Sir, - In the aftermath of St Patrick's Day, can I remind those politicians, who seem to think that if they have only a "cupla focal" it entitles them to get them wrong, that the chair in Seanad Eireann is An Cathaoirleach. It is, like all Irish nouns, gender free - cailin is firinsineach, remember! But like Taoiseach, it does have a vocative case: "A Thaoisigh," "A Chathaoirligh," etc. I ask all those highly-educated, Upper-House elite to resolve to end the vulgar disgrace of "A Cathaoirleach" which we hear again and again on Oireachtas Report and in the House. It is only a cupla focal, ach bionn gach tosu lag.
Later on we could get around to asking RTE newscasters to pronounce Taoiseach ("Teashock"!) Dail ("Dawl"!) etc., correctly in both languages. We could go on from there to asking those political/constitutional experts to stop telling us Mr So-and-So "is a Senator in the Dail" - or in Dail Eireann. Why, we might even get around to a situation where Irish journalists would accept that the Germans have a Chancellor, the French have a Premier, the British have a Prime Minister, the North (with a bit of arm-twisting) has a First Minister, but the Republic of Ireland, for better or worse, has a Taoiseach!
I have no wish to sound like an old schoolmaster. But I have written to several members of Seanad Eireann, including those who matriculated for the NUI and, therefore, are supposed to have some grasp of our national language - something which was settled as far back as 1908 when the House of Lords still had a total veto over democratic advance in Ireland! The only response was from David Norris, who should, I suppose, be excused, given that he was born in the Congo, and Trinity College has not yet caught up with the 20th-century idea that entry into this expensive college paid for by Irish taxpayers should involve some grasp of our national vernacular!
Perhaps he might lead a crusade to banish "A Cathaoirleach" from our shores in time for the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the Republic?
Marian Finucane should then highlight some of the other insulting nonsense in English that dominates our airwaves. Like the amount of people that are unemployed in Port Leech being less than what it was last year! - Yours, etc.,Nollaig O Gadhra,
Na Forbacha,
Gaillimh.