Erin go Bragh

There was a fascinating article in the Irish Times today by Donal McMahon in An Irishman’s Diary.

The photograph in the article shows a little girl sitting on her young soldier father’s knee.  Her father was killed not long afterward when that little girl was just over 15 months old.  It took over 80 years for that little girl, Ina,  to find out the truth about his death.   At the age of 10 that little girl Ina lost her mother and she grew up with cousins and was sent to boarding school.  When she asked about her father, all she could find out was that he had been shot during the Troubles.  She eventually married and had a family who, in turn, grew up ignorant about their grandfather.  Ina knew her father had served with the British Army during the First World War but after that there was a blank.  In actuality, after her death her son Donal found out that his grandfather had served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

Now with the resources of the Irish Times archives, Donal has found that his grandfather, Sergeant Thomas Enright, RIC, had been shot dead on December 14th, 1921.  This took place at a turning point in Irish history.  The Anglo-Irish Treaty had been signed eight days previously and was to be ratified by overwhelming majorities in both houses of the English parliament two days later on December 16th.   

Sergeant Thomas Enright, of the Royal Irish Constabulary, and a Constable friend were attending a coursing meeting at which Thomas had entered two dogs.  They wore plain clothes.  They visited the hotel where the draw was made for the following day’s coursing.  They left the hotel (the establishment) shortly after 11 p.m., and as soon as they appeared on the street a volley of revolver shots was fired at them by a group of men who were standing near the post office.  Thomas was age 31.

Donal shared his findings with his mother.  He speculates that it is quite possible that reading the account of her father’s death brought some sort of closure to Ina.  She passed away scarcely 2 weeks later.

Donal goes on to write that happily we now have an Ireland where it is possible at last to break the silence surrounding those who served in the police and army of pre-independence times.  The men who shot Thomas, and the reporters of the time, were not to know that Thomas carried a tattoo on his right arm:  “Erin go Bragh”

Reflections – 74 years ago today,  December 28, 1935, was my parents’ wedding day.   My father-to-be had 3 children, age 11, 9, and 8.  My sisters-to-be were flower girls, and the ceremony was held in Winchester Massachusetts in the parental home of my mother-to-be.  I suspect that her sisters, my aunts, were her bridesmaids.   I must ask my sisters, now 83 and 82, and my 96 year old aunt for more of the details.  Or maybe I can search the archives of the Boston newspapers.

I blogged a few days ago about The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher.       Many questions were unanswered in the investigation of this case – many family secrets still remained.   After reading it I thought about the probability that most families have secrets, some quite innocent but will never be uncovered, others that will be revealed in the course of time if we know the right questions to ask.

  Lillian Beckwith is one of my favourite authors.  When we were up in Bangor Northern Ireland earlier in December I was browsing in a 2nd hand bookshop and came across this one by her.  It was  first published in 1986.  I didn’trecognize the title or the cover.  I suspected that I had read it before but I decided that even if I had, it was worth reading again.  And sure enough it was.  Lillian Beckwith is better known for some of her other books about life in the Hebrides.  More famous ones include The Hills is Lonely and The Sea for Breakfast.  In the front of the book there is a small list of phrases in the Scottish form of the native languages of the British Isles.  These phrases are similar to Irish Gaeilge.  To quote Wikipedia, there are  “three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx)”.

As the sun shone in to our conservatory I took great pleasure in reading another Haruki Murakami book, After Dark.  This was a splendid book, possibly my favourite so far.

 Haruki Murakami – After Dark

Shortly before Christmas our Book Group met and we had a quiz.  There were a possible 26 points, I think.  My winner got a score of 17.  I think I came dismally last with a score of 6.  This was very bad – usually I like quizzes.  The only consolation to me was that I might have tied with the quizmaster’s wife, who also would normally do very well on her husband’s quizzes.  I was really envious when I saw the prize for the winner.  A book authored by the quizmaster himself and just published.      The Irish Post Box by Stephen Ferguson.   Over the past few months I have been taking pictures of post boxes and wondering about their history – here was just the book for me.  Stephen very kindly sent me one for Christmas.  In another entry I’ll show you some of my pictures of post boxes and tell you some of the history as gleaned from Stephen’s book

In my world, Christmastime means one thing – less than 3 months until the New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade. I’ve already begun preparations – practicing my reel steps, shopping for uncomfortable sweaters, and learning how to say “The priests are eating eggs” in Gaeilge (thanks, Rosetta Stone).

