Tag Archives: Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla 2003 (Official Languages Act 2003)

Ag Troid Ar Ais

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So you think you live in an Ireland of equals? Think again. From Gaelport:

“My name is Niamh Ní Chadla and I am an ordinary girl, working and studying in Dublin, paying my taxes like everyone else. My passport had to be renewed  last week and I decided to make it into a small research project to see how the might of the public service would deal with me, an Irish speaker on a daily basis.

As a student of  Irish and, I chose to speak Irish for most of the day. I knew the Official Languages Act afforded some rights to Irish speakers and I knew that both the Gardaí and the Department of Foreign Affairs came within the scope of the Act.  So passports and forms should be available in both languages, and I was hopeful I would get customer service in Irish also.

But would a fluent Irish speaker from Tallaght in Dublin, be afforded the same rights as an English  speaker on an everyday basis?

Firstly I had to visit the Garda Station in Dundrum, Co Dublin and the objectives that I had were:

1. To get the Irish version of the passport application form
2. To get direction from the Garda as to how to fill the form out correctly
3. To get my form stamped and signed by a Garda

In Irish, of course.

When I walked into the Garda Station, I asked the Garda at the desk if he had any Irish, he said ‘not really’, so I asked him if there was anyone else who he could get for me because I wanted to do my business through Irish. He said that there wasn’t and reluctantly said ‘I’ll give it a bash then’.

The conversation wasn’t very successful with the Garda refusing to speak to me in Irish while I refused  to speak to the Garda in English. It was a disaster of a conversation but very amusing to everyone else who was listening and I only got more annoyed when I spotted that they didn’t have an Irish language version of the passport application form either.

Although the Garda understood most of what I was saying he was visibly frustrated and angry and decided to abandon dealing with me while I was filling out the form. A different Garda came to me, who understood less Irish than the first and eventually, I decided to leave my questions unanswered and just take the signature that I needed from him.

I too left the Garda station angry due to the hostility of the Garda and the lack of help I received. Not only did I find that the Gardaí were unwilling to speak Irish but they were angry that I knew English and chose not to use it.

Passport Office
My trip to the Passport Office however, was much more successful. I walked in and said to the young girl behind the counter that I wanted to do my business in Irish. She replied “Are you speaking’ Irish, yeah? Oh my God, fair play to you, hang on and I’ll go get someone now.”

I was waiting for maybe five minutes for the woman and when she came up to me, she was friendly, helpful and more than happy to go through the process in Irish. We managed to get through everything and she informed me that I needed two documents with my Irish name on them, that I have received within the last 2 years and then my Irish name will be printed on my passport.

I felt secure that I received the same high standard of service through Irish as I would have received through English but I was astounded when the woman told me that I was the second person in three years to ask for service through Irish.

I was utterly delighted that I could do my business in the Irish language. I  may have had to wait an extra few minutes for the service but I didn’t mind at all, and it was the experience and service that I wanted to receive while practising my rights.”

Even the smallest of gestures can take real courage. And every revolution has to begin somewhere.

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Shining A Light On Institutional Discrimination?

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Following on from the revelations of serious breaches by a significant number of public bodies in relation to their legal obligations under the Official Languages Act of 2003 (contained in the 2011 Report by An Coimisinéir Teanga), an Oireachtas committee is to bring a number of civil servants before it for questioning. While the deliberate obstruction of the state’s official policy of bilingualism (dating from 2006) by a large group of state employees came as no surprise the levels of illegality shocked many observers. Now the Oireachtas has finally been forced into action after a prolonged period of inactivity and indifference.

RTÉ reports that the committee has stated that:

“Representatives from An Garda Síochána, The HSE, the Depart of Social Protection and National Museum of Ireland will all be asked to appear.

They are also seeking to ask Minister for the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan to discuss with them the failure of his department to oversee the implementation of language schemes in Public bodies.

105 such schemes have been implemented by the Minister since the Language Act was enacted but 72 of these have since lapsed.

Only one new language scheme was confirmed by the Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in 2011.

The Irish Language Commissioner Seán Ó Cuirreáin told the joint committee today that he believes a recruitment policy which would discriminate positively with regard to Irish language speakers for a certain period would be a way of overcoming the difficulty the state system has in providing Irish language services and would also save money.

The Language Commissioner also told the Oireachtas committee that he had not been consulted beforehand or since the announcement was made that his office is to be merged with the Ombudsman’s office.”

In the interests of equality between Ireland’s Irish and English speaking citizens and communities let us hope that this is more than mere window-dressing. But I wouldn’t hold my breath if you’re waiting to see real and concrete action being taken against the culture of anglophone supremacism that permeates Ireland’s civil service.

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Institutional Discrimination In The Irish State – The Culture Of An “Anglophone Stormont”

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Céatadán na ngearán de réir cineáil (Percentage of complaints by type)

If you’ve been wondering just exactly why the Fine Gael – Labour coalition government seems so utterly determined to scrap the office of An Coimisinéir Teanga or the Language Commissioner, despite a torrent of criticism and opposition both at home and abroad, read on. Seán Ó Cuirreáin has released his 2011 Annual Report on the adherence to the regulations governing the Official Languages Act of 2003 by public and state-funded bodies throughout Ireland, and it has proved yet again to be an absolute indictment of continued institutional discrimination within the Irish state towards the nation’s Irish-speaking citizens and communities.

