Language and the politics of principle
Mr Roche, who were you talking to?
By all accounts most of protesters could speak Irish. Mr Roche says “these kind of things are based on emotion”. I would remind him that these kind of things are based on hard work trying to keep our language alive.
I think it would be better for Mr Roche to set an example and use the language daily in the Dáil instead of setting out to embarrass those who may not be as fluent as he claims to be.
Mr Roche belongs to a party that made language revival one of its basic principles.
If this principle was followed, we would not have to protest at all, or need a Language Act to protect those who are discriminated against daily by government agencies because they insist on using the official language of this country in business with the State.
I thought this post-colonial attitude to our language and identity was long gone, but it seems not.
If our language does not receive official status in the EU it will prove once and for all that Fianna Fáil cares little for its founding principles.
Con MacParthalain,
17, Páirc an Charraigín,
Baile an Locha,
Corcaigh.