Then last Thursday morning I opened up The New Haven Register (while eating a breakfast of eggs with my priest friends) and learned that the New Haven police department is planning a St. Patrick’s Day “crackdown.” For as long as I can remember, public drinking laws have been “unofficially” suspended on Parade Day, but Chief James Lewis says this year will be different. As St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland (even though post-glacial Ireland never had snakes), Chief Lewis is hoping to drive the drunks out of New Haven.

So when hundreds of thousands of people converge downtown March 14, there will be no U-Haul trucks with kegs or wagons filled with cases of beer allowed. Officers will be instructed to tell cooler-toting people to return them to their cars, Lewis said.

As for spectators who still insist on drinking, “There will be tickets written that day,” Lewis warned.

Personally, I always thought the reason that the police didn’t enforce public drinking laws on Parade Day was because they couldn’t. How can you enforce “no public drinking” when the public drinkers outnumber police officers 50 to 1? (Statistic completely made up.) What say you? What do you think of the “Great St. Patrick’s Day Parade Crackdown of 2010″?

  Words, Knots and Lines, published by Púca Press in 3 languages, Irish, English and German

One of the entries in the above book is a poem titled Knots.  The author is Maria Ní Mhurchú.  The linking of the knots shown in the Book of Kells and the state of knots in which we find the state of Ireland today is very clever.  Have a read yourself.

  Knots by Maria Ní Murchú

Knots by Maria Ní Murchú

When I flick through the Book of Kells

On the internet

My heart always misses a beat

Knots!

Endless knots!

Stylized, graphic, decorative….

Delicatewly woven by dedicated monks

Prayerful, innocent, beautiful.

No sign of the demon of greed here.

It reminds me of the girl with the golden locks

Dancing a Celtic dance

Her long hair plaited intricately

By deft fingers.

Ireland is tied up in knots today.

Not of a monastic kind….

Thick ropes in a boat knotted together haphazardly

By the careless sailor.

The tug – ready to go under.

Politics, economics, spirituality

The greed of our poor oul’ Celtidc Tiger

Coming back to haunt us

To haunt us – down.

It reminds me of the grey-faced, grey-haired impatient man

Who blatantly hooted at the old lady

As she tried in vain to cross Green Street

To light a candle in the Church

Yes.  I do wonder at what the monks might say.

Dear Patrick, sever the knots that bind us today.

Spirit us… artists, poets, musicians

To the land of milk and honey

That we may come back to Hibernia

Rejuvenated

With a song in our heart!

And a feather in our hand!

Now a change of topic – Update on my stash

  Watercolour painting of my knitting stash – I did this from a photograph taken about a month ago.

  state of my stash, Dec. 2009 – note the knitting on the right – a panel knit from purples and greens from the stash

Words, Lines and Knots or Foclóirín Linte agus Snaidfimeanna or Kleines Linien und Knotenvokabular, published by Púca Press in Dingle, Kerry, Ireland

  Foclóirín Línte agus Snaidhmeanna

A new book published earlier this month.  A little Thesaurus of Lines and Knots with contributions by 19 artists.  To quote from the acknowledgements, here is something to ponder - “A line can be shaped into letters and knots, one can follow it by foot or in thought and might come back to its starting point.  And what would happen if the linear direction of time were to change its direction.”

For the first printing, 340 copies were hand produced on Letterpress.  I have copy no. 30.

Here is one of the entries – Cat & mouse on the Mobius Strip – knitters and cat lovers take note

Verfolgungsjagd auf dem Mobiusband. – Dominique Lieb

An cat agus an luch i ndiaidh a chéile ar an Bhanda Mobius

Cat & mouse on the Mobius Strip

Excerpts from my diary for a night and day in early December:

  Moonlight, evening of December 2

  approx. 8:30 a.m., a view of the full moon in the western sky, as daylight comes, December 3 – the moon is that white circle seen through the upper branches of the tree

an email informs me that our belongings are well on their way to Seattle on the SS Rotterdam, due in Seattle on January 4th

10:15 a.m. – a man arrives to fit a carpet, just as I am going off to my final Irish class for this term.  Husband Ian left in charge.  On the way to my class I discover that my handwoven curtains are now buried in a skip.

  a stop for coffee at Starbucks in the Dundrum Town Centre.  I think about my curtains.

Irish class as enjoyable as ever

  Lunch at Harvey Nichols in the Dundrum Town Centre

a bit of shopping

and a walk to Airfield in the mid-afternoon to see how the piglets are doing

  Mama sow having a drink of water

the 10 five day old piglets are doing fine

 and two new goats have moved in next door to the piglets

a bit of Christmas shopping in the shop at Airfield and then coffee and tea with friends  – including 4 year old Alannah who was uneasy about seeing the piglets – Mama sow’s snorts were a bit frightening!

evening – knitting and the latest episode of Ros na Rún - a long running Irish soap

The ball will keep rolling when the bell is tolling.  Or something like that.  Since starting this foray into webdome philosophy I have effectively ignited my life.  All the disparate parts of it have come together into one person, into one ball: the brown bard.  And this is all because I stopped hesitating so darn much (maybe I needed to in the past) and started saying yes.