“The year 2011 was a busy and eventful one for the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga.

At the same time, my Office laid two special reports before the Houses of the Oireachtas with regard to cases where public bodies had breached their statutory language obligations but then failed to implement the commendations made to ensure compliance. The organizations involved – the Health Service Executive and the National Museum of Ireland – did not appeal to the High Court against the decisions reached in the relevant investigations, but they did not implement the recommendations made by the investigations. This was the first time since its establishment that my Office had to take such action.”

This relates to serious breaches of the Official Languages Act by two branches of the civil service, both of which astonishingly continue to flaunt the law despite being publicly named and shamed before Oireachtas Éireann. The absolute arrogance of elements of the Irish civil service in relation to their legal obligations when it comes to Irish is breathtaking.

Céatadán na ngearán de réir cineáil (Percentage of complaints by type)

“During the year, my Office dealt with 734 cases of difficulties or problems accessing state services through Irish – the largest number of complaints from the public to the Office since its establishment. This represented an increase of 5% on the number of cases in the previous year.

Particular significance attaches to an investigation which found that An Garda Síochána stationed a substantial number of members of the force, who did not speak Irish, in the heart of the Donegal Gaeltacht in breach of statutory obligations. Only one of the nine Gardaí stationed in the parish of Gaoth Dobhair spoke Irish. This occurred at a stage when the status of Irish as a community language in the Gaeltacht is more vulnerable than at any time in the past. The State can hardly expect the Irish language to survive as the language of choice of Gaeltacht communities if it continues to require people in such areas to carry out their business with the State through English.”

If one had any queries on the status of the Irish language in modern Ireland it’s place is made quite clear by the fact that in 2011 An Garda Síochána, our national police service, continued to provide non-Irish speaking Gardaí or police officers to serve in Irish speaking communities. One is left wondering if anything has changed since the days of the Royal Irish Constabulary, the former British colonial police force in Ireland?

“As a result of two other investigations it was found that the Department of Social Protection failed to correctly award bonus marks for competence in Irish and English in internal promotion competitions. The system, which is in operation since 1975, was set up as a replacement for ‘compulsory’ Irish, and it was designed to ensure that Irish-speaking staff would be available at all grades in the Civil Service. The Department of Social Protection did not appeal the decision of the investigation to the High Court, but neither did it implement the recommendations. That in itself is a matter of concern but the situation is made worse by the knowledge that the practice of failing to award bonus marks correctly is common throughout the Civil Service.

If bonus marks are not awarded for proficiency in the two official languages in internal promotion competitions at a time when little recruitment is taking place in the Public Service and at a time when the work of Gaeleagras, the Irish language training body for the Public Service has been all but terminated, it is very difficult to see how the quantity and quality of state services through Irish could be improved.”

Scéimeanna imithe in éag (Schemes expired)

Again, what is this but institutionalised discrimination and the determination of anglophone supremacists within our state services to remove Irish as a language of government?

“In 2011, my Office continued a programme of detailed audits of public bodies in order to monitor compliance with the provisions of the Official Languages Act. The monitoring capacity of the Office was mainly focused on the implementation of language schemes. It is clear from the completed audits that the majority of public bodies do not succeed in fully implementing all commitments given in their language schemes within the lifetime of the schemes. Often, the commitments that are not implemented are the very ones most likely to be of benefit, such as the availability of Irish language versions of websites and online services and interpersonal services in Irish.”

Do people understand what is happening here? This is deliberate and wilful criminality by sections of the civil service. These are public officials who have abrogated to themselves the right to ignore the law. Indeed to act outside it.

There then follows one of the most condemnatory parts of the entire report:

“The system of language schemes is at the very heart of the legislation and we rely on the language scheme system to improve the quantity and quality of much of the services provided in Irish by public bodies.

During 2011, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht confirmed only one new language scheme.

In total, 105 language schemes have been confirmed by the Minister to date, but by the end of 2011, 66 of these had expired. This means that no second scheme has been confirmed for two thirds of public bodies, a development that would have increased the supply of services through Irish that could be expected from those public bodies.

At least 20% of the language schemes had expired for more than three years and a further 20% for more than two years.

The following were among the public bodies whose language schemes had expired for long periods at the end of 2011: the Office of the President (three years and eight months), the Arts Council (three years and six months), Office of the Ombudsman (three years and six months), the Courts Service (three years and five months), Galway County Council (three years and four months), the Revenue Commissioners (three years and three months), and the Department for Education and Skills (three years and one month).

In addition to the above, 28 other public bodies had been asked to prepare a first draft scheme but by the end of 2011 these schemes were still not confirmed by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. In the case of ten of those, more than five years had elapsed since they were initially asked to prepare a draft scheme, in two other cases four and a half years had elapsed. It is of particular significance that four years and seven months had elapsed since the HSE was requested to prepare a draft language scheme; this is an organisation with very close ties to the community and where almost a third of public sector employees work. It is almost three years since An Post was asked to prepare a draft language scheme and more than two years since the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas, RTÉ and the National Roads Authority were asked to prepare schemes.

