Letters to the editor: Positive coverage to promote our language
Actress Catherine Clinch, director Colm BairĂ©ad, and producer Cleona NĂ Chrualaoi of 'An CailĂn CiĂșin' at the Oscars. Picture: Valerie Macon/AFP/GettyÂ
We would like to thank the for the magazine last Saturday, âAn RĂ© Nua â The New Eraâ, 14 pages of Irish-language topics such as filmmakers Colm BairĂ©ad and Cleona NĂ Chrualaoi with .
Also covered were other filmmakers and actors, TG4, stories of inspiring learners of Irish, information on courses, holidays in the Gaeltacht, and summer colleges. A great bonus was a lovely cheerful full-colour poster as Gaeilge â âAn Samhradhâ â linked to the CĂșla 4 app.
It was great to read such positive coverage of Irish, to quote one of your articles: âJust two years ago Irish was listed as one of 12 European languages in danger of extinction. Today, from movies to books, to TG4 Internâs Twitter account â our native language is having a cultural moment.â
It is important that we all do our share to hold onto and pass onto our children the only truly distinctive trait that marks Irish nationality.
We must ensure that we are not the generation to lose such a precious resource.
We should try to speak what Gaeilge we have everywhere we can, lobby politicians to provide free Irish-language classes for all, including immigrants, and demand Irish-language centres open to the public for our major cities.
ArĂs ĂĄr mĂłr-bhuĂochas don agus a bhfoireann. Go n-Ă©irĂ leo agus go mba fada buan iad.
Now that Limerick have achieved the remarkable feat of four in a row perhaps the city (the fourth largest on this island) will now step up and assume the culture role commensurate with its size. It is surely one of our significant cities on the banks of the Shannon River.
I have met too many Limerick people who seem to downplay their native city rather than take pride in its cultural history, sporting, musical talent and above all its glorious countryside set in the golden vale.
Too often Limerick is overlooked and eclipsed by cities smaller in size (attractive though they are). I hope the great âgaisceâ of the Limerick hurlers will inject fresh impetus into the city life launching a new era of prosperity and cultural achievement.
And to end I suggest that Denis Allenâs musical tribute to the city be re-recorded altering one word:
âLimerick youâre a leader.â Have confidence and pride in your city as much as you have in your hurlers.
I recently broke my wrist and attended Cork University Hospital. I was happy with the care I received and the aftercare in the fracture clinic. The professionals there were efficient and kind. I chatted with a gentleman who had a plaster cast on his foot. He had it removed and I met him on his way back from physiotherapy and asked how he had got on he said he had got royal treatment. I just thought I should highlight the positive experience we both had with our health service because it always seems to be negative stories that we hear.
With the government coming under increasing pressure to not change the hospitality sector Vat rate from 9% to 13.5% perhaps they should do some lateral thinking to change the rate to 11%.
In the most recent budget there was a compromise increase of âŹ12 in weekly social welfare payments and a settlement of 11% in Vat rates is now called for to protect jobs in hospitality.
The RTĂ payments affair surely needs something akin to a Woodward-Bernstein axis of forensics at this stage to lay bare the quintessential nods and nuances pertaining.Â
To date itâs clearly evident that all parties to the scandal have at least some degree of culpability, some much more than others of course. The question of how the âsecretâ sequence of contract manipulations was sparked in the first instance is the key.
Who greedily prompted the âsidebar dealâ? Who then witheringly acquiesced and who then shamefully covered up? A true triad of ânot-soâ imponderables, but all required to be identified, exposed and graded as per culpability calibration.
The would seem to have a few very able and experienced journos who would well qualify for such a Woodward-Bernstein assignment. A Mick Clifford-Paul Hosford axis, for instance, could do the illuminating/liberating trick to deliver us all from the festering fiasco.
Then perhaps, the relevant candidates for confessional enlightenment can openly accept their transgressions, conjure some convincing contrition, endure their penitential due and perhaps move further along the road to redemption. A likely unlikely?
Much has been said lately of the commercial television sector and how it provides an independent alternative to the public sector service run by RTĂ.
Virgin Media Television is part of what used to be NTL, which was divested from UPC which used to be Cablelink which, in turn, was a rebrand of RTĂ Relays. This was spun off from RTĂ which used to be RaidiĂł Ăireann which used to be run, in the GPO, by the Department of Post and Telegraphs. So itâs pretty much the civil service.