Because I’m simply not gay enough, I LOVE Liza Minnelli’s performance of “Yes” from 70 Girls, 70 that she did in her show Liza with a “Z”.  It’s about saying yes to life:

There’s life out happening everyday
You can’t start wondering what to say
You’ll never win if you never play
Say yes!

It’s amazing (here’s the youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el7pPVhrK6Y).  The ostinato the flute and harp play is so cool, thanks Kander and Ebb!).  So, I’ve put on hold most of my insecurities and have said yes. With that, the bell of my dreams has tolled and the ball is rolled.  And occasionally runs me over.

Like for instance, over the last four days.  I said yes to Heidi’s glorified church basement show, I said yes to my friend’s request to start teaching them Irish dance, I said yes to New York and I said yes to the hot go-go boy who was all over me last night (lose a few pounds here and gain a few pounds there and suddenly everyone notices you).  As a result, I got an average of five hours of sleep a night, immobile legs and a messy room (the sweet go-go boy did that while trying to climb out of my loft bed).  So, I was rolled over.

But most of the time I can stay on top of the ball and the view is cool.  It’s just so funny how it works–life that is.  If you say no to things, all you get back is a big wad of “no”.  When you go to parties people aren’t that drawn to what you say; when you go to an audition or interview you reek of no confidence; and when you love, you do so with the trepidation of spinsters.

If you say yes however, suddenly you see possibilities in your life, in the place you live (not some other dream world, like London often is for me) and in the people you meet.  And boy do people feel that–the “I see so much potential in you”.  People feel it so much because I think there’s so little of it going around right now.  Underneath all our interactions is “there’s not enough money, enough resources and enough opportunities.”  Poppycock and twaddle!  Thomas Malthus (the scientist and philosopher) figured we’d all be dead by now because our food stores could not match our growing population.  Well, we figured it out.  There’s always more in having less.  And sometimes you have less when you have more.  Possibilities…..

Say yes my bard-ettes!  This is the magic ignition key to life.  “But there’s plenty of horrible things I should say no to” you say.  This is true.  But when you say yes to the life you WANT, you don’t need to say no.  Friends who were bothersome are suddenly no longer there; they see your new light and run away or better yet they decide to step into the light too and you become closer friends.  When you say yes to the gigs you really want, you don’t have time for the ones you don’t want to do.  It’s amazing.

And you know, in the Irish language (Gaelic) there is no word for “yes” or “no”.  You either say “I would” or “I would not”.  How interesting.  It’s as though, when the ancient language was created (one of the oldest and most unchanged languages in the world), people did not see it possible to say yes or no to anything in life.  As much as I would like to, how can you say no to Britney Spears?  She’s there.  She’s going to do her concert whether or not you have said “no” to purchasing a ticket.  You can’t say “no” to a hike with your friends because in another dimension of possibility, it does exist (more on the trendy new field of quantum mechanics later).  What you can say, in this realm of your life–in this sphere of your consciousness, is “I would” or “I would not”.  It is an expression of what potential you see in your life, not a negation or an approval of anything that does in fact exist in it

What is my “I would”?  What is yours?  How can you hear the bell toll and let the ball roll?  (I know, I’m so witty I can’t stand it)

In recent times, the GAA has been compared with the Orange Order as being its Republican equivalent.  At the end of the continuum of sectarian bigotry where criminality festers, a GAA clubhouse is just as likely to be damaged as an Orange Hall. 

Just over a year ago, Margaret Ritchie MLA and Minister for Social Development set the cat amongst the pigeons when she attended a GAA conference in Belfast.  At the conference, she addressed sectarian attacks on Orange halls and GAA venues.  Her remarks on that subject were reported in the press and went down badly with members of the Orange Order.  In response, they handed her a letter of protest. 

On December 3, 2008, the Belfast Telegraph reported as follows:

 “The minister condemned all such attacks, but reportedly said that the GAA and Orange Order could not be described as reflections of each other, insisting that the GAA had reached outside its nationalist heartland towards other communities.

She was quoted as saying: “While the loyal orders have some progressive people around who wish to move them forward to a better place, they remain unlike the GAA, sectional and sectarian and deeply divisive in our community.”

