Minister says Gaeltacht town’s name has not been wiped off the map
Firstly, I did consult extensively before making the Placenames (Ceantair Ghaeltachta) Order 2004. The order, made on December 21, 2004, contains 2319 placenames from all Gaeltacht areas in the country.
I arranged for a draft of this order to be published and a press release issued on the matter before summer '04 so the views of the people of the Gaeltacht could be taken into account before it was made. A copy was also made available to the relevant county councils.
Raidió na Gaeltachta facilitated a lively consultation process on its airwaves over the summer months. Twenty-four submissions in writing were received relating to the draft order as a result of this active consultation process with Gaeltacht communities.
The submissions were presented to the Placenames Commission and some amendments were made to the order based on these. The order was then revised and presented for my signature reflecting the revised advice of the commission.
Secondly, signposts within the Gaeltacht area, of which An Daingean/Dingle is a part, have shown the Irish placename only since 1970. In practical terms all the order does is to bring signposts outside the Gaeltacht into line with this standard. No credible explanation has been put forward to show how tourists were not confused by the previous system which had An Daingean on signposts in the town and surrounding area, but bilingual versions on signposts outside that area, with maps in English only.
Neither is there a reasonable explanation for how, supposedly, they will be confused now, with An Daingean only on all signposts and tourist maps in both languages.
Thirdly, I have not rejected the authentic pre-Norman name 'Dingle'. The argument that the pre-Norman Irish-speaking inhabitants of the area named it in English is a novel one. Irish was the language there then, and it is still spoken in the area today. Neither have I rejected Daingean Uí Chúis. The commission recommended 'An Daingean' as the authentic name of the area in Irish as far back as 1960. The placenames order follows that long-accepted advice.
Had I done otherwise, I would have been open to fair criticism. An Daingean has been used by the county council on road signage since then, inside and outside the Gaeltacht, with no objections from anyone living in the area, as far as I am aware, over the past 35 or so years: that is, until now. While I have great difficulty in understanding why An Daingean was fine for 35 years, but is not now, I have made it clear that I have no personal preference for An Daingean versus Daingean Uí Chúis.
I am happy to arrange for the historic and other evidence on which the Placenames Commission based its recommendation to be made available.
If the county council or other local interests are then still dissatisfied, they will be asked to make a formal submission to the commission to support the view that Daingean Uí Chúis is more authentic. The commission will be asked to review their advice to me in the light of any such submission.
Fourthly, it is equally untrue to say that Dingle is removed from all official national maps. In fact, the outcome of the order for tourist maps is the exact opposite. With regard to tourist maps, there has been a difficulty in that private map publishing companies and some public bodies in their literature did not reflect actual usage on local signposts over that 35-year period until now. Ordnance Survey Ireland has assured my department all new tourist maps it publishes will show both the placename and the English translation of the placename in Gaeltacht areas. These maps are widely available. The main private companies in the map publishing business Collins and the AA have indicated to my department they will ensure that new tourists maps and other literature to be published by them will also show both language versions henceforth.
This bilingual approach to tourist maps will ensure that any possible confusion for tourists is avoided. Equipped with a map that corresponds to local signposts, the English-speaking visitor who does not have Irish should be under no greater disadvantage than the English-speaking tourist trying to navigate in France or Spain, where placenames are in an unfamiliar language. In other words, none at all.
Fifthly, this order will not harm the local tourism industry. The order has no implications whatsoever for the use of Dingle as a brand name, or for tourism marketing purposes, or on signs other than local authority road and street signs.
That said, there is a serious point to be made about the future of tourism in a Gaeltacht area such as west Kerry. The public use of, and pride in, our language does not detract from the tourist's enjoyment of a holiday there. Quite the opposite, in fact. A sense of history and culture adds to the enjoyment of a holiday in any country.
This, of course, is what we offer to the tourist in Ireland not guaranteed sunshine, but a sense of a place apart, with its own history and culture (and yes, that does include a separate language which we value) with a spirit and ambiance that the tourist can find in few other places.
The Irish language and culture is the bread and butter of tourism in Corca Dhuibhne and, if anything, this change I have made will reinforce the distinct attraction of the area to tourists.
The Irish language requires positive efforts to protect its future. This is one small such step, designed to reinforce the status of the language as the spoken community language in Gaeltacht areas and to ensure that the placenames of these areas have official status in law for the first time.
Éamon Ó Cuív TD
Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs
Mespil Road
Dublin 4
