate, you better do it in a language everyone can understand."

He said the Irish-language posters began with the words "Leas na hEorpa", which meant nothing to anybody.

"Nobody looking at them from the top of a bus would take anything from it."

But Dublin South Central TD Michael Mulcahy said: "There is nothing wrong with Irish. A lot of people love Irish. If we didn't have them in Irish, we would be criticised. We just didn't have as many posters as the 'No' side, and our posters weren't as good as theirs. That's obvious."

Skotgaela Radio

...de The Herald:

Gaelic broadcasters seem to lack the inhibitions of their English language counterparts. While the rest of BBC Scotland is mired in apathy and despair over endless financial cuts, the Gaelic crowd is full of confidence. The big broadcasting event of the year in Scotland is the launch this summer of a Gaelic television channel for which BBC Scotland is training legions of young Gaelic broadcasters.

This is great for the language, but I can't help feeling there is a bit of a cultural deficit opening up with those of us unfortunate enough not to speak it. The proposal to perhaps put some English language programmes on the Gaelic TV channel doesn't quite fill it.

Now, can I say again - because feelings are very raw here - that I am not posing this as a Gaelic versus English-language issue. The problem is the weakness of the mainstream service rather than the influence of the Gaelic lobby. All power to it. Gaelic has flourished because it has essentially been devolved and is governed by the Gaelic Media Service which has its own independent funding and a remit to promote the language.

In the wake of the King Report, which confirmed what we all knew - namely that Scotland is not being served by the BBC - BBC Scotland's constitutional status also needs to be addressed.

La DUP kaj Irlandalingvo

…de la Sunday Business Post:

And perhaps most revealing of all is the DUP opposition to the Irish Language Bill.

It is a measure of the DUP’s 17th century mentality that they should continue to oppose the growing Gaelscoil movement in the North.

For some sad reason, the Irish language has always been anathema to them.

Until recently, the Paisley/McGuinness political roadshow dominated the headlines. The fact that power-sharing was increasingly looking like it had no clothes was obscured. Now Robinson is in charge and DUP politicians are looking over their shoulders at their former MEP Jim Allister, who is taking the familiar political road rightwards in opposition to power-sharing with Sinn Féin.

With the DUP now boosted by the remarkable result in the Commons vote last week, London and Dublin may be thinking that the summer holidays at Stormont can’t come quickly enough.

Irlandalingvo kaj la MTA?

…de la Ceithearna Coille, Novjorka Branĉo:

…Borough President Marty Markowitz asked me to respond to your email of June 2, 2008 regarding the inclusion of the Gaelic and/or Irish language on MTA travel advisory posters released in conjunction with the Great Irish Fair scheduled for Coney Island this September.

I have attached a copy of the borough president’s letter to Elliot G. Sander, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the MTA regarding this matter. When he receives a reply from Mr. Sander, I will contact you again…

Anti-Gaelismo?

…de la BBC:

The chairman of Irish broadcaster TG4, has accused senior NI civil servants of bias against the Irish language.

It emerged after the publication of transcripts of an Ofcom conference in Belfast last week.

"The issue is a bias against the language at very senior levels in both DCAL and the senior civil service," Peter Quinn said.

However, the permanent secretary of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure challenged him to produce evidence.

The row centres around £12m of funding for Irish language broadcasting granted by the British government under the Good Friday Agreement of 1998...