“Lá Nua”, a new Irish language newspaper backed by the British and Irish governments through Fóras na Gaeilge (set up in the Good Friday Agreement) was launched in Dublin yesterday. The paper will replace Belfast paper “Lá”, and will be produced daily from West Belfast and the Donegal Gaeltacht.

Conna Lawlor has been made Chief Executive of the paper and at 26-is the youngest of her kind in any newspaper in Ireland.

“The Irish language media is stronger than ever before and we plan to complement the success of TG4, Raidió na Gaeltachta and Foinse with a bright, dynamic daily paper as Gaeilge,” she said.

The paper is also offering podcasts and entries on YouTube which is hoped will attract young Irish speakers.

“Lá Nua will appeal to the growing interest in Irish among young people and will offer a compelling internet proposition with daily podcasts, a downloadable version of the entire paper every day and even video-newsclips”, said Lawlor.

Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister Éamon Ó Cúiv was at the paper’s launch at the Davenport Hotel in Merrion Square yesterday and commended the new paper for its technological advances.

“This shows the great progress being made by the Irish language media and the understanding that Lá Nua has of the modern society in which Irish speakers live today”, he said.

In what can only be described as an historic celebration for the Irish language, the first official cúpla focail were spoken in the European Parliament yesterday.

Munster MEP Brian Cowley officially introduced Irish to his EU counterparts for the first time saying:

“Is mór an onóir dom labhairt i mo theanga dúchais anseo tráthnóna inniu”. / “It’s a huge honour for me to be speaking in my native language this afternoon”.

The Government threw a party to celebrate the debut of an Ghaeilge in the European Parliament. Present at the celebrations were the official EU Irish translators Labhras Ó Finneadha and Róisín Ní Úrdal, and Fionnuala Croker who is the EU Irish legal translator.

Irish EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said a few words in Irish, adding that: “I haven’t spoken as much Irish as that since I took my orals during my Leaving Cert”.

The University of Westminster in London is currently training a further five people to work as full time Irish interpreters at the EU (apparently there are no courses at Irish universities to cater for this).

The cost of the implementation of an Ghaeilge into the EU is €677, 048- hardly a sum to break the bank.

Check out http://www.eurolang.net for more on minority languages within the EU

Caife Úna is Kildare Street’s hidden gem. Situated just around the corner from the hustle and bustle of busy Grafton Street, Caife Úna offers a relaxing retreat from the madness of Dublin city. As the name suggests, Caife Úna is an Irish speaking eatery. But before you get palpitations and are thrown back to your gaeltacht days of gulping down the Bean an Tí’s prátaí while desperately trying to avoid using the demon béarla, you can relax. While Caife Úna’s first language is Irish, the friendly waitress is more than happy to serve you up your spuds as Béarla. And its not just spuds that are on the bilingual menu here. Caife Úna offers a more sophisticated salmon dish or a veggie paninni… not very Coláiste Gaelach at all at all. 

The décor is elegant yet homely with wooden floors and pretty paintings setting off the red-brick walls. The ambiance is relaxed and cosy, with the clientele ranging from mums taking a coffee break from shopping and business folk closing a deal over the laptop, to ladies of leisure enjoying a boozey lunch. I popped in for a simple cupán caife with my English only speaking friend who, after much encouragement from yours truly, managed to unearth cúpla focail from his school days to order a pot of tea and a scone. (I must add that he was so chuffed with his efforts I felt I should give him a gold star on his copy book).  

Caife Úna is not an “in your face” type of Irish language establishment. The choice is left entirely up to the customer whether or not they want to speak Irish, and so the balance is just right. I couldn’t resist a bit of investigative eavesdropping (ahem) to hear whether any of the tables were actually speaking Irish, and I was pleasantly surprised to find one couple having a full blown conversation as Gaeilge! While the rest of the tables spoke mainly English (one Polish, a sure sign of modern Ireland) nobody left without throwing in a cheery “go raibh mile maith agat” before heading back out to the rat race.

