Native Irish speakers: invisible minority or elitist clique?
TV Review: Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh explores the loneliness of the long-suffering Gaeilgeóir
'Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh’s sense of marginalisation seems overstated.'
Are native Irish speakers an invisible minority, marginalised and misunderstood by a hostile and self-hating English-speaking culture? Or are they, as they’re more often characterised, an elitist clique with a misplaced victim complex, intent on keeping their schools to themselves?
TV presenter Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh set out to make the case for the former in Lig Liom (RTE One, Thursday, 7pm) ,which means “let me be me”, an emotional appeal for – well, it’s never quite clear what. More empathy for Irish language speakers? More rights? A more concerted approach to the preservation of the language?