Sir, - I was brought up in Dublin with a very bad attitude towards Irish. As a school kid I felt it to be useless and a dead language with no part to play in the modern world. I was very wrong.
I am a linguist working in the University of Edinburgh studying the phonology of Scots Gaelic. Without going into too technical a discussion, both Scots Gaelic and Irish Gaelic have a unique syllable structure which is found in only two other languages on the planet: Arrernte and Kunjen. Both of these are Australian aboriginal languages and about to die out. We are conducting this study because it is believed that Scots Gaelic is about to become extinct as well.
Irish Gaelic is in grave danger of becoming extinct despite what any politician or educationist says. That is why it is on the UN list of endangered languages. Irish education policy towards the language has systematically failed the people of Ireland for the past 75 years. It certainly failed me. This is because the policy has been created by people who clearly have had no understanding of the nature of language.
English is spoken because it is a "prestige" language. It is the language of economic and political power in Ireland. Until this changes, English will remain the dominant language and Irish will become extinct. Irish must become a language associated with success. Bilingualism must be championed and expressly evident in all areas of Irish life.
Perhaps future scholars of Gaelic will study ancient texts of a dead language or perhaps they will have millions of native speakers to record and ask questions of. It is up to the present generation of politicians, community leaders and the Irish people to decide which. - Yours, etc., Shane Montague Gallagher,
University of Edinburgh, Scotland.