Working with Fóras na Gaeilge, Microsoft Ireland launched an Irish language version of Windows 2003 and Windows XP in 2005.

You can download Microsoft Windows 2003 and Windows XP as Gaeilge for free at:

http://www.microsoft.com/ireland/gaeilge/

Cúrsaí an Lae presenter Neasa Ní Chualáin and FF MEP Seán Ó Neachtain

Radió na Gaeltachta have announced that they are axing current affairs programme “Cúrsaí an Lae” on February 5th as part of a “station reshuffle”. The show will be replaced with a similar programme in its slot called “Tris Anir”, though it has not yet been said who the new presenter will be.

The move comes not long after R na G received a complaint (written on official EU paper) from Fianna Fáil MEP for Ulster and Connaught Seán Ó Neachtain who claimed presenter Neasa Ní Chualáin had been biased against him in an interview in October.

In a letter to the station’s director general Edel Ní Churráin, Ó Neachtain wrote:

“Iarraim ort mar cheannaire féachaint chuige go mbeidh cothromas agus proifisiúntacht ag baint le cúrsaí craolacháin ar an stáisiún.

Bhí mé riamh bródúil agus measúil ar Raidió na Gaeltachta ach is trua liom go bhfuil duine amháin in ann an dea-mhéin sin a loit agus ní hé don chéad uair é.”

English translation:

“I urge you as director general to make sure that professionalism and fairness are maintained throughout your broadcasts.

I used to be proud of and have respect for Radió na Gaeltachta but I am disappointed that one person has ruined this high regard and not for the first time”.

Ó Neachtain told Irish language newspaper “Lá” that Neasa Ní Chuláin had made personal, biased and untrue references to him and his family but that once he was given the chance to go on the show and explain his side of the story the matter could be resolved.

He also said that he wasn’t the first politician to complain about the presenter.

While R na G denies that changes to programming have any connection to Ó Neachtain’s complaint, Fine Gael spokesperson for Gaeltacht Affairs Dinny McGinley said he would be requesting an explanation from the Irish language radio station in the next few days.

“Any fundamental changes to the radio schedule should be explained by Ráidió na Gaeltachta”, he said.

 Cúrsaí an Lae is a daily current affairs show that draws in the second biggest listenership on Radió na Gaeltachta. Native Irish speaker Neasa Ní Chualáin has won broadcasting awards in the past and is thought to be one of the more “cutting edge “of the Irish language broadcasters.

It has not been announced whether she will have anything to do with the replacement show “Tris Anir”.

Mayo man Colmán Ó Raghallaigh recently won Irish language Book of the Year Award for Young People for his graphic comic- book styled novel “An Táin”. Ó Raghaillaigh, who is also an Irish language publisher, picked up a non- too -shabby cheque for €10,000 which was presented to him by playwright Brian Friel at the annual event held in Derry.

The book is based on the old Irish tale of the “Táin Bó Cuailgne”- the cattle raid on Ulster. The story revolves around the jealousy of Queen Maebh of Connaught who gathers together a large army to capture the most famous bull in Ulster. The original story can be found in the Book of Leinster dating back to c1106.

Ó Raghallaigh lives in the town of Claremorris in Co. Mayo and founded the publishing house Cló Mhaigh Eo with his wife in 1995. He has written many Irish language novels for children and teenagers, including comics such as the most recent An Táin. Despite the success of Cló Mhaigh Eo, Ó Raghallaigh hasn’t given up his day job as an Irish teacher:

“Is gá dúinn na postanna lae a choinneáil le bheith beo. Cuireann sin srianta forbartha orainn gan dabht. Tá an fhoireann beag mar nach acmhainn dúinn daoine eile a fhostú”.

In English:

“We need to keep our day jobs in order to survive. Without a doubt that constrains our development. The team is small because we can’t afford to employ more people”, he says.

Ó Raghallaigh’s visions for the future of the Irish language include:

- That it is taught properly and professionally in primary and secondary schools.

