Minister has no right to redefine our identity

WE wish to address some of the issues raised in Gaeltacht and Rural Affairs Minister Éamon Ó Cuív’s letter (Irish Examiner, April 18).

Mr Ó Cuív says he “consulted extensively” before he changed the placenames of 2,319 Gaeltacht townlands. He states that a press release was issued to the media and a “lively consultation process” took place on Raidio na Gaeltachta. He says he received 24 written submissions on the Placenames Order.

A 1% uptake on his invitation for submissions does not suggest a successful “extensive consultation process”.

We accept that a lively and worthwhile discussion took place on RnaG on the correct Irish spellings of various townlands within the Gaeltacht.

However, Dingle is far more than a townland. Dingle is the pre-Norman, non-municipal, regional, capital town of west Kerry. Within the town boundaries of Dingle alone, there are nine townlands.

It is reasonable to expect that some debate would take place on the effects of a proposed order to make illegal the name “Dingle” on our national signposts.

Can anyone remember, or show a record of, a public notice, discussion, debate, article or interview about Dingle’s name change in our mainstream daily national newspapers or radio stations prior to the order being made? Can the minster clarify whether Fáilte Ireland was informed in advance of his intention to remove Dingle from all official Ordnance Survey maps and signposts?

Another question raised by the minister is how tourists managed to get around the Gaeltacht without difficulty over the past 30 years. He states that English names have long been removed from all Gaeltacht signposts.

The answer is simple. The old bilingual black and white signposts are still to be seen in most Gaeltachtaí. Indeed, our own last bilingual Dingle signpost was only removed from west Kerry last month. It stood on the main Ballyferriter to Dingle road, in the heart of the Gaeltacht, for over 30 years giving clear direction to our tourists and didn’t cause the slightest offence to anyone. But, under the new regime, the Language Commissioner ordered its removal.

The most depressing aspect of all in Mr Ó Cuív’s letter is his total lack of understanding of the issue at hand.

We are Muintir Daingean Uí Chúis, the people of Dingle. That is our identity, that is our history and that is our heritage. We have been accepted and recognised as such for the past 700 years, and Mr Ó Cuív, along with some civil servants, did not have the right to redefine our identity to suit their vision of who we should be.

Fergus O’Flaithbheartaigh

Kate O’Connor

John Moriarty

Coiste Daingean Uí Chúis

Dingle

Co Kerry