At first sight, Margaret Ritchie’s viewpoint is not an unreasonable one to arrive at when one compares the big differences between the two organisations. If one organisation is about religion and the other about sport, they cannot possibly be opposites.  Furthermore, there is no rule against a person from any particular religion from joining the GAA.  In the case of the Orange Order, Catholics are excluded from membership. 

I differ with Margaret Ritchie’s remarks in two respects.  It is wrong to say or imply that the GAA does not have any connection with sectarianism.  I also take issue with her comment that the GAA had reached outside its heartland towards other communities.  The reality is that their success in this area has not been more than minimal and whilst it is fair to say that some Protestants have been involved in Gaelic sports, the GAA certainly has certainly not integrated with the Unionist Community.  At this point, I would like to discuss another sport played widely in Ireland which does integrate Nationalists and Unionists – Rugby Union.

Lord Maginnis is a well known member of the UUP.  He is my former MP.  He identifies himself as British.  Many years ago, Maginnis also used to call himself Irish.  That he felt the need to suppress the Irish part of his identity was part of the tragedy of the troubles.  It was a reaction not simply to terrorism but to part of the Republican campaign which was to squeeze out and eliminate the British identity from Northern Ireland.  Yet Ken Maginnis is still an Irishman.  He is also a fan of rugby and devotedly follows the Irish team.

The Irish international rugby team represents the 32 Counties of Ireland internationally.  It is not the only sport which represents both parts of Ireland but certainly the only major one in Ireland.  Before the match, the National Anthem Amhrán na bhFiann is played.  Though it was tolerated by them, Irish Unionists did feel somewhat excluded by its inclusion.  In 1995, the IRFU commissioned Phil Coulter to write a politically neutral anthem for the Irish Rugby team.  The song, Ireland’s call has been proudly adopted by all Irishmen.  By that action, the IRFU effectively nailed any identity problem that it might have had with its National team.  Ireland’s Call has now been adopted by the Irish Hockey, Cricket, Rugby League and A1GP international teams.

Unlike the IRFU, the GAA’s identity is tied to Nationalism.  This is not surprising given its history.  At the time of its inception, it formed part of a wider movement of cultural Irish Nationalism which now forms part of the history of the birth of the 26 county Irish State.

Throughout its existence, the GAA has nurtured its Nationalist identity through pre-match rites, its rules and its literature.  Rule 15 requires that the flag of the Republic of Ireland is flown and that Amhrán na bhFiann is played at all matches.  It was also an isolationist institution until relatively recently.  At one time, a player of Gaelic sports was banned from playing other sports.  Some of its past rules such as the ban on British security forces playing GAA games were undoubtedly sectarian. 

Unofficially, the GAA has been linked to Republican terrorism.  In the past, there have been allegations that it funded the IRA.  It is also alleged that some clubs continue to glorify IRA men. 

I would certainly not wish to brand all GAA supporters as IRA supporters or sympathisers.  Many of the people I know who are also GAA members would have nothing to do with the IRA or its memory but it is a fact that every now and then, some members of the GAA organisation make overt gestures of sympathy for the IRA in the name of that organisation. 

Rule 7 of the GAA rules strictly forbids sectarianism. Unfortunately, the rule on its own is impotent.  The GAA has failed to prevent a culture of sectarianism from having developed in its own following, hence the appalling case of Darren Graham, a protestant who, in 2007, felt compelled to give up playing GAA sports.  He later returned to his club after receiving an apology from the Fermanagh GAA Board. 

For all of the above reasons, it is hardly surprising that the GAA is perceived by many as being a sectarian organisation and one which the Unionist Community is generally alienated from.  

The GAA carries with it the nurturing of the ancient Irish sports, such as hurling.  These sports are a part of Irish heritage.  Elsewhere on this website, I have argued that the Irish Language should not be allowed to be hijacked by Republicanism.  That argument extends to all other parts of Irish heritage.   No part of Irish heritage should be the preserve of a single community. 

So can the GAA move forward from here?

In a sense, only they can answer that.  It all depends upon what they want from their longer term future.  Do they wish to enhance the interest in their sport?  Do they wish to adopt a modern sporting ethos by removing politics from its aims and objects?  Do they wish to improve community relations in Northern Ireland and combat sectarianism?  I believe that they can achieve all of those things by doing one thing.  That is that they follow the Irish Rugby Football Union model and take measures to change their identity to a cross-community one.  For example, could they eliminate rule 15? 

I am not the first person to make this argument.  Ed Curran of the Belfast Telegraph has reached a similar view about the GAA.  Whether anybody inside the GAA will give these issues serious thought is another matter.  We can but hope that matters will change for the better.

http://www.comhra.org

http://www.comhra.org/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=43&Itemid=45
Singing, dancing, crafts, home cooking, and language classes! Heaven!
I learned FOCAL!

