STEPHEN COLLINS,
A chara, - It is surprising that Coimisiún na Gaeltachta's recent report warns of the possible demise of Gaeltacht areas. If its terms of reference were to "make recommendations as to how to strengthen the use of Irish as an everyday medium in Gaeltacht areas", then those recommendations, rather than doomwatching, should have been its priority.
Furthermore, there is an implication in both the report and in your Editorial of May 27th,that the fate of the Irish language is linked inextricably to those areas. It is not.
Speaking English at home in the Gaeltacht while supporting Irish is not "untenable and hypocritical" - asserting as much certainly is. Insisting on monolingualism in any context is wrong, but especially so where it intrudes on private domestic lives. To suggest that native English speakers should not learn to express themselves in a different language would be ludicrous.
The reality is that most of the inhabitants of the modern Gaeltacht are bilingual - and, in spite of themselves, so too are most Irish citizens. Unfortunately, we have cultivated the expectation that Irish is spoken only in the traditional Gaeltacht regions to the exclusion of the "Galltacht". If we want the usage of Irish to be properly woven into the fabric of our modern culture, we should abandon that physical association in favour of a Gaeltacht that simply exists anywhere Irish is spoken. Language, like any living thing, has a survival instinct and needs space in which to thrive.
What will be lost if the Irish heartlands cease to exist is the heritage of the traditional lifestyle. There are few survivors of the people whose cultural and life experiences set them apart as a minority - for example, the original Blasket Islanders. Rather than feting their existence or recognising it as part of our national identity, we have turned it over to the tourist industry and, worse still, erected tombstones such as the Blasket Island Heritage Centre to the passing of those people.
It is obvious that Ireland should take responsibility for the salvation of Irish, but it is imperative that it should protect the minority for whom the language is essential. - Is mise,
STEPHEN COLLINS, Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2.