By year end, no language scheme had been confirmed for the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which was formally established on June 1st 2011.

Last year’s statistics show that matters have undoubtedly been allowed to slide out of control and that the system for the confirmation of language schemes appears now to have failed completely. I regret to say that I am of the opinion that it will prove next to impossible to re-establish confidence in that system.”

Considering that the language schemes were regarded as the minimal method for implementing some form of limited equality between the nation’s Irish and English speaking citizens in the eyes of the state, the decision by large sections of the state to conspire to deny those rights by simply refusing to implement full or adequate language schemes is a scandal. Furthermore the hundreds of complaints by Irish citizens in relation to discrimination at the hands of public servants or other breaches of the law by public bodies come from right across the country, 79% from outside the Gaeltachtaí or Irish-speaking regions, with 50% in Dublin alone (an increase of 9% from 2010).

Gearáin – An Ghaeltacht agus lasmuigh den Ghaeltacht (Complaints – Gaeltacht and non-Gaeltacht)

What is required by the Irish state, and the civil service that comprises so much of it, before it will recognise and accept the right of Irish-speaking citizens, Irish men, women and children to full equality under the law with their English-speaking peers? When will the culture of an “Anglophone Stormont” in our public institutions be faced head on?

Gearáin de réir contae (Complaints by county) – Gearáin de réir cineál comhlachta phoiblí (Complaints by type of public body)

After 90 years of waiting, and some might say centuries of waiting, what will it take for equality between Irish Ireland and English Ireland to be reached in our lifetimes?

Or do the Irish-speaking citizens of this nation need their own Derry March of 1968 or their own Burntollet? Will it take a Gaeilgeoirí Battle of the Bogside before anyone will take notice?

We Shall Overcome – Civil Rights In Ireland – The 1960s

There is more information on this at Galltacht – The Hidden Ireland.

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The State Of Irish – In The Irish State

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In today’s Irish Times (following on from yesterday’s bizarre anti-Irish rant by Ann Marie Hourihane) Finbar McDonnell examines the Fine Gael-Labour coalition government’s attitudes to it’s Irish speaking citizens in these economically straitened times:

“THE VIBRANT Seachtain na Gaeilge festival runs nationally until March 17th, with tomorrow a Lá Gaeilge in the Dáil. At the same time, Irish language groups are campaigning against the effects of funding cuts on the language. So what is the state of the language and how might the current recession affect it?

Since independence, all governments have supported the language and, 90 years on, the evidence suggests these policies have had mixed results.

The main policy focus (perhaps to an unbalanced extent) has been the education system. [ASF: or to put it more honestly, the effective ghettoization of the Irish language in our school system!] In many ways, achievements here are disappointing compared to inputs.

On the other hand, the work of the schools has led to the number of people who say they can speak Irish rising from 20 per cent of the population in the 1920s to more than 40 per cent today.

The 2006 census showed that 1.66 million people have an ability to speak Irish, with more than half a million people using Irish every day. This included more than 72,000 people who spoke Irish daily outside the education system.

As such, there has been some movement towards a bilingual society, although Ireland is clearly no Canada or Belgium.

Opinion polls consistently show that strong public support for Irish (despite a minority who don’t seem to “get” the language) and the vibrant Gaelscoil movement, as well as growth in the use of Irish in Northern Ireland, represent strong sources of optimism. (Research suggests one in four parents would send their child to a Gaelscoil if available.) While many languages around the world died in the 20th century, Irish is very much alive.”

There is more, including the worrying decline of Irish in the traditional Irish-speaking heartlands of the Gaeltacht, though with the proviso of the very public increase of Irish speakers in major urban areas like Dublin, Cork, Galway, Belfast and Derry. However it is the government’s record on the Irish language that receives the most attention, including its long-term commitment to agreed strategies to encourage growth in the number of fluent speakers across the country:

“On the positive side, the recent Gaeltacht Bill suggests commitment to the strategy. As well as focusing on the urgent challenges facing Gaeltacht areas in keeping the language alive, an innovative part of the Bill will allow any area where large numbers of Irish language speakers live or work to become a “Gaeltacht network” (groups in both Clondalkin and Co Clare are already looking at this). New “Gaeltacht” areas, with a range of outlets for people to use Irish, could generate local pride and create virtuous circles of language visibility and use.

On the other hand, the national austerity is having detrimental effects and particularly negative decisions include:

The proposal to merge the Office of the Irish Language Commissioner with the Office of the Ombudsman, which will lead to almost no savings, but may well affect the rights of Irish speakers;

The cutting of grants to trainee teachers to spend time in the Gaeltacht. This is particularly illogical as trainee teachers need more and not less time in the Gaeltacht;

Reduced funding for small Gaeltacht schools.

The risk is that spending cuts from different Government departments could, taken together, undermine the “horizontal” Government objective of supporting the language. There is an urgent need for the Cabinet committee on the Irish language to take a “joined-up” view to ensure the 20-year strategy is given high-level leadership and oversight.”

And is that likely to happen, given the government’s generally deplorable record on Irish and prevalent anti-Irish attitudes amongst many members in both parties?