How rapidly things are changing in the world of libraries.  In 1993/1994 when I did my degree in Library and Information Studies at University College Dublin, the concept of email was just being introduced.  Near the end of the course we were invited to a talk on the soon to be introduced world wide web.  How far we have come since then.  In today’s Irish Times there was an article on the introduction of a new database for research on matters of Irish interest.

What a wonderful resource.  According to the article, the Sources Database for Irish Research has records of books and periodicals of Irish interest held in the National Library of Ireland and research centres and universities in the US, Britain, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Il leader del TUV, si è lasciato andare ad una definizione offensiva della lingua irlandese

Jimm Allister, ex DUP e poi leader del Traditionali Unionist Voice, si è dovuto scusare durante la conferenza annuale del suo partito, per aver definito la lingua irlandese come il linguaggio parlato dai leprecani, alias folletti.
La sua ‘battuta di spirito’ era contenuta in un comunicato firmato di suo  pugno (“TUV Blast Leprechaun Language Waste”) in cui criticava aspramente l’esagerato esborso approvato dal Ministro dell’Istruzione del Sinn Fein, Caitriona Ruane, la quale ha stanziato nel 2008/2009 ben 47.062 sterline per la traduzione dei documenti di Stormont in lingua irlandese.
Un rappresentate politico di Alliance Party ha definito ‘imbarazzante’ quando scritto da Allister, pur essendo stato il suo partito a sollevare la questione sull’aumento esponenziale degli stanziamenti per le traduzioni tra l’esercizio 2007/2008 e quello successivo.
“Io sono a favore della promozione della lingua irlandese, ma sono anche a favore del rapporto qualità / prezzo, ed è per questo che è stata sollevata la questione”, ha aggiunto.
Jim Allister ha giustificato le proprie parole, sostenendo che il proprio commento era destinato semplicemente a distogliere dall’attenzione dall’opposizione del partito nei confronti del Ministro dell’Istruzione.

Traduci l’articolo…

TUV apologise for calling Irish a ‘leprechaun language’ (Belfast Telegraph)
Hard-line unionist party, The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), has apologised for branding Irish a “leprechaun language”.
The TUV led by former MEP Jim Allister is to hold its annual conference today as it tries to build-on efforts to draw support from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
The TUV is a trenchant critic of the DUP decision to share power with Sinn Fein, but had to apologise after issuing a press release attacking the translation of Stormont government documents into Irish.
The party hit-out at news that Sinn Fein’s Minister for Education Caitriona Ruane spent £47,062 on Irish translations, but its press release on the issue read: “TUV Blast Leprechaun Language Waste.”
The TUV’s vice chair Keith Harbinson, in whose name the statement was issued, has since apologised and said no offence was intended.
But the Alliance Party politician who revealed details of the Education Minister’s spending by tabling a question at the Northern Ireland Assembly, said the TUV blunder was an embarrassment.
“This was a despicable and deeply immature comment. The TUV have shown their true colours during this episode,” said the Alliance Party’s Trevor Lunn.
“They tried to cynically use the answer to my question and all they managed to do was embarrass themselves.
“My question was balanced as it asked about both Irish and Ulster Scots translations and the answer was revealing in that there appears to be little demand for Ulster Scots translation services in this Department.”
The Alliance Party representative’s Assembly question found that between 2007/08 and 2008/09 the figure spent on Irish translation in the Education Department rose from £13,274 to £47,062.
He said: “I am in favour of the promotion of the Irish language but I am also in favour of value for money, and that was what this question is about.”
The TUV said it apologised for its ‘leprechaun language’ comment and said the remark had only served to distract from the party’s opposition to Ms Ruane’s spending.
Jim Allister is a former member of the DUP who left the party over its decision to enter power-sharing government with republicans.
In June’s European election his party was seen to have eaten into the DUP’s support base.
Sinn Fein’s Bairbre De Brun topped the poll, a first for a republican candidate in Northern Ireland, with 126,184 votes, representing 26% of the first preference votes.
The Democratic Unionists had previously topped the poll in every European election since 1979.
But after Mr Allister won 66,197 votes, representing 13.7% support, the DUP tally dramatically fell.
The DUP won 18.2% support in this year’s Euro poll, a major drop from the 32% it won in the previous European election in 2004.
DUP candidate Diane Dodds took 88,346 votes, winning a seat without reaching the quota.
Mr Allister will today use his party conference to underline its opposition to power-sharing and launch its plans for the next General Election.

