A Chara, - John Waters's piece (Tuesday 13) on the national ambiguity towards Irish was brilliant (as usual). Especially nail-on-head was his recognition that our ideas of success and sophistication are tangled up with notions about "proper" speech - thus the common contempt for the ancient tongue, and thus the flight, when we speak English, from the broad vowels and soft consonants thatwould betray our rude origins and shock our betters. Of course, this post-colonial confusion (as Mr Waters sees it) explains why today in Ireland we have so many exotic and hybrid accents, especially among broadcasters.
Not that one is into lingual fascism. R-dropping and vowel-squeezing are perfectly admirable where they arise organically (as for example in London's East End); but when they are contrived by poor Paddies in pursuit of some spurious ideal of correctness or refinement the resulting sounds, not to mention facial contortions, are mostly ludicrous. By the way, nowhere are these laryngeal gymnastics more violent, not to say institutionalised, than among the news-readers of Montrose (thank heavens for TV3 and particularly the wonderful Grainne Seoige!).
You may, of course, take the view that the six o'clock newsspeak, the DART accent and all such phoney locutions are good for a laugh, but the whole thing is profoundly sad and serious. If we cannot, with all our hot air about Celtic tigers and Celtic dancetroupes, unpurse our lips and open our mouths and express ourselves confidently and freely, what sort of mealy-mouthed example are we giving our children and what hope for the country? All that said, anyone who thinks nothing is being done about the above should note that I remain supremo and chief mouthpiece of a loosely constituted but fiercely committed society called GOB (Guard our brogue), dedicated to the promotion of rough, unvarnished, indigenous speaking not only in Irish and English but also in several other languages. New members are always welcome. - Is mise,
Risteard O Gallochobhair, Oilean Chiarrai, Co Chiarrai.