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Heard The One About The Self-Hating Irishman?

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Béal an Mhuirthead becomes Belmullet vandalism in effect

Béal an Mhuirthead becomes Belmullet – Anglophone vandalism in effect

From the Mayo News yet more depressing evidence of how no one hates the Irish as much as the Irish themselves:

“Gaeltacht communities who call for bilingual road signs ‘should be careful what they wish for’, as it could mean they lose their Gaeltacht status, according to a senior council official.

Irish-language-only road signs were erected in Gaeltacht areas in 2005. Since then, a number of local representatives have called for the introduction of bilingual signs, claiming that the  Irish-only signs were confusing tourists. Signs pointing to Gaeltacht areas such as Belmullet now only have Béal an Mhuirthead written on them. In some cases they have been vandalised, with the English spray-painted onto them.”

Incredible. For centuries under foreign colonial rule the Irish language and Irish speakers were subjugated, persecuted and driven to the point of extermination. The names of communities like Béal an Mhuirthead were anglicised or replaced with new English versions and the original Irish ones forbidden for official use by our former colonial masters. Our entire nation was violently transformed from Éire to Ireland: from an Irish Ireland to an English Ireland.

Now, after decades of restored independence and self-rule for three quarters of our nation and our people, some of us are still acting like a craven bunch of former slaves and lackeys pathetically aping the ways and manners of our now departed masters.

And over what? The rightful restoration of the genuine names of our towns and villages, our regions and localities? How is Béal an Mhuirthead not acceptable but Belmullet is? One is derived from the other, for God’s sake! Belmullet is just a crude bastardised version of Béal an Mhuirthead in a foreign language imposed centuries ago by foreign invaders!

Do the people of Germany need to change the name of München to Munich in order to keep the tourists happy? Does Roma need to become Rome? København to become Copenhagen?

What is wrong with these people? What post-colonial neuroses so corrupts their minds that they would rather play at lets-pretend-Englishness than get-real-Irishness?

“In a letter to Mr Beirne dated September 2009, Máire Killoran, a Director with the Coimisinéir Teanga, said that the vandalism of signs may indicate that people may not want these areas to retain their Gaeltacht status.

“The conclusion one might be forced to reach is that such action [vandalism of signs] could only be undertaken by individuals who believe that those particular places do not warrant recognition as Gaeltacht areas.”

As in Daingean Uí Chúis, the town in a Gaeltacht or Irish-speaking area where a violent anglophone minority intimidated and blackmailed the local community, politicians and government into reimposing the English language name of the area in a mongrel mishmash title (Dingle – Daingean Uí Chúis, the English name, but of course, first), yet again we see the ready resort to criminality by a small band of bigots from the English-speaking communities. Theses zealots won’t be content until the Irish language, and those who speak the Irish language, are gone from the face of the earth. What the English couldn’t achieve for eight centuries they will achieve for them.

And that is the biggest Irish joke of them all.

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The Pettiness Of Casual Discrimination In Ireland

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From the Irish Times, a story about a seemingly causal act of unthinking discrimination that actually reveals quiet a lot about the thinking of those who regulate and govern our lives:

“NEW INFORMATION signs provided to taxi drivers to display in their vehicles could be in breach of the Official Languages Act, Foras na Gaeilge has said.

The signs, posted to drivers this month by the National Transport Authority, are in English only and are replacing bilingual signs already on display in taxis.

Designed to be handled and read by passengers, they include information on fares, lost property and how to recognise a licensed driver.

The cards they replace had dense text in English on one side and in Irish on the reverse.

The Official Languages Act 2003 requires that public bodies produce signs and stationery in Irish as well as English. A breach of the Act can be investigated by An Coimisinéir Teanga (Language Commissioner).

Brendan MacCraith [or Breandán Mac Craith to his family and friends], spokesman for Foras na Gaeilge, the body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language, said the authority could be in breach of the Official Languages Act by failing to provide the information in both languages.

“If the signs were previously bilingual and are now in English only, that is a retrograde step,” he said.

The point of the legislation was that people who wanted to use Irish would not have to request something special.

“The whole idea is to make the service more freely available and not an extra,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the authority said the new signs were in fact “information cards”.

The authority used the Irish language on its stationery and signs, in accordance with legislation, but the “information cards” were “neither stationery nor signs”.

She said they were “cards that drivers make available to their customers by putting them in the seat pockets in the back of the vehicle or anywhere else within easy reach of the customer”.

“They were not therefore produced in Irish,” she said.”

Well of course not.

Isn’t it amazing to see the Irish civil service following the exact letter of the law? Of course, they weren’t quite so discerning during the boom years of the Celtic Tiger, but hey, better late than never.

And what a wonderful interpretation of the law they make. Information cards are not stationery? And to take things further, information signs are not, in fact, signs? As my sister would say: ‘mazeballs!

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Irish Rights Are Equals Rights – So Fight Back!

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Tá An Réabhlóid Ag Teacht! The Revolution Is Coming!

Tá An Réabhlóid Ag Teacht! The Revolution Is Coming!