 

The Irish Times reports that Irish was not even among the top ten most used languages in the courts last year. The cost of providing interpretation services for Irish  was less than €2,000 in total during 2006 and fell further to €1,012 in 2007,  according to official figures provided by the Courts Service.  By contrast, over 10,000  requests were made to the Courts Service last year for interpreters for 71  different languages. Polish topped the list. The other main languages were  Romanian, Lithuanian, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Latvian, Portuguese, French, Czech and Arabic.

Section 8  of the Official Languages Act 2003 provides that a person has the right to be heard and to use the Irish language in the courts.  Irish is recognised as the first official language in Article 8 of the Constitution, but allows the legislature to make provision for the exclusive use of Irish or English in a particular context. The leading case is Ó Beoláin v. Fahy [2001] 2 I.R. 279. You can read about Ó Beoláin in Irish and in English in this article by UCC’s Seán Ó Conaill in the 2008 Irish Student Law Review. In that case, Hardiman J. held in the Supreme Court that:

 it is not possible (at least in the absence of law of the type envisaged in Article 8.3) to exclude Irish, which is the national language and at the same time the first official language of the State, from any part of the public discourse of the nation or from any official business of the State or from the official business of any of its members. Nor is it possible in these contexts to treat it in a manner which is less favourable than the way in which the second official language is treated. Neither is it possible to prevent those who are capable and desirous of using Irish in making their case or in communicating from so doing or to disadvantage them when so doing in any national or official context.

An Coimisinéir Teanga Seán Ó Cuirreáin, whose office constitutes an ombudsman service and compliance agency in relation to state services through Irish, puts the matter down to a perception of ‘compulsory English’ in the courts system:

“It appears that many Irish speakers, even in the strongest Gaeltacht areas, are either unaware of their right to use Irish in court business or remain convinced that it is in their best interests to leave their language rights and preferences aside and opt for English as the default language of the law…”

Hardiman J. spotted this very problem in 2001, describing the prevailing situation in relation to Irish in the courts as one in which

only a person of unusual independence will attempt to conduct his or her legal business through the medium of Irish… They [instances cited as exceptions to the norm] cannot at all contend with the stark reality that the individual who seeks basic legal materials in Irish will more than likely be conscious of causing embarrassment to the officials from whom he seeks them and will certainly become conscious that his business will be much more rapidly and efficaciously dealt with if he resorts to English. I can only say that this situation is an offence to the letter and spirit of the Constitution.

The Language Commissioner has launched an information campaign to counteract the perception of  ‘compulsory English’. In his press release, the Commissioner argues that it is ‘an abuse of human rights to conduct court proceedings without due regard to the language ability of participants’. He refers to a survey commissioned by the Health Service  Executive in areas of the Gaeltacht in 2007 which showed that 75% of those surveyed could express themselves better in Irish than in English when dealing  with health professionals and suggests that ‘[t]he same would more likely than not be true in their dealings with the courts
and with legal issues…’ 

The press release further notes that, although the low cost of English-Irish translation services can be attributed to cases in which judge, lawyers and parties were fluent in Irish, those cases are ‘negligible’. A real question arises as to whether the use of the language is inhibited because legal professionals are not competent, or prefer not to, run cases through Irish. The Legal Practitioners (Irish Language) Act 2008  abolishes the statutory requirement for barristers and solicitors to pass an examination in the Irish language as a condition of qualification, replacing the examination with a voluntary course of training which would enable practitioners to obtain a specialist language qualification. It is hoped that this reform will establish a coterie of practitioners willing and able to assist litigants who wish to use the Irish language in the courts (see a letter to the Irish Examiner by students at the King’s Inns responding to the development here).

Very different questions arise in Northern Ireland. In July of this year the High Court of  Justice in Northern Ireland ruled in the case of In re the Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737 [2009] NIQB 66.  Caoimhin Mac Giolla Catháin, a Belfast Irish speaker, challenged a decision of the Northern Irish Courts Service refusing him permission to lodge a court application for an occasional liquor licence drafted in the Irish language, on the basis that the Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737 requires that all proceedings be in English.  He argued

first, that the Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737 (“the 1737 Act”) – which requires that, in Northern Ireland, all court proceedings and associated documents be in the English language – is incompatible with the European Charter for Regional and Minorities Language (“the Charter”), specifically Article 7(2), and as such is in breach of his legitimate expectation that the UK will act consistently with its international legal obligations under the Charter; and secondly that the prohibition under the 1737 Act of any language other than English in Courts breaches his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“ECHR”) and specifically Article 14 taken together with Article 6.

