Minority Languages - Irish

By Vicky Scott and Chloe Lovett

What is a minority language?

There is not a universally recognised definition, however the EBLUL say: “A language which, as a result of its structures, sounds, its words, its characters and its history differs and is distinguished from the dominant language of a State and is spoken and/or written within a certain territory, by a smaller number of persons”. Irish Gaelic = Roman Catholicism English = Protestant supremacy

Irish Gaelic is seen as a long established system of Catholic Ireland and English was viewed as the language of the protestants (During reign of Henry VIII).1801 Act of Union made it desirable to speak English

The gradual decline of Irish

• Expansion of railways• English led education• Demographic change• Association of English with progress

“The Agreement”

• On Good Friday 1998, there was political agreement to offer firm support for language policy for the Irish language in Ireland.

• The ULTACH trust founded in 1989 receives financial support from the Irish government to widen appreciation of the Irish language and culture.

Language PlanningCorpus planning - After independence in 1922 initiatives compromising of dual policy of maintenance and restoration E.g. education.Status and acquisition planning – politically based ‘curriculum subject’ (Flynn, 1993: 79)

Result:Overall increase of Irish speakers outside of the Gaeltacht area. Decrease in indigenous Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht area.

Who speaks Irish where?

Percentage of Irish speakers in Irelandhttp://www.gaeltachttravel.com/gaeltacht-regions/statistics-on-the-gaeltacht-and-the-irish-language/

Making Irish more accessible – Via broadcasting

• The most important commitments of the ULTACH trust are in the areas of education and broadcasting.

• The government developed the TG4 (Teilifis na Gaelige) – which makes the Irish language more readily available for those who speak it.

• Meets the maintenance sector of the governments aim.

Thank you for listening…