Over the last several months I have regularly highlighted the alarm felt by many in Ireland and beyond over the Fine Gael-Labour government’s attitudes to the Irish language and the Irish-speaking population of Ireland (and those who identify with both). It has become clear that the discriminatory policies adopted by Fine Gael in opposition have been carried over into government and with the connivance of the Labour Party the coalition is intent on rolling back a decade of civil rights legislation for the nation’s Irish speaking citizens. We have seen attacks on the Official Languages Act of 2003 and An Coimisinéir Teanga or the Language Commissioner, culminating in the move to abolish the latter office, thus removing any statutory force for Irish-speaking citizens to ensure their legal and constitutional rights in seeking equal services from state with their English-speaking peers.

So I’m highlighting again your chance to do something to protect language rights legislation in Ireland. The government has produced an online questionnaire for those supporting the Official Languages Act to voice their opinion, and though we may feel sceptical about their motives in doing so, it presents an opportunity for those who support Ireland’s indigenous language and culture to stand up and be counted.

Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge has now produced a short video explaining what you need to do, so please watch it and then follow the links below to the survey itself, both in English and Irish. It should take no more than 10 minutes to complete the questionnaire and anyone who speaks or identifies with the native Irish language and a native Irish identity, regardless of your own daily spoken language or where you come from, should please take a few short moments to fill it out.

The survey in English is here.

The survey in Irish is here.

Please support civil rights in Ireland and share this post with as many of your friends and contacts as you can.

Cosain Do Chearta Teanga! Protect Your Language Rights!

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Fighting For The Truth

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There is a letter in The Irish Times from a host of Irish civil rights campaigners, journalists, businesspeople, academics and student leaders protesting the decision by the Irish government to abolish the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga (the Language Commissioner) through the amalgamation of his agency with that of the Ombudsman. Ostensibly made to meet budgetary restrictions imposed by the EU-IMF, the Minster in charge of implementing the decision has recently admitted that it may in fact cost more money to remove the Office of the Language Commissioner than will be saved.

“A chara,

We, as members of the Irish language community both within and outside of the Gaeltacht, expect that the Government will change its decision to merge the functions of the Language Commissioner with the Ombudsman Office in 2012 and are calling on the Government to make that change now rather than dragging out the process and further damaging the effectiveness of the office.

The language commissioner has been widely recognised as a highly efficient and dynamic commissioner who has been praised not only for his work in defending citizens’ rights but also for being a proactive advocate of best language practice. A recent example of this would be the highly attractive module on general language rights that his office recently developed for use in transition year at second level.

We now know that the decision, as admitted by the Minister of State for the Gaeltacht in the Dáil on November 24th, could actually cost the state money. The decision also did not take in to account the fact that the current language commissioner has been reappointed until 2016 as an independent commissioner and therefore could open the State to the risk of legal action which could cost the State even more money. Indeed, An Bord Snip Nua when it looked at the office identified no efficiencies to be made and made no recommendation to alter the status of the office of the language commissioner as an independent office.

All political parties and the Irish language and Gaeltacht organisations have backed the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2012-2030. We acknowledge that funding will be a problem in the short term, but why undermine the strategy and the goodwill behind it with this decision that has been acknowledged as having no savings to make to the exchequer?

We believe that the Government should look at the economic arguments coupled with the wishes and the belief of the Irish language community both within and outside of the Gaeltacht that the office of the language commissioner should be supported, that it has our trust and that it has been a very effective service since been set up in 2004. Reversing their decision is therefore the logical and correct thing to do and should be done without delay.

Is muidne,

AODÁN Mac AN MHÍLIDH, Gaeilge Átha Luain; AOILEANN Nic DHONNACHA; BLÁTHNAID Ní GHRÉACHÁIN, Gaelscoileanna Teo; BREANDÁN Mac GEARAILT, Ball d’Údarás na Gaeltachta; CABRÍNÍ de BARRA, Comhlucht Forbartha na nDéise CAITLÍN NEACHTAIN, Bainisteoir, Comharchumann Dhúiche Sheoigheach; CAOIMHÍN Ó HEAGHRA, An Foras Pátrúnachta; CARMEL Nic EOCHAIDH, Spleodar; COLM Mac SÉALAIGH; CONCHUBHAIR Mac LOCHLAINN, Seachtain na Gaeilge; SEOSAIMH Ó CONCHUIR, Cumann Cearta Sibhialta Ghaeltacht Chorca Dhuibhne; ROIBEARD Ó HEARTÁIN PÁID Ó NEACHTAIN, Cumann na nOifigeach Forbartha Gaeilge (Earnáil Phoiblí); DONNCHA Ó hÉALLAITHE; DONNCHADH Ó hAODHA, Uachtarán Chonradh na Gaeilge; ÉAMONN Mac NIALLAIS, Guth na Gaeltachta; EITHNE O’DOHERTY, Craobh na gCeithre Chúirteanna; EOIN Ó RIAIN; FEARGAL Ó CUILINN, Comhluadar; GARY REDMOND, Uachtarán Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn; GEARÓID Ó MURCHÚ, An Spailpín Fánach; JULIAN de SPÁINN, Aontas Phobal na Gaeilge; LIAM Ó MAOLAODHA, Oireachtas na Gaeilge; LORCÁN Mac GABHANN, Glór na nGael;MAEDHBH Ní DHÓNAILL, Ógras; MÁIRTÍN Ó MAOLMHUAIDH, Gaelphobal Cheantar an tSratha Báin; MÍCHEÁL de MÓRDHA, Uachtarán an Oireachtais 2010; NIALL COMER, Uachtarán, Comhaltas Uladh; PÁDRAIG Mac FHEARGHUSA, Fóram Gaeilge Chiarraí; PEADAR de BLÚIT, Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn; ROBBIE CRONIN, an chéad ionadaí don Ghaeilge thar cheann an ASTI; RUTH Ní SHIADHAIL, Gaeilge Locha Riach SEÁN Ó MURCHADHA, Craobh Mhuineacháin Conradh na Gaeilge, c/o Sráid Fhearchair,