The court rejected the first submission on the basis that the Charter, which has not been embodied in domestic legislation, does not bind the UK government.  The court further held that there was no breach of Article 6 (and hence none of Article 14) because:

Article 6 is about the fairness of proceedings in the determination of civil rights or obligations or a criminal charge.  The right contained in Article 6 is entitled the “Right to a Fair Trial”.  It is incontestable that such a right might be jeopardised in circumstances where a party to the proceedings could not fully understand them if they were conducted in English without any form of translation facilities.  However that is not the case before the court.  As has already been observed the applicant is fluent in English and is fully competent to transact court business in English and the determination of any application for an occasional liquor licence has in the past been determined successfully in favour of the same premises on no fewer than six occasions since January 2008 when the applications were all processed in English.  As fairness is not at risk I accept the respondent’s submission that Article 6 is not in play and that the necessary connection to enable the court to conclude that the applicant’s Article 14 complaint is within the ambit of Article 6 cannot be found.

The court acknowledged that it is permissible, under statute, to use Welsh in the Welsh courts and Scots Gaelic in the Scottish courts. It further accepted that the UK government made a number of commitments to promote the Irish language in the Good Friday Agreement. None of this was relevant to the final decision. There is also some interesting discussion in the judgment on the historical purpose of the 1737 Act.

Mr Lavery QC on behalf of the applicant submitted that Article 7(2) was infringed because the 1737 Act was a measure “intended to discourage or endanger the maintenance or development” of the Irish language.  He submitted this was the effect of the Act because it denies legitimacy to the use of Irish in all court proceedings whatsoever; that persons, such as the applicant, for whom Irish is their first language and who speak Irish in their everyday lives consider not only that the development of the language is hampered by the blanket ban on the use of Irish in court proceedings but that it also amounts to an affront to the Irish language and its speakers in keeping with what he described as the historic policy of attempting to Anglicize the Irish people and destroy their native culture which was regarded as barbaric and inferior;  that this was explicit in earlier times when the Irish were described as the “mere” Irish and that remnants of this are to be found to the present day as in the hostility of many to the Irish language;  that the Act was clearly passed to further that policy and the attempt to justify such an enactment was he submitted hardly consistent with a commitment to create a multi-cultural and equal society as stipulated in the agreement; that in 1737 English was not the language spoken or understood by the whole of the vast majority of the population of Ireland or even indeed what was to become Northern Ireland; that the aim of the statute was not therefore simply to secure the orderly transaction of court business in a language understood and used by the majority.

You can read more about Irish language policy in Northern Ireland in these reports from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission ; 1 and 2

PPI - NI has just kicked off the single-identity portion of its Twinning program.

This year, PPI – NI has begun work in a new school, the Bunscoil Bheann Mhadagain. The Bunscoil is the first Irish language school that PeacePlayers has worked with and represents a step forward in changing cultural perceptions among the historically divided communities in which we work. Local coordinator Darryl Petticrew will be managing the sessions with the Bunscoil. He comments, “I am incredibly excited to be working with the Bunscoil. I come from an area just miles from the school and for an Irish language school to be engaged in a cross community initiative like ours is a massive accomplishment for Belfast as a whole.”

With fourteen schools engaged in our program this year, PPI – NI is excited for the potential it has in leaving a lasting impact amongst the students, teachers, and communities in which we work. With new partners like the Bunscoil, PPI – NI is both widening its local capacity and opening doors with new partners.

PPI – NI is currently in the “single identity” phase of its Twinning program, where it works individually with the Catholic and Protestant primary schools that will join up for integrated sessions in the Spring semester. These initial sessions focus on introducing the students to the principles of sport and teambuilding, as well as preparing them for engagement with their twinning partners through our community relations curriculum. Stay tuned this semester for updates on the progress of the Bunscoil and all the schools PPI – NI works with!

Sweet to the beat.

