Gaelscoils

deise go deo

There is a lot of demand for places in Gaelscoils around the country, some new ones will be opening this September and there are campaigns ongoing in several places in the country for a new Gaelscoil to be opened.

What do you think of them?

orourkeda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_mDTLphIVY

jam_mac_jam

I think its a great idea, much better way of teaching children a language. I am not great at Irish myself so its good to see things changing and more children being able to speak it.

orourkeda

waste of time, effort and money

deise go deo

orourkeda wrote: »

[YOUTUE]m_mDTLphIVY[/YOUTUBE]

I have to commend you commitment to disrupting Irish language threads, That was incredibly fast:D

Captain_Generic

Good to know we're pumping money into something which will appeal to foreign investors

orourkeda

deise go deo wrote: »

I have to commend you commitment to disrupting Irish language threads, That was incredibly fast:D

I have to commend your commitment to starting threads about a useless language

Wibbs

Oh great not this aris agus aris agus aris... What's "change the tune" as Gaelige?

thehairyelbow

They're something I wish were around when I was going to school. My son goes to one. He's seven and to hear him chat away brings a bit of athais to my croi. He loves it.

flyaway.

I think they're a great idea- really the best way to keep the language alive. As a current LC student having an awful time with Irish, I really wish my parents had sent me to one. All my cousins went to the local Gaelscoil for primary school and they're all now in an Irish speaking secondary school and they love it.

If I'm still living in Ireland when I'm a parent, I would most certainly consider sending my children to one.

Saila

they're gae

Captain_Generic

flyaway. wrote: »

I think they're a great idea- really the best way to keep the language alive.

It always seemed to me that all the measures the government has to adopt to "keep the language alive" shows just how dead it is.

I think its time to turn off the life support

Seanchai

Captain_Generic wrote: »

Good to know we're pumping money into something which will appeal to foreign investors

:rolleyes:

Iwasfrozen

No, the only reason to teach children Irish is to keep it alive. Better to let Irish die and have our children spend an hour a day learning a useful language

orourkeda

Captain_Generic wrote: »

It always seemed to me that all the measures the government has to adopt to "keep the language alive" shows just how dead it is.

I think its time to turn off the life support

Should have been done years ago. At least children would have time to learn a subject of greater relevance.

byhookorbycrook

Captain_Generic wrote: »

It always seemed to me that all the measures the government has to adopt to "keep the language alive" shows just how dead it is.

I think its time to turn off the life support

Just back from a football trip to Rath Cairn in Co. Meath. All 8 teams speaking Irish, staying with Gaeltacht families where Irish is the first language. Can't get more "alive " than that. Next week 60 of our students are going to Ring in Co. Waterford to experience Gaeltacht life for a few days too.

We have 475 children in our school, all speaking Irish at work and play. This, in a town on the edge of the Pale. We have 60 places per year and are always hugely oversubscribed. So, the language is dead???

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

As long as the demand is there, why not? I'm no advocate of the Irish langauge, but I wouldn't stand in someone else's way.

orourkeda

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Just back from a football trip to Rath Cairn in Co. Meath. All 8 teams speaking Irish, staying with Gaeltacht families where Irish is the first language. Can't get more "alive " than that. Next week 60 of our students are going to Ring in Co. Waterford to experience Gaeltacht life for a few days too.

We have 475 children in our school, all speaking Irish at work and play. This, in a town on the edge of the Pale. We have 60 places per year and are always hugely oversubscribed. So, the language is dead???

It has been kept alive by artificial means for years. Time to pull the plug

thehairyelbow

I can see this one getting interesting.

byhookorbycrook

How are Gaelscoileanna artificial?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

I went to an irish language primary and secondary school, the only time anyone in the school ever spoke irish was when a teacher was around. other than that, all english.

Iwasfrozen

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Just back from a football trip to Rath Cairn in Co. Meath. All 8 teams speaking Irish, staying with Gaeltacht families where Irish is the first language. Can't get more "alive " than that. Next week 60 of our students are going to Ring in Co. Waterford to experience Gaeltacht life for a few days too.

