An Ireland without Irish - could that be what the future holds?

"There is something absurd and rather tragic about setting out on a journey around a country, knowing that if you speak the language of that country you will not be understood. It is even more absurd when the country is your native one and you are speaking its native language."

Manchán Mangan was, of course, referring to Ireland and to the declining Irish language. During his search for Irish speakers one of his experiences, in particular, highlights the dwindling use of Irish on a day to day basis.

At the beginning of his search Manchán Mangan walked into an Ordnance Survey Office in Dublin and began speaking Irish. Three times he was told to speak English or get out. In the end he was refused help and the office personnel ordered him to leave. Worse yet, they were angry at him for speaking Irish as they could not understand a word he was saying.

Now, it doesn't take an expert to see that there is something radically wrong with this situation. Firstly as a semi-state organisation the Ordnance Survey Office is obliged to provide certain services in Irish. Therefore why shouldn't this man, or anyone else, be allowed to speak Irish? Secondly, the Irish language is recognised by the Irish Constitution as our first language. Shouldn't we be entitled to speak it as openly and as freely as we wish? The answer simply is yes.

So where did it all go wrong? What happened that caused Irish to be swept under the rug and pushed English to the forefront of our lives? Well let us rewind back to the 16th century. The Queen of England, Mary 1, introduced a policy called plantations. In effect this meant driving the native Irish people from their land and replacing them with loyal English settlers who would speak the English language. As a result of this policy the Irish language declined and, subsequently, English spread throughout Ireland.

The Great Famine also saw a dramatic decrease in the number of Irish speakers and, by the end of the nineteenth century, and the end of British rule, Irish was only spoken by less than a mere 15 percent of the population. Unfortunately Irish never fully recovered and keeping our unique language alive has proved to be an uphill battle.

Nevertheless we are all given the chance to learn Irish. For the majority of Irish people, our first introduction to the cúpla focal as Gaeilge is through our schooling network. Irish remains a mandatory subject in both primary and secondary schools. The teaching of Irish however has been strongly criticised in the past and blamed primarily for the lack of interest students show in learning the language. Primary school children are not receiving a solid foundation of Irish before they head into secondary school. They then spend 6 years reading English versions of Irish novels and poems, memorising answers, essays and oral conversations so they can regurgitate them once June rolls 'round. Why do they do this, one might ask? The answer is easy. To obtain the maximum amount of points possible. They don't care about Irish. For the majority of them it is a chore. Those who regard it as a chore take pride in burning their Irish books, copies and notes once the Leaving Cert is over, safe in the knowledge that they will never have to speak "that language" again.

It is clear that improvements will have to be made, inside and outside the classroom, if our native language is to survive. The Country's National Authority for the preservation of Gaeilge is doing all it can to keep the language alive by supporting schools, newspapers and even a television station. Foinse, an educational Irish magazine is published and distributed freely every Wednesday with the Irish Independent. Television programmes such as Des Bishop's In the name of the Fáda and, more recently, Bernard Dunne's Bród Club have aimed to highlight the importance of the Irish language.

Seachtain na Gaeilge, which is an annual event, recently took place and is a week where Irish is emphasised and promoted throughout the country. People are encouraged to get involved and try to speak as Gaeilge. Now I don't claim to be fluent, but I do enjoy Irish. The tone of it, the sound of it, the way it rolls off the tongue. Listening to people speaking it is mesmerising. So with that in mind, and considering the week that was in it, I decided to attend an Irish play called Eilis. Afterwards I got chatting to a girl who was in the play. She admitted she never had a real grá for the Irish language and the thought of participating in a play as Gaeilge was "a bit ridiculous". However her love of drama outshone the fact she didn't exactly like the language and, afterwards, she declared it was well worth it and "it made me wish I gave Irish more of a chance in secondary school".

Bank of Ireland have also embraced Seachtain na Gaeilge with open arms. Eileen Walsh, Manager of Bank of Ireland Dungarvan, told how school children, from the nearby Irish-speaking school visited the bank, during Seachtain na Gaeilge. They displayed their singing and dancing talents as Gaeilge. She also told how the Dungarvan branch are getting into the swing of things. Each Friday, for the four Fridays of March, the bank is holding what they call "Fáilte Fridays". On "Fáilte Fridays" the bank workers are "encouraged to speak cúpla fócal amongst themselves and to the customers if possible".

Unfortunately not everyone is as inspired by Seachtain na Gaeilge, but it does go to show that if people cast aside their own inhibitions and give the language a chance they might actually enjoy it.

It is unrealistic to expect Ireland to abandon English. However it is not unrealistic to expect Ireland to accept and appreciate this individual and unique language we are privileged to have. It is time Irish was accepted and used by the broader community. Hopefully, in time to come, with more improvements and resources from our government a greater emphasis can be stressed on our native Irish language all over Ireland and not just in the Gaeltacht areas.