Madam, - Some years ago, I was asked by a nervous district councillor why it was thought necessary to purchase simultaneous translation equipment.
I explained that it was the policy of the council (Newry and Mourne District Council) to give equal recognition to both the English and Gaelic languages and to do our utmost to facilitate those who wished to use their language in their dealings with the council.
I explained to the councillor that the equipment was primarily for the use of monoglot English speakers who would otherwise be at a disadvantage when official business was being conducted in Irish. Gaelic speakers do not need the assistance of a translator because they invariably understand both English and Gaelic! There was no further objection to purchasing such equipment.
I have not encountered any objection to this allocation of ratepayer's money from the Gaelic-speaking community; on the contrary, they seem to welcome the inclusion of English speakers in the public discourse. Indeed, there is widespread support for the notion that those who wish to use English in their dealings with the council must be facilitated.
We could be accused of "promoting English" but this would be as outlandish as saying that facilitating Gaelic speakers was "promoting Gaelic". Our council receives moneys to provide services to the community and the council aims to facilitate those who wish to access these services in their chosen language.
The council's budget is not for the promotion of English or Gaelic but for delivering services. It would be foolish to ask for a breakdown of the cost of providing services through the medium of English and equally foolish to ask for the cost of providing services in Gaelic.
I would urge those who see nothing but a nightmare scenario resulting from the implementation of the Official Languages Act to go on a study visit to Wales.
Our Celtic cousins have shown that little if any extra funding is required in order to implement a bilingualism policy. - Le dea-ghuí/ With good wishes,
ÉAMONN Ó GRIBÍN, Vice-Chairman, Coiste na Gaeilge, Newry & Mourne District Council.
A chara, - Further to the controversy sparked by your comments on the Official Languages Act, I appreciate that constrictions of space and balance did not allow your correspondent, Liam Reid, (Agenda, June 20th) to give more than a flavour of the opinions he quoted. But I think there are two important points that have been glossed over as a result.
First of all, providing Irish speakers with their civil right to use Irish does not impose the use of Irish on English speakers. They remain free to read ESB annual reports in their own language.
But Irish speakers will no longer be forced to use English in dealings with State bodies - among which reading annual reports is only a priority for journalists and others like them.
Secondly, the key question is the status of the language itself. Is it recognised as a legitimate vehicle for official discourse or is it confined as a marginal and individual experience that doesn't intrude on general life? In the Gaeltacht, in particular, people learn early that their language has no status and that they must use English in wider public life.
Making Irish visible as a language with status is a small part of the struggle to reverse the decline in Irish speaking in the Gaeltacht: not so that annual reports can be read in either English or Irish (a trivialisation of what is at issue) but so that Irish can be used naturally in dealings with public bodies and State companies. And why not? And for the language to grow naturally, the vocabulary and idiom of official discourse must be developed also.
One development helps another; just as one difficulty creates another.
By the way, in Wales, all state companies and bodies must have a bilingual capacity even in places like Cardiff where there is a very low proportion of Welsh speakers.
Making a reality of the constitutional provisions regarding language will benefit Irish by encouraging its use in public life, and as a result even more so in private life. If people really don't think that is right, then they should campaign to change the Constitution. It is the ultimate in subversive behaviour to campaign instead to ignore the Constitution. - Is mise le meas,
EOIN Ó MURCHÚ, Gáirdíní Rualaigh, Cluain Dolcáin, Baile Átha Cliath.