Baile Átha Cliath 2.”

Yet again, the recent revelations over the actual cost of the government decision to abolish the Language Commissioner’s office raise serious questions about what agenda is being pursued here. The actions and policies of the civil service establishment in Ireland have been the chief cause of complaints by Irish citizens seeking their constitutional and legal rights since the creation of An Coimisinéir Teanga. In the last two years his Office has seen a rapid rise in these complaints. Numerous government bodies have been reported for breaking their legal obligations to provide the same services to Irish speaking citizens as those automatically given to English speaking ones. The Commissioner himself has recorded the opposition he has faced from within the civil service, noting the deliberate attempts by some government departments to circumvent the equality legislation inherent in the Official Languages Act of 2003.

As I have argued before, the real reason for the criticism of the Language Commissioner, and the Official Languages Act itself, is nothing to do with financial considerations. Rather it is the success of both. This is not about “saving money”. It is about saving a hardcore, anglophone minority in the civil service, with fellow travellers in the political and media worlds, who reject the rights of Irish speaking citizens and who no longer wish to be held to account for their discriminatory attitudes and practices. It is institutionalised bigotry seeking to reassert itself within the heart of the Irish state.

And it must not be allowed to happen. Again.

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Fight The Power!

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An Ghaeilge

From Galltacht, the Hidden Ireland blog, Eoin Ó Riain brings the latest news on the campaign to defend the office of the Language Commissioner, An Coimisinéir Teanga, from the government program to roll back Irish civil rights legislation.

“The rain was coming down in sheets last Friday in Galway city. The Pillo Hotel was the venue for a meeting called to discuss the policy – or apparant lack of policy – of the Irish government with regard to the Irish speaking people and the ever-shrinking districts in which Irish is the vernacular language.

Despite the inclement weather more that eighty people gathered to discuss the matter.

So who were they?
The were representives of some of the language movements as one would expect. However it also included representatives of community organisations and co-operatives from Irish speaking areas as well as un-aligned individuals. People came to this meeting from Gaeltacht areas in Ulster, Munster. Leinster and of course Connacht.

Why did the gather?
Well the immediate worry of those present was the unexpected and catastrophic decision of the Government on 17th October 2011 as part of Goverenment’s Public Service Reform Decision to:

“Merge functions of Language Commissioner with Ombudsman Office. To be progressed in the context of the ongoing review of the Official Languages Act 2003.“

The predominent feeling of the meeting was shock, surprise, anger and frustration that a government decision like this was taken without consulation, as far as can be ascertained, with anybody who was directly concerned. The Ombusdman herself or the Coimisinéir Teanga himself were not consulted it was reported. Surprise was also expressed in the fact that this is a decision taken before the Review of the Language Act which was announced by the Junior Minister at the Department of the Gaeltacht a mere fourteen days previously. Nobody present could understand the logic of such a decision. (See also our blog: Developing language policy by hunch! 19/11/2011)

The meeting was chaired by Éamonn Mac Niallas from Guth na Gaeltachta, a recently founded organisation set up to inform areas which still mantain Irish as the vernacular of the effect of Government thinking and policy on their lives and livelyhoods. Commenting on the decision he said:

“It is amazing that such a decision has been taken at the very beginning of the implementation of the Government’s 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010 – 2030. This decision makes absolutely no sense at all, and the Irish language community will now be very sceptical that this Government in any way serious about strategically planning for the Irish language community. What message does this give the Civil Service, a service Irish speakers have been trying to access their rights from for years now? What this is saying to them is that this independent office is not important and as such, that it is not important to implement the Languages Act.”

The Secretary General of Conradh na Gaeilge, Julian de Spáinn, first made a presentation on this and other decisions which affect the operation of the Act and on the previously announced review. When the review was first announced it was welcomed by and large by the Irish language and Gaeltacht community organisations organisations as an wonderful opportunity to improve the language act. It was a chance they thought to revise those parts which were impractical and strengthen those parts which were effective. Later when they saw the survey questionnaire there was some disappointment in how negative it appeared to be. However be that as it may he pointed out that the Department did say that they would welcome additional representations independently of the questionnaire and indeed the Comisinéir himself had submitted a 15 page Commentary on the practical application and operation of provisions of that Act last July (see here!).

Watering down!
The Language Act has in fact already been altered since its enactment. The first change was in the relatively minor though emotional matter of the name-change of the town of Dingle-Daingin Uí Chúis from the more usual “An Daingin.”

