The Irish language is part of what we are and part of how we got to where we are today. The Gaelic Revival towards the end of the 19th century, championed by Douglas Hyde and others, helped define the movement that was midwife to Irish independence. That gave birth to the Irish Free State, later metamorphosed into the Republic of Ireland. The linguistic aspirations of those who helped shape the early years of the State are reflected in the 1937 Constitution and its statement that Irish is "the national language" and the "first official language". English is "a second official language".
It is easy to sympathise with such sentiments when considered in the context of the times. Set against the backdrop of the horrors - political and other - that afflicted the peoples of this island in the 18th century, cultural totems such as spoken language, music, and the artistic projection of an ideal were methods of both defining identity and clinging to what little of it was to hand. It was natural that the men and women who fashioned this State hoped that, one day, all its citizens would speak Irish all of the time.
But it has not proved so. In this State of just over four million people, all but a tiny fraction use English all day, every day. Our native population is growing by 33,000 a year, on top of which we have inward migration of over 30,000 people a year. For all of these, English will be the language of daily life. Data in today's Agenda section relating to the effects of the Official Languages Act, shows that if Gaeltacht areas were defined - as suggested by Coimisiún na Gaeltachta - as places where at least 50 per cent of people used Irish daily, they would comprise around 27,000 people.
Despite the aspirations of our founding fathers, the Irish language has failed to flourish. This is attributable to a mixture of official and popular neglect - benign and wilful - and official incompetence. There can be no doubt that many people retain strong feelings for the language - simply put, it is part of what we are. There is widespread support also for the notion that those who wish to use Irish in their dealings with the State must be facilitated.
But promoting the language, no more than any other aspect of the State's governance, should not be conducted without regard to cost or, apparently, any analysis of the likely benefit. Great damage was done to the cause of Irish in previous decades with many children leaving education harbouring something close to a hatred for the language. The approach of Minister for the Gaeltacht Éamon Ó Cuív, those measures already taken and many more to follow, risk causing further alienation.