Current Affairs History Politics The Irish Language - An Ghaeilge

A Fine Gael Minister Discovers “Our Language”!

The "Fianna Fáil Badge" of Óglaigh na hÉireann (the original Irish Republican Army and later Defence Forces Ireland) featuring the Gal Gréine or Irish "Sunburst" motif
The “Fianna Fáil Badge” of Óglaigh na hÉireann (the original Irish Republican Army and later Defence Forces Ireland) featuring the Gal Gréine or Irish “Sunburst” motif

The Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter TD, has protested the media reporting of the Republican Resistance group Óglaigh na hÉireann (ÓnaÉ) because it’s Irish language name is shared by Ireland’s military, known in English as the Irish Defence Forces (though recently contemporary PR-speak has given us Defence Forces Ireland). Óglaigh na hÉireann actually means “the (Military) Volunteers of Ireland” and dates to 1913 and the foundation of an Irish Nationalist paramilitary movement that formed the core of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The IRA retained the Irish form of its name as Óglaigh na hÉireann rather than using a literal translation (which would have been Arm Poblachta na hÉireann or APnaÉ or APÉ). From the Irish Times:

“The media should be careful “not to give undue legitimacy” in naming paramilitary groups such as the one responsible for last Friday’s bomb attack in Belfast, according to Minister for Justice Alan Shatter.

He said “Óglaigh na hÉireann” is the name of the Irish Defence Forces in our language. They are a source of great pride to this State as they carry out their duties to the highest professional standard at home and overseas.

“No media outlet should facilitate its misappropriation by individuals intent on perpetrating murder and causing mayhem to the detriment of all who live on this island.”

There is an irony in a Fine Gael minster suddenly discovering that Irish is “our language” given the unrelenting hostility of the FG-Labour government to those citizens and communities who actually speak it. Not to mention the manner in which Fine Gael and their Labour Party stooges have stripped the terminology and iconography of the state of its national and first official language. If Shatter were serious about reclaiming Ireland’s revolutionary heritage from those who would otherwise claim it, rather than just hunting for an excuse to close down media reporting on the mounting tensions in the north-east of the country, he would be lobbying for Óglaigh na hÉireann to become the official name of our armed forces in English as well as Irish, the same as An Garda Síochána. But then does anyone believe that he is serious?