The second was a more serious change in that it permitted the enactment of an act of the Oireachtas in one or other of the “national languages,” instead of as the act required in both languages. This was a de facto a diminution of the status of the language, something that the Act was supposed to protect. Indeed all political parties in the Dáil and Seanad claim to wish to protect and enhance the status of Irish.

The decision to merge the office of the Coimisinéir Teanga with that of the Ombudsman diminishes that status drastically. When asked to defend this decision the Junior Minister charged with responsibility for the Gaeltacht had several interesting things to say.

Firstly he said that other ombudsman-like offices were to be merged with the Ombudsman Office. On the serface this seems true enough? However on closer examination there seem to be differences in emphasis: “Merge Commission on Public Service Appointments with Ombudsman Office” seems straightforward enough but “Merge back-office functions of the Office of the Ombudsman for Children into the Ombudsman/Information Commissioner’s Office,” seems to mantain the independance of the actual Childrens’ Ombudsman; “Office of the Data Protection Commissioner: Amalgamate with the Office of the Ombudsman,” seems a strange amalgamation in this day and age. However there seems to be no plan to merge the Garda Ombudsman Commission or the Financial Services Ombudsman although the  Pensions Ombudsman is to merge with the Financial Services Ombudsman.

Where is the logic of these different decisions?

We must bear in mind that the reform’s outlined in Howlin’s document accepted and decided at Cabinet were largly economic.

“We will relentlessly focus on delivering better value for money through the implementation of Public Service Reform.”

However in response to a question in the Dáil Junior Minister Dinny McGinley said: “Perhaps when this is finished it will cost more…” (B’fhéidir, nuair a bheadh an deireadh thart go gcosnóidh sé níos mó….).

This final comment was greeted with some incredulity by the meeting.

What to do!
One of the possible things discussed was a boycott of the Review of the Act, instigated by the Department. However it was felt that this would perhaps feed the hostile intentions aimed at watering down the powers of the Act further. The most effective means of influencing the onward progress of the language status was to engage in the process. Éamon Ó Cuív, who as Minister painstakingly steered this act through the Oireachtas, suggested that personal contact with the local representative, TD, Senator and Councillor was far more effective that sending an email. There are so many emails now being sent to these representatives as to render them practically ineffective. Trevor Ó Clochartaigh was also present at the meeting and spoke strongly in favour of maintaining the independence of the office of the Coimisinéir Teanga. We did not hear or see any representatives of the Government party though I think there were some messages apologising for not been present.

The survey itself was felt to be written is a way which suggested preferred answers perhaps aimed at weakening the act.  It seems to be aimed at people who regularly use, or have regular contact with state services. However careful consideration of each of the questions and how one might use the services in the future should help in completing it usefully. A paper was distributed at the meeting which helped in understanding how to answer the questions.

The Conradh has made some  suggestions for additional points:

• That public companies have a statutory duty to provide their services in the Gaeltacht in an equal measure as provided in English in other areas. This national demand for service in Irish should also be fostered pro-actively throughout the country as an equal choice with that service in English.

• That the complexity of the services provided through language schemes to date be eased and a new system with a standard based on statutory regulations be developed

• Statutary languge regulations be clarified with bodies employed by public bodies acting on their behalf providing services to the public.

The most important thing was however to complete the survey and also to submit any additional suggestions thought to be of importance. (You might think that some of those from the Comisinéir Teanga worth emphasising here or those suggested above by the Conradh.) The form may be completed electronically in Irish or in English.

The meeting ended almost on-time, unusual in this correspondents experience, and when we emerged from the hotel the rain was still dancing on the early evening streets of Galway reflecting  the first lights of Christmas glimmering in the pools of water on the pavements.”

I cannot emphasis how important it is that those who support the legislation protecting equal rights for Ireland’s Irish speaking citizens and communities across the state take the opportunity to fill out the questionnaire issued by the Government in relation to the Official Languages Act. Be warned though, it is clear that the questionnaire has been poorly formed, in particular with the need to fill out the “Other” options, when there should be no necessity to do so. Unless they are “ticked” the survey cannot be completed, which will surely discourage some people from finishing it.

A coincidence or something more sinister? You decide.

The survey can be found here:

Irish

English

There’s No Éire In Ireland!

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Signs in Irish. Totally confusing to me, but I...

Here comes trouble. Many months ago I predicted that Fine Gael in government, in line with its current anti-Irish stance, would do its best to gut the Official Languages Act of 2003. That’s pretty much the one piece of legislation in the whole of Irish state law that protects the rights of the nation’s Irish speaking citizens in relation to public services, and ensures that we have some semblance of a bilingual state (however pitifully). 

Now Dinny McGinley, FG’s Minister of State for the Gaeltacht, has announced a major review of the provisions of the 2003 Act. And we all know what that means. Strip out the politico-speak and the agenda is glaringly obvious. 

“Minister of State for the Gaeltacht, Dinny McGinley T.D., today (Thursday 11th November, 2011) announced that the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has commenced a review of the Official Languages Act 2003, in line with the commitment specified in the Programme for Government. The main objective of the Act is to ensure the enhanced provision of public services through Irish.” 

