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Totally off-topic, but I always find it a bit sad how Ireland pays lip service to Irish being their first official language (note that the Irish-language name i

Totally off-topic, but I always find it a bit sad how Ireland pays lip service to Irish being their first official language (note that the Irish-language name in their logo is bold and on top) but in reality it is a nearly 100% English-speaking country (note that this press release was published in English, and the link to the Irish version of the page doesn't work). Really demoralizing, if you care about language preservation, to see how difficult it is even in a very rich country with major cultural and political reasons to want to preserve a language, and which expends significant resources doing so. Now think of all the obscure languages around the world and how impossible it is for them to survive long term.

colmmacc 4y ago
Definitely off-topic but I wouldn't be so sad. I grew up speaking Irish at home and at school, and at the time that was very uncommon outside of a Gaeltacht. Now there are many many more Irish speaking schools, just in the area I grew up my nieces and nephew had 5 different options, 2 within walking distance. I had a 30 minute bus ride to get to one option. This year there will be 3 Irish-language TV stations (Tg4, Naught, and a new one focused on kids) ... and Irish cultural centers are strong. When I go home to Ireland, even in Dublin I can socialize and go out in Irish; Áras Chrónáin is our local. Irish feels much stronger to me than in the 80s.
- themitigating 4y ago
  It's probably dangerous economically to change from English as a primary language to Irish. I'm sure there's an argument for culture but those are subjective and often backed with emotions
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easytiger 4y ago
Why is it demoralising? The language would be near on dead if it weren't used as part of the State Creation / nationalism techniques used post 1920s. There are many dozens of other such languages in similar states of decline in Europe. e.g. Yiddish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_endangered_languages_in_Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_endangered_languages_i...

colmmacc 4y ago

Definitely off-topic but I wouldn't be so sad. I grew up speaking Irish at home and at school, and at the time that was very uncommon outside of a Gaeltacht. Now there are many many more Irish speaking schools, just in the area I grew up my nieces and nephew had 5 different options, 2 within walking distance. I had a 30 minute bus ride to get to one option. This year there will be 3 Irish-language TV stations (Tg4, Naught, and a new one focused on kids) ... and Irish cultural centers are strong. When I go home to Ireland, even in Dublin I can socialize and go out in Irish; Áras Chrónáin is our local. Irish feels much stronger to me than in the 80s.

themitigating 4y ago
It's probably dangerous economically to change from English as a primary language to Irish. I'm sure there's an argument for culture but those are subjective and often backed with emotions

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easytiger 4y ago

Why is it demoralising? The language would be near on dead if it weren't used as part of the State Creation / nationalism techniques used post 1920s. There are many dozens of other such languages in similar states of decline in Europe. e.g. Yiddish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_endangered_languages_in_Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_endangered_languages_i...