éirígí Tir Chonaill

An Teanga agus Polaitíocht na hAislinge Bréige

31/12/2010

(English version follows)

Sheol Brian Cowen Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge de chuid rialtas na Sé Chondae Fichead i mBaile Átha Cliath Dé Máirt [21ú Nollaig], i ndiaidh don straitéis tacaíocht d’aonghuth a fháil i dTeach Laighean ar 18ú Samhain.

Díríonn an straitéis ar ocht réimse – oideachas; an Ghaeltacht; an teaghlach; riarachán, seirbhísí agus pobal; na meáin agus teicneolaíocht; foclóirí; reachtaíocht agus stádas; agus saol eacnamaíochta – agus leagadh amach í le cur i gcrích i ceithre chéim, ó bhunú go comhdhlúthú. Sa dréachtleagan den straitéis bhí clár ama sainiúil ag dul leis na céimeanna go léir, ach baineadh iad ón leagan deiridh.

Is maolaisnéis í cur síos ar an straitéis seo mar uaillmhianach – is í an phríomhsprioc líon na ndaoine a labhraíonn Gaeilge go laethúil sna Sé Chondae Fichead a mhéadú ó 83,000 go 250,000 faoin bhliain 2030. Chiallódh seo méadú 5.7 faoin chéad i líon na gcainteoirí gach bliain. I gcomparáid, bhí plean gnímh na Breatnaise Iaith Pawb [Teanga Chách] ag dúil le méadú cúig faoin chéad i líon na gcainteoirí Breatnaise thar thréimhse deich mbliana.

Dúirt tuarascáil a d’fhoilsigh Fiontar anuraidh ar an dréachtstraitéis gur tháinig figiúr an 250,000 ó iar-aire Gaeltachta na Sé Chondae Fichead, Éamon Ó Cuív, agus nach raibh na sonraí sochtheangeolaíochta ann le tacú leis an réamh-mheastúchán.

Príomhsprioc eile atá an ag straitéis ná líon na ndaoine a labhraíonn Gaeilge go laethúil sa Ghaeltacht a mhéadú 25 faoin chéad. Ach tá an eagraíocht le cúram ar fhorbairt na Gaeltachta, Údarás na Gaeltachta, tá an eagraíocht le leasú faoin scéim mar Údarás na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta, le freagracht acu ar sheachadadh na straitéise ar fud na Sé Chondae Fichead. Gan amhras fágfar sainriachtanais na Gaeltacht ar lár i scuabáil an mhaorlathais nua agus leanfar le meathlú fada phobail na Gaeltachta.

Cé go bhfuil a laigí ag an straitéis féin, tugadh isteach í le haghaidh díospóireachta i dTeach Laighean ar an lá céanna a d’fhógair Brian Lenihan teacht an IMF, an Bhainc Cheannais Eorpaigh agus a gclár oibre nualiobrálach. Sa Cháinaisnéis a maíodh ar 7ú Nollaig, scoradh maoiniú Roinn Gnóthaí Pobail, Comhionannais agus Gaeltachta na Sé Chondae Fichead a bhaineann le cúrsaí Gaeltachta agus oileán 42 faoin chéad, ó €69 milliún [£59 milliún] go €40 milliún [£34 milliún]. Cuimsíonn seo ísliú dhá thrian ar bhuiséad chaiteachas caipitiúil Údarás na Gaeltachta, ó €18 milliún [£15 milliún] go €6 milliún [£5 milliún].

Bhí laghdú 36 faoin chéad chomh maith i mbuiséad Chiste na Gaeilge de chuid na roinne, ciste a mhaoiníonn grúpaí pobail agus cultúrtha ar fud na Sé Chondae Fichead. Gearradh buiséad Oifig an Choimisinéara Teanga, a dhéanann maoirseacht ar chuir i bhfeidhm reachtaíocht na Gaeilge, gearradh é 16 faoin chéad. Leiríonn sé i ndáiríre go bhfuil sé le cruthú fós cén dóigh a gcuirfear an straitéis 20 bliain i gcrích má tá na heagraíochtaí ábhartha ag streachailt lena ndualgais a chomhlíonadh fiú anois.

Ag seoladh an straitéise, dúirt Brian Cowen go gcuirfí €1.5 milliún [£1.3 milliún] i leataobh le haghaidh chur i gcrích na chéad bliana den straitéis. Níl san fhigiúr ach comhartha agus ní mór féachaint go seasann sé do straitéis chomharthach. Cé gur léirigh na páirtithe bunaíochta go léir i dTeach Laighean a dtacaíocht don straitéis, is fiú cuimhneamh nach raibh riamh aon easpa béalghrá don Ghaeilge sna Sé Chondae Fichead. Níl aon ghealltanas ann ach oireadh go mbeidh an straitéis mar chuid de chlár oibre an chéad rialtais Átha Cliath eile, go háirithe rialtas a bheas ag oibriú faoi choimirce an IMF agus chlár oibre ar cuma leis faoi rud ar bith nach féidir a thráchtearrú agus a dhíol go héasca.