That may be the main objective of the Act but don’t expect it to be the main objective of the review. Will public services through Irish be enhanced? Read on. 

“The objectives of the review are to ensure that the Act is an effective mechanism that supports the development of the Irish language in an efficient and cost-effective manner and that the obligations arising from the Act are appropriate to ensure the satisfactory provision of services in Irish by public bodies, in line with public demand. Under the review’s terms of reference, a comprehensive review will be undertaken with regard to the application of the Act which will take into consideration suggested amendments in order to ensure that the public services to be provided through Irish are the services most in demand. Best practice relating to the provision of language services in other jurisdictions will also be examined. “ 

Take note of the phrase “efficient and cost-effective manner”. See where they’re going with this one? Don’t forget, “the obligations arising from the Act are appropriate to ensure the satisfactory provision of services in Irish by public bodies.” Ahhh. Appropriate and satisfactory. Considering that the state wilfully ignored the need for any legislation on Irish language equality for eighty years this particular caveat is sure to instil confidence. Not. 

The final sentence gives it all away: “public services to be provided through Irish are the services most in demand.” And who decides what is “most in demand”? The same people who have rejected and opposed a bilingual Irish nation for eight decades, that’s who. 

“The consultation process consists of two elements, a template for submissions and a survey. The template, which covers the main areas of operation of the Act, will give respondents an opportunity to express their views in a comprehensive manner. The survey aims to gather more concise information with regard to the provision of State services through Irish, on a quantitative and qualitative basis. The terms of reference for the review, the template for submissions and the survey can be found on the Department’s website www.ahg.gov.ie.” 

So, in theory, we could see the Official Languages Act expanded into a true piece of bilingual legislation for the state? But every single person reading this knows exactly what is going to happen, even before the “consultation” begins. The Act is simply going to be rolled back to the very minimum that the Fine Gael and Labour government can get away with; and then some.

 Take out the gov-talk and what we have from McGinley, et al, is this: we are going to hack and slash the Official Languages Act to the ground and there is sod all you can do about it. 

Welcome to Éire – sorry. Ireland.

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A Tale Of Two Irelands

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A depressing report in the Irish Times:

‘THE LONG-RUNNING controversy over what to call the popular Co Kerry tourist destination known variously as “Dingle”, “An Daingean” and “Daingean Uí Chúis” looks set to be finally resolved through legislation.

Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan has signalled his intention to propose an amendment to the Environment Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2011 that will give official status to the English “Dingle” and Irish “Daingean Uí Chúis”, while “An Daingean” is to be dropped.

The official name of Dingle was changed to An Daingean in 2005 by the then minister Éamon Ó Cuív of Fianna Fáil under the Official Languages Act.

The English language version then ceased to have legal force and as a result could not be used on road signage, ordnance survey maps or in legislation.

In 2006, Kerry County Council held a plebiscite under the Local Government Act 1946 on a proposal to change the name to “Dingle Daingean Uí Chúis”, which was passed.

The council applied for an order to change the name, but it proved not to be possible because the Attorney General had advised that the local government code could not be used to change the name of a place already subject to a placenames order, as was the case with “An Daingean”.

“To resolve the issue, the previous government decided to legislate for the use of the names ‘Dingle’ and ‘Daingean Uí Chúis’, in tandem, by way of amendments to the placenames provisions in the local government code,” Mr Hogan said.

Mr Hogan said that in future any proposal adopted by a local authority to change a placename must specify the proposed name in Irish only or in English and in Irish.

Mr Hogan said an important aspect of the new provisions was that they would give greater recognition to the Irish language in every case where placename changes are proposed.

The proposed legislation will provide that a placename change under local government law will supersede an order under the Official Languages Act 2003 and the impact of the 2004 Placenames Order, as it applies to “An Daingean”, will be undone.’

All of which can be read as yet another in a long line of victories for the English-speaking community in Ireland, putting their views and wishes ahead of the Irish-speaking community – even one that is a local majority.

An Daingean is the main town of the Corca Dhuibhne Irish-speaking area or Gaeltacht in this part of County Kerry but over the years it has become increasingly Anglicized to the point where Irish is now rarely heard in its environs. In order to help in the reversal of that process and restore the town’s status as the main urban heart of the Irish language community in the region it was officially returned to its Irish name, An Daingean, from the Anglicized version, Dingle in 2004.  However considerable opposition from the entrenched Anglophone community in the area, with powerful connections in the political and business spheres, thwarted that process, hence the sickening news today.

Despite the words of Minister Hogan, that he will give ‘give official status to the English “Dingle” and Irish “Daingean Uí Chúis”, while “An Daingean” is to be dropped’ there is very little doubt that it will be the Irish language name, in either version, that will be dropped. The claim that the legislation will give ‘greater recognition to the Irish language in every case where placename changes are proposed’, is clearly ridiculous when the influence of the Anglophone community in Ireland is so pervasive and unassailable.

In Ireland, it would seem, we aren’t even allowed to use our own language in the names of our own towns and cities, regions and localities, but instead we must use the bastardized Anglicizations of colonial invaders. The colonized have become the colonists.

How sad. And how Irish.

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