-That there be a slight change in the secondary level curriculum so that students are really learning the language rather than pretending to as is the case now.

- That Irish become a working language in the Dáil

 - That it be recognised as an official language of the EU (as achieved in January 2007)

Profile: Bríd Higgins Ní Chinnéide

Age: 25

Status: Journalism masters student; fluent Irish speaker

Q: Where did u first learn Irish?

A:I went to a gaelscoil- Coláiste Íosagán in Stillorgan and used to speak it around the house growing up

Q: Would you send your children to gaelscoil?

A: Definitely- it’s a great way to learn the language and develop a real love for it

Q: Do you still speak Irish? How often? 

A:Yes I do, not that often though… about once or twice a fortnight

Q: Do you think that making Irish an official language of the Eu will raise its
status in real terms?

A: No – getting official language status is exactly that- a status symbol.  So much of what surrounds the Irish language is symbolic  

Q: Do you think that the image of the language has changed in recent years?

A:Its image has improved. Like everything it benefits from more sophisticated
pr and marketing. However it’s important that this sexier image translates
into Irish being used more. I doubt it does significantly. Image is not
everything; it needs to be coupled with more effective education.

Q: What is your vision for Irish in the future? 

I think that people will continue to take a cultural interest and pride in it, but I doubt that the number of native speakers will grow

The Rathcairn Gaeltacht in Meath, established in 1935

Over 25, 000 students spent time in the Gaeltacht this summer, setting a new all time record. Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cúiv said that the increasing numbers show that “more and more people are opting for the Irish language”. He also said that 50% more students are attending the summer courses in the Gaeltacht areas in the 90s and 00s than in the 70s and 80s.  

 “This is a testament to the growing interest that parents and students alike are showing in acquiring Irish as a spoken language.   

“There is no question but that Irish is much more prominent now in our society due to developments in recent years such as the establishment of TG4, and that our young people now have more of an interest in the language”, he said.  

Ó Cúiv also gave the hard working mná tí (head female of the house) a slap on the back for their part in the success of the coláístí samhraidh (summer courses).   Under the “Irish language Learners” scheme that was first established in the 70s, the Government pays grants to native Irish speaking households throughout the Gaeltacht for having students to stay. There are currently 42 coláistí samhraidh around the country.  

As reported in the Examiner today, the place name Dingle is soon to be but a relic from the past. Kerry County Council is currently in the process of changing the name to its Irish version – An Daingean- and replacing it on signposts around the county. The locals are less than happy and 90% of them voted against the move in a recent referendum. 1, 005 of the 1,222 votes cast were in favour of changing the name to the bilingual version, Dingle Daingean Uí Chúis, but Kerry Council reportedly began changing the name to An Daingean before the referendum results were even declared.  

The idea to change the name was first put forward by Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cúiv in response to calls from some members of the community that were opposed to having an English name for a Gaeltacht town. A spokesman for the Kerry council told the Examiner that they were obliged to use An Daingean instead of Dingle in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003. 

 Locals are now worried that the name change will have a drastic effect on tourism in the area. Many tourists flock to Dingle every year to see Funghi the dolphin who lives in Dingle harbour. A local shopkeeper commented that since the name change on the signposts many tourists have been coming into his shop asking for directions. ‘These tourists are coming into the shop making enquiries every day. They don’t know which way to turn and are very confused. Some of them turn around on the road looking for the road to Dingle, which can be a dangerous manoeuvre’, he said.  

Perhaps the most worrying aspect about this name change issue is not that tourism may be affected- after all if you’re going to travel all the way to Dingle in the first place you’ll be damned if you let bad signposts get in your way, despite the irritation- but that the referendum seems to have been ignored. Why carry out a referendum in the first place if the results are to be ignored? I wonder what Funghi would say…

Check out the background behind the name change at: http://www.dinglename.com/dingle.htm 

The Seoighe and O’Shea show today featured a piece on the origin of words in which they looked at some of the Irish words that have made their way into the English language. Here are some of the more commonly used ones, surprisingly there are more than one might think….