Pay to speak Irish

If services were available - demand should follow.

Irish people have much respect for the language.

What we are discussing is the Irish public sector not using their own language. And How best to rectify this.

Demand is not an issue.

Very often - leadership is required.
 
cork said:
If services were available - demand should follow.
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That theory has worked really well with the official documents that have been translated -
eg Clare county development plan, 200 english copies sold, zero irish.
[broken link removed]
 

Demand is not an issue ? lol How many people do you see putting their money where you say their mouth is, and buying Irish language newspapers and magazines.
 
Crazy stuff there cork. Crazy, crazy stuff.
So you are of the opinion that the public sector should be forced to speak Irish, and even if no one wants to avail of the service it doesn’t matter; do it anyway because… well… because they should; that’s why.
 
In my office, I have designated staff to deal with people through Irish if they want it. I have signs up that the service is available. Since implentation in August 2007, we have had ....zero requests for the service. And the office is fifteen miles from a large gaeltacht area.
 
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What we are discussing is the Irish public sector not using their own language. And How best to rectify this.
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Who's own language? Irish is not the language of the seat of Government.

A very short history lesson.

Dublin is the capital of Ireland. It is where, according to the Constitution, the Government sits. Irish has NEVER been the first spoken language in Dublin at any time in its history, going back over 1,000 years. In the early years, the Viking language was the spoken language, followed by the the variation of Norse that the Normans spoke, and then English.

Dublin through most of its history has always operated as a somewhat autonomous city state. And this survives to this day - in terms of population and economics, Ireland today is essentially a Dublin city state with a hinterland covering most of the island. Like it or not, and I know this view is not popular with non-Dubliners, this is the reality.

In the same way that some areas of the country are deemed "Gaeltachts" then Dublin should be deemed an English speaking area where only the Dublin version of English should be spoken.
 

But even that there were zero requests - the service is there. How many designated staff?
So you are of the opinion that the public sector should be forced to speak Irish, and even if no one wants to avail of the service it doesn’t matter; do it anyway because… well… because they should; that’s why.
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The first language of the state is Irish. They are been paid by the state. What is wrong at being bi-lingual. State services should be available in both languages. This has not been happening. People being told to wait for somebody who has Irish. Services should be available on an equal basis in both languages.

Why should we not aim for a bi-lingual public sector?

It is not beyond our public sector to achieve this.
 
leghorn said:
This is just going around in circles. I believe the reasons were multiple, lack of interest, cost etc.
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No - this tread is quiet interesting.

I agree that there is a lack of interest on both the sides of the public sector and customers. This is because of the patchy level of services available previously.

But the kernel of this tread is that 2 people going into accessing public services - one demanding the service in each of the official state languages. Should these 2 citizens not be treated the same?

Cost is a good point but public sector organisations already have training budgets. Better spent on languages than other types of courses.

It all boils down to the level of service the state deems is appropriate to be provided in Irish.

I believe that is it is near parity with the services in english when u couple the 37 constitution with the official languages act.
 
Does anyone know the Irish for "this topic has become boring"?
 
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