D’fháiltigh pobal na Gaeilge roimh fhoilsiú na straitéise 20 bliana go ginearálta, cé gur léirigh siad imní faoi cheisteanna ar nós an easpa sonraí sa straitéis féin, chomh maith leis an dóigh a maoineofar í.

Tá aitheantas ann go bhfuil straitéis nua agus radacach de dhíth le meath na bpobal Gaeltachta a aisiompú agus leis an teanga a athbheochan, chomh maith leis an toil chun í a chur i gcrích. Ní thiocfaidh seo ó pháirtithe polaitiúila atá faoi mheirse aicme eacnamúil ghaimbín, ach ó pobail Ghaeilge agus Ghaeltachta ar fud na tíre a thugann aird ar fhís an Phiarsaigh ar Éirinn “ní amháin saor, ach Gaelach chomh maith; ní amháin Gaelach, ach saor chomh maith”.

 An Teanga and the Politics of the Pipe Dream

The Twenty-Six County government’s 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language was launched by Brian Cowen in Dublin on Tuesday [December 21], the strategy having received unanimous support in Leinster House on November 18.

The strategy focuses on eight areas – education; the Gaeltacht; the family; administration, services and community; media and technology; dictionaries; legislation and status; and economic life – and is designed to be implemented in four stages, from establishment to consolidation. The draft version of the strategy contained specific time frames for each of the stages, though these have been removed from the final version.

To refer to the strategy as ambitious would be an understatement – the key target is to increase the number of people who speak Irish on a daily basis in the Twenty-Six Counties from 83,000 to 250,000 by the year 2030. This would mean an increase of 5.7 per cent in the number of speakers every year. In comparison, the Welsh language action plan Iaith Pawb [Everyone’s Language] sought an increase of five per cent in the number of Welsh speakers over 10 years.

A report published by Fiontar last year on the draft strategy stated that the 250,000 figure had come from former Twenty-Six County minister for the Gaeltacht Éamon Ó Cuív, and that there was no sociolinguistic data to support the projection.

Another key target of the strategy is to increase the number of people who speak Irish on a daily basis in Gaeltacht areas by 25 per cent. However, the organisation that was tasked with the development of the Gaeltacht, Údarás na Gaeltachta, is to be reformed under the scheme as Údarás na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta, with responsibilities for delivering the strategy throughout the Twenty-Six County state. The specific needs of Gaeltacht areas will undoubtedly be lost in the shuffle of this new bureaucracy and the long decline of Gaeltacht communities will inevitably continue.

While the strategy itself has weaknesses, it also happened to be introduced for debate in Leinster House on the same day that Brian Lenihan announced the arrival of the IMF, the European Central Bank and their neo-liberal agenda. In the budget announced on December 7, the funding for the Twenty-Six County Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs relating to the Gaeltacht and the islands was slashed by 42 per cent, from €69 million [£59 million] to €40 million [£34 million]. This includes the capital expenditure budget of Údarás na Gaeltachta being reduced by two-thirds, from €18 million [£15 million] to €6 million [£5 million].

There was also a 36 per cent reduction in the budget of the department’s Ciste na Gaeilge [Irish Language Fund], which funds community and cultural groups throughout the Twenty-Six Counties. The Office of the Language Commissioner, which oversees the implementation of Irish language legislation, also saw its budget cut by 16 per cent. These cuts beg the serious question of how the 20-year strategy is going to be implemented if the relevant organisations are struggling to carry out their duties even now.

At the launch of the strategy, Brian Cowen made a point of stating that €1.5 million [£1.3 million] would be set aside for the implementation of the first year of the strategy. The figure is tokenistic and is representative of what has to be looked upon as a tokenistic strategy. Although all the establishment parties in Leinster House have expressed their support for the strategy, it’s worth noting that there has never been any shortage of lip service to the Irish language in the Twenty-Six Counties. There is also no guarantee that it will be part of the agenda of the next Dublin government, especially a government that will operate under the auspices of the IMF and an agenda that cares little for anything that can’t easily be commoditised and sold off.

The Irish language community have generally welcomed the publication of the 20-year strategy, though they have expressed concern over issues such as a lack of detail in the strategy itself, as well as how it will be funded.

There is a recognition that a new and radical strategy is needed to reverse the decline of Gaeltacht communities and to revitalise the language, along with the will to implement it. These will not come from political parties in thrall to a gombeen economic class, but from Irish language and Gaeltacht communities throughout the country who take heed of Pearse’s vision of an Ireland “not free merely, but Gaelic as well; not Gaelic merely, but free as well”.