The old digs

“Sugartits”
Muc Ghuine Alex
De Satharn, chuaigh me go mBrooklyn agus arasan Alex. Bhi an pairti go iontach, agus ta cuimhin liom rud. I ndiaidh an leiriu, chuaigh muid go m’arasan agus dol muid fion. Ansin, thog muid an traein go mBrooklyn. Cen shroich me ann, bhi aithe agam ar muc ghuine Alex. Chinn mo chara Danielle ainmnigh si “Sugartits.” Caithfidh me a admhail, ni maith liom a ainm. Shilim go bhfuil se gairsiuil. Ansin dol me i bhfad nios mo, agus shilim go bhfuil se greannmhar. Ni mhaith leis ag bi uineir Shugartits, agus nil Alex athair go maith ar Sugartits. Bhi se ag dean iarract ar tabhair Sugartits ar shiul. Duirt me, “Toig si an taobh. Stroic leat! Ta suil agam go beidh si an mharthanoir!” Bhi si an smaoineamh uafasach agus olta, agus go hamharach ni aontaionn Alex liom. Deir se, “Oinseach!” agus chuir Sugartits i a caighean. Ansin d’ith si na chairedi go leor. Bhi bron orm ar Sugartits, agus mh’anam da mbeadh am agam, bheinn me mathair go maith ar Sugartits. D’fhliuchfa me teach go deas ar Sugartits, ach ni maith liom na creimiri go hiondiul, agus ta si chomh mor le coinin ach ta si dona mar ta muc ghuine as an madadh sin. Nil go leor inis faoi Sugartits, mar sin anois scriobhfaidh me faoi an leiriu teilifis is fearr liom “The Bachelor Rome,” na i Gaeilge “An Baitsileir An Roimh.”

“An Baitsileir An Roimh”
Lorenzo Borghese
Ta “An Baitsileir An Roimh” faoi Iodalach “Prionsa” Lorenzo Borghese. Shilim go bhfuil Lorenzo prionsa breige. Nil Iodailis air. Rugadh se i An Iodail, ach ansin d’fhag se agus bionn se anois i New York. Ni meas agam ar ar bith ar “An Baitsileir,” ach shilim go bhfuil se greannmhar. Ta na caillini siamsuil. Is Erica an “socialite.” Deir si a gairm go bhfuil sin. Ta deiridh dha caillini Jessica agus Sadie. Ta Jessica is as an deisceart agus nil si cliste. Ta a fhios sin agam go bhfuil duine cliste i an deisceart, ach nil si aon iad ann. Ta cailin eile Sadie. Is as Portland si. Is feaar liom Sadie, ach ta si ag fanacht le posadh le lui le Lorenzo. Ta se annamh ba “An Baistilier” an posadh dheireadh, agus bheith me in amhras go posfidh siad. Cuirfidh me geall leat bo mbainfidh Jessica, ach is fearr liom Sadie, ce go ta si “prude.” Ach brathann se ce is fearr leis Lorenzo. Ta amhras go leor orm togfaidh se ar i mar ta se amaideach. Is maith liom “An Baistilier” mar ta se siamsuil agus eadromchroioch. Ni thigim an fath rachaidh na caillini ar “An Baistilier.” Go hionduil, bionn siad gleoite deas, ach ni bionn siad cliste go hionduil. Socair, shilim go bhfuil gheobhaidh siad fear nios fearr, mar ta Lorenzo amadan mhor. Nil se prionsa fhior ceachtar. Seans ta barraiocht trath orm.

A recent article by Eithne Shortall in the Irish edition of The Sunday Times newspaper caused concern for Irish-language writers, as apparently only “76 copies” were sold between a number of Irish-language writers, despite a total of €74,000 in grants being given to them.

While the article can be read on the Gaelport.com website (with my response available on my Irish-language blog) it seems that the information that Ms. Shortall has was incorrect. Having posted my response on ‘Dialann Scott,’ I soon received an e-mail from Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh, one of the writers mentioned in Ms. Shortall’s article. According to Ní Ghearbhuigh, roughly 400 copies of her last publication, Péacadh, were sold within the last 12 months – 80% of the total number of copies published. It is apparent, in this case, that Ms. Shortall did not have all the figures required to write on such a topic.

So, is this a deliberate attempt to put Irish-language publishing in an unpleasant light? Possibly, but I’m going to give both the journalist and newspaper the benefit of the doubt. Maybe Ms. Shortall could not have gotten all the facts, but if this were the case, then the piece should have been neither written nor published. If the intention was, however, to paint Irish-language publishing in a bad light, then it was a very good attempt. Read the article for yourself and make your own decision.

Despite it being an official Language, you dont find too many Parties using our native tongue.  (Although I do see some FF Lisbon posters in Irish).  I’m not even sure we have ‘Litir Um Thoghchan’ too often anymore either.

Heres some rare enough examples that I have….  Pól Ó Foighil agus Fiachra Ó Céilleachair

Is maith liom an ‘Dia Duit’…

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What a great coun try we live in. The poor, the disabled, the vulnerable are expec ted to pay for the arrogance, the incompetencwe and the greed of a super-wealthy elite. The people who are overseeing this is not some foreign government but are own legislato9rs.

This is the equivalent of the semi-starving cottiers of the ninteenth century having to pay exorbitant rents so as to supply the absentee landlords with money that they could fritter away on  the gaming tables of London.

Is this was Patrick Pearse died for? Where were the bankers in 1916?