The Times reports yesterday that the "first official language" of the Irish Republic is disappearing, even from the gaeltacht (the area of the Republic where supposedly Irish is the majority language).

Gaeltacht teachers get an annual bonus of €1,450 and yet apparently fewer and fewer are conducting all their lessons in Gaelic. Some "gaelscoileanna" are not even teaching in Irish at all, even though they get 20% higher funding than English language schools to do just that.

Around a quarter of pupils leaving gaeleacht schools apparently have either little or no ability in Gaelige (Irish Gaelic) or are only "reasonable" speakers of the language (although I sometimes think the standard of English from some of our own school leavers leaves a lot to be desired).

Follow up:

According to the study, conducted by academics from UCG and the Diseart Institute of Education and Celtic Culture, "it is likely very few primary or second level Gaeltacht schools will still be teaching through Irish in 20 years".

Presumably the report didn't include the ever-so-Irish west Belfast schools, set up recently so parents can insist on forcing their children into a linguistic minority, so they can later MOPE about how they're a minority. How much more proof do we need that the people sending their children to these schools in Northern Ireland, where the Irish language is all but dead, are using their children as political footballs in a sick and disgusting act that's verging on neglect!?

The Irish language is a rich part of our heritage and history, but it is just that - history. It gave birth to names like Belfast (Béal Feiriste - Mouth of the Farset, apparently a river that flows through the city), Carrickfergus (Carraig Fhearghais - Rock of Fergus) and Ballyclare (Bealach Cláir - Place of Claire). Things like this are interesting and this is the context in which the language should be promoted.

But as a tool of communication it is irrelevant and is only used by Sinn Fein activists to try and prove how Irish/un-British they are (and to wind up Unionists?).

The Irish government has tried for 85 years to keep the Irish language alive, but it seems to be failing. I do feel guilty that this makes me happy, since I have nothing against the language or those people of the gaeltacht who still speak it on a daily basis. Unfortunately the language has been hijacked by Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland to be something anti-British and often offensive and/or threatening. Perhaps with it's demise in the Irish Republic, they will begin to realise that they can't out-Irish the Irish. Then again, with a PR machine the strength of the Sinners', they could probably persuade half their followers black was white.

If people want to learn Irish that's fantastic, but it should be done in the context of any other language (including Ulster-Scots), ie as a curiosity, or by someone who wants to understand more about their heritage. This is a very healthy way to learn a language, and who knows, perhaps freed from the shackles of Sinn Fein's republican agenda it could flourish.

There is no need for Irish-language roadsigns (or any other kind of signs) and there is certainly no need to waste vast sums of government money producing documents in English, Irish and Ulster-Scots or over-funding Irish-medium schools so they can educate a new generation of state-funded professional victims.