Changing How We Teach Irish In Our Schools
I have some sympathy with those who argue that the teaching of Irish in our primary and secondary schools shouldContinue Reading
Irish News, Politics, Culture
I have some sympathy with those who argue that the teaching of Irish in our primary and secondary schools shouldContinue Reading
There is a typically dire, fact-free article on the Scottish language (Scottish Gaelic) in today’s Herald newspaper, penned by theContinue Reading
Nelson McCausland, the former MLA with the Democratic Unionist Party, has taken to the pages of the pro-union Belfast TelegraphContinue Reading
Since the United Kingdom’s violent imposition of partition in the early 1920s, the pro-union leaders of the Six Counties haveContinue Reading
To her many critics, this afternoon’s statement by Arlene Foster provided further proof of her failings as a political leader,Continue Reading
Several readers, including Marconatrix, have drawn my attention to this discussion about Welsh language rights broadcast on Newsnight, the BBC’sContinue Reading
While we are certainly right to decry the inherent hibernophobia of mainstream political unionism in Ireland, not to mention the UnitedContinue Reading
Talking of colonial supremacists, here is Arlene Foster, the beleaguered leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and her latest contributionContinue Reading
It’s sometimes difficult to remember that there is a distinction to be drawn between unionists as an ethno-national minority inContinue Reading
When Martin McGuinness resigned as the deputy first minister in the power-sharing executive at Stormont, he blamed not only theContinue Reading
Back in October of last year I examined a short documentary by the freelance journalist Eoin Butler attacking the position of the IrishContinue Reading
Anna Lo, the Chinese-Irish president of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), a liberal unionist grouping in the north-east ofContinue Reading
Ursula Ní Shabhaois, writing on her blog “Ag Smaoineamh Os Ard“, reiterates a point that many choose to overlook: the linguistic andContinue Reading
So the online current affairs website, The Journal, has published yet another opinion piece on the Irish language and theContinue Reading
There is no process of natural selection for languages, no evolutionary rule which dictates that one tongue is inevitably suppressed or supplanted by another.Continue Reading
Back in 2013 the political theorist and author, Daniel Butt, identified three characteristics which are found in most descriptions of historical colonialism:Continue Reading
Over the last two decades the linguistic denigration of hibernophone sports teams and their fans by anglophone opponents has become one of the odder aspects of lifeContinue Reading
If you speak Irish in Ireland, and your children speak and are educated through Irish in Ireland, does this make you an ideological opponent ofContinue Reading
Following on from reports that an Irish-speaking employee was forced from his job at a business in Cork because of management demands thatContinue Reading
So in the space of three years we’ve gone from Irish-speaking citizens being arrested by the Gardaí for conversing in Irish to Irish-speakingContinue Reading
Last May, during the elections for the regional assembly at Stormont, Arlene Foster’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) vowed to destroy the growth and development ofContinue Reading
With the announcement of this year’s results from the annual Leaving Certificate Examinations, the final examination in Ireland’s secondary school system, the Irish Examiner reports onContinue Reading