We have 475 children in our school, all speaking Irish at work and play. This, in a town on the edge of the Pale. We have 60 places per year and are always hugely oversubscribed. So, the language is dead???

Being spoken in rural back waters certainly makes it "alive" but it doesn't qualifiy it as a workable language for a first world western european country.

Don't get me wrong, leave Irish to those who want to speak it. By all means. But don't expect the rest of us to subsidise your hobby. And certainly don't force those grown adults to learn it.

dlofnep

I would, if I could find a suitable girl to put up with my crankyness! Gaelscoileanna are brilliant. Their teachers are enthusiastic, and there is a sense of community in the schools that you rarely find outside of them. They also offer children a real opportunity to learn the Irish language, through a fun and practical fashion.

Naturally, the usual anti-Irish brigade of 4 or 5 posters on here will show there face on here and tell us how useless Irish is, and how Gaelscoileanna are a waste of funds - but I think the majority of the population is in support of them. It's just a shame that there aren't enough Gaelscoileanna open, as the demand for them is really high. It's also a shame that they don't receive enough funding. I know many Gaelscoileanna which are nothing more than prefabs, like my local Gaelscoil - but despite this, it's still full to the brim with eager kids.

byhookorbycrook

I'm sorry to hear that Sir Digby. There may be one or two children in our school who speak English at times, but they really do speak Irish most of the time in our school.

123balltv

I get the bus to work every morning/afternoon with a gang of Irish school
kids I have never heard them whisper even a tiny word of Irish all I hear is
English whats the point to only ever speak Irish in a concrete building then get out into the real world and speak like everyone else English.
I would'nt want my kids to go to learn a language that they'll only ever speak at school waste of time

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

I'm sorry to hear that Sir Digby. There may be one or two children in our school who speak English at times, but they really do speak Irish most of the time in our school.

im sure our teachers thought that as well

Iwasfrozen

dlofnep wrote: »

Naturally, the usual anti-Irish brigade of 4 or 5 posters on here will show there face on here and tell us how useless Irish is, and how Gaelscoileanna are a waste of funds - but I think the majority of the population is in support of them. It's just a shame that there aren't enough Gaelscoileanna open, as the demand for them is really high. It's also a shame that they don't receive enough funding. I know many Gaelscoileanna which are nothing more than prefabs, like my local Gaelscoil - but despite this, it's still full to the brim with eager kids.

Four or five posters? We're already at fourteen out of thirty eight.

deise go deo

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

Four or five posters? We're already at fourteen out of thirty eight.

I think you will agree that there is a difference between saying 'Nope' in a Poll and harping on about how useless a language you don't speak is at every opportunity.

byhookorbycrook

I hear them speak Irish when they think they are not being overheard ,e.g. togging off for matches, when I come around a corner unexpectedly, when they are in the hall taking out sports equipment and I pass by unseen. It would be very difficult for them to become fluent if they were not speaking the language amongst themselves.

Iwasfrozen

deise go deo wrote: »

I think you will agree that there is a difference between saying 'Nope' in a Poll and harping on about how useless a language you don't speak is at every opportunity.

Ah but there is no "Irish is useless and I put it down at every oppertunity" voting option, come to think of it there's no Atari Jaguar option either!

dlofnep

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

Four or five posters? We're already at fourteen out of thirty eight.

No you're not. There is a difference between not wanting to send your kid to a Gaelscoil (which is a valid position), and being a routine anti-Irish language poster, popping their face into every Irish language thread to re-affirm to us how 'useless' the Irish language is, and what a 'waste of time it is'. You're like a broken record at this point, and it is absolutely the same usual suspects who do it.

up for anything

Strange that kids (or their parents) who attend the gaelscoil here in KK aren't that keen to go on to the Pobail Scoil for their secondary education. Having a gaelscoil education doesn't put you that far ahead of those who don't once you get past Junior Cert.

Clover

I would have liked to but the local Gaelscoil would not take my son as he did not have another family member in the school and when pushed on that they then said we where not in the cachement area.

That was ten years ago and myself and his mother stopped taking our Irish leasons as a result and have not taken one since.

solerina

I love being able to speak Irish, I dont think its dead, I think we should be proud of our language and if Gaelscoileanna help to increase the amount of people who can speak it, I am all for them !!!!

deise go deo

Clover wrote: »

I would have liked to but the local Gaelscoil would not take my son as he did not have another family member in the school and when pushed on that they then said we where not in the cachement area.

That was ten years ago and myself and his mother stopped taking our Irish leasons as a result and have not taken one since.

Gaelscoils often have much more demand for places than they have places available, it sucks that you kid dident get in, but theres no point blaming the language for it.

Iwasfrozen

dlofnep wrote: »

No you're not. There is a difference between not wanting to send your kid to a Gaelscoil (which is a valid position), and being a routine anti-Irish language poster, popping their face into every Irish language thread to re-affirm to us how 'useless' the Irish language is, and what a 'waste of time it is'. You're like a broken record at this point, and it is absolutely the same usual suspects who do it.

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. It's always the same group of people who will pop up in every Irish language thread and talk about how brilliant it is and how it's an essential part of our culture and that without it we would have no soul.

Corsendonk

Potential Keep Ireland for the Irish training camps

christmas2010

From what I've seen Gaelscoil are popular in some areas because they tend to be attended by local Irish born children.
Children recently arrived in the country with poor english are unlikely to attend. A subtle form of racism perhaps.

Clover

deise go deo wrote: »

Gaelscoils often have much more demand for places than they have places available, it sucks that you kid dident get in, but theres no point blaming the language for it.

I blame the school , if there was a family member already in the school he would have been accepted. after that I lost all intrest in taking Irish lessons or putting Irish as a priority in my kid's education.

Pherekydes

orourkeda wrote: »

I have to commend your commitment to starting threads about a useless language

How is it useless? It's the language spoken by a fair minority in this country. Why don't you try this experiment: walk up to a group of Poles and tell them their language is useless (useless in this country, of course).

All learning is good. Mastering more than one language is said to be very good for the brain. Poll those fecklessy unemployed and find out how many languages they have. My prediction is one.

For Forks Sake

christmas2010 wrote: »

From what I've seen Gaelscoil are popular in some areas because they tend to be attended by local Irish born children.
Children recently arrived in the country with poor english are unlikely to attend. A subtle form of racism perhaps.

Even though the post quoted will probably be denied from a height, there is a certain amount of truth to it.

deise go deo

Clover wrote: »

I blame the school , if there was a family member already in the school he would have been accepted. after that I lost all intrest in taking Irish lessons or putting Irish as a priority in my kid's education.

It seems to me that rule is about not splitting families up into different schools, I think that fair. After that there are only so many places to go round.

Pherekydes

Corsendonk wrote: »

Potential Keep Ireland for the Irish training camps

Nonsense. There are no exclusion policies of this nature. As soon as the newer immigrants realise their kids pick up Irish more easily than English they'll be switching in droves. They already are.

Pherekydes

christmas2010 wrote: »

From what I've seen Gaelscoil are popular in some areas because they tend to be attended by local Irish born children.
Children recently arrived in the country with poor english are unlikely to attend. A subtle form of racism perhaps.

Racism? Such utter crap. You'll find that Gaelscoileanna are as inclusive as any other type of school if you just bothered to go check them out. And why would having poor English matter to a Gaelscoil anyway? They don't speak English there at all for the first two years.

ArtyM

As languages go Irish is one of the most poetic you are ever going to find. Translating a simple phrase into Irish is like adding a backing track to a boring speech - you dont just translate the words, you translate their emotion/intention/feeling.
It is a simple language by simple folk that is filled with emotion and genuine feeling.
What other language would call Whiskey - Uisce Beatha(water of life)
or this.....
Go n-éirí an bóthar leat
Go raibh an ghaoth go brách ag do chúl
Go lonraí an ghrian go te ar d'aghaidh
Go dtite an bháisteach go mín ar do pháirceanna
Agus go mbuailimid le chéile arís,
Go gcoinní Dia i mbos A láimhe thú.

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

I do understand the ill feeling toward it though, given that it is very much forced on us in school and has little use insofar as it is not likely to ever be of benefit in getting a job etc. Also, the people that promote it are often of the same ilk as the ones who stop you on the street to talk about Jebus.

Wibbs

Iwasfrozen wrote: »

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. It's always the same group of people who will pop up in every Irish language thread and talk about how brilliant it is and how it's an essential part of our culture and that without it we would have no soul.

Precisely. Indeed the subject seems to be the OP's only hobby horse or is that hobby one trick pony. At this stage I'm picturing black shawl, 10 kids with a fondness for religious statues and a picture of Jack Kennedy in the kitchen of some rural 1950's black and white backwater.

As for Gaelscoils I have no issue with them particularly. Well they can be quite narrow in the oul ethnicity. Not a lot of "darkies" saying a haon do a tri in them. A point noted by a few nice middle cloooss parents who admitted to me that was one of the reasons they put their kids down for them. That and the smaller classes and more interested teachers. The Irish language stuff was actually quite low down the list. I see them as the equivalent to private fee paying schools. There is an element of elitism to them. Nothing wrong with that in my book though.

Pherekydes wrote:

Nonsense. There are no exclusion policies of this nature.

Doesn't have to be overt policy. How many africans or asians attend as a percentage of the school population and in comparison to "standard" schools? Stand outside a Gaelscoil in an urban centre and then stand outside an average non gaelscoil and lets play spot the Pole or NIgerian. Then get back to me. Though in fairness P loitering outside primary schools tends to attract the rightful attention of the Guards wielding batons so maybe not.

As soon as the newer immigrants realise their kids pick up Irish more easily than English they'll be switching in droves. They already are.

Links? Not supposition. Actual figures. I know the OP likes making opinion statements as fact, but I'd have expected better of you.

The Irish language itself is a different thing. I don't think it's a dead language at all. We've still got a fair few thousand fluent folks happy to use it as a primary means of communication. And fair dues to them. Long may it continue. However I have quite the similar attitude to most Gaelgoirs as I do to most devout Christians. What they preach isn't so much the issue, but the preachers themselves usually are.

ArtyM wrote:

Also, the people that promote it are often of the same ilk as the ones who stop you on the street to talk about Jebus.

+1000 This in a big effin way.

admiralofthefleet

wasnt there a story recently about a young lad done for doing a girl up the brenda at a Gaelscoil camp?

Clover

deise go deo wrote: »

It seems to me that rule is about not splitting families up into different schools, I think that fair.

I don't , it seems that once you have a child in the school then every one of your kids will get a place , but when your trying to get your foot in the door your meet with " a family member has to be in the school for your child to go " .

Now I understand that places are limited and that there is a demand for places, but when your on the wrong end of a decision over the family member rule it's a bitter pill to swallow.

dlofnep

Wibbs wrote: »

As for Gaelscoils I have no issue with them particularly. Well they can be quite narrow in the oul ethnicity. Not a lot of "darkies" saying a haon do a tri in them.

You'd be surprised at the amount of foreign nationals taking up the Irish language, in particular from Africa. I chatted to a 14 year old lad from Kenya completely in Irish one night when I was going to Irish classes.

I don't think racism comes into it, and if it does - the parents are f*cktards.

deise go deo

Clover wrote: »

I don't , it seems that once you have a child in the school then every one of your kids will get a place , but when your trying to get your foot in the door your meet with " a family member has to be in the school for your child to go " .

Now I understand that places are limited and that there is a demand for places, but when your on the wrong end of a decision over the family member rule it's a bitter pill to swallow.

Of course it is, If it happened to me I'd be really pissed off too. But surely you see the reason for allowing family members stay together?

deise go deo

Wibbs wrote: »

Precisely. Indeed the subject seems to be the OP's only hobby horse or is that hobby one trick pony. At this stage I'm picturing black shawl, 10 kids with a fondness for religious statues and a picture of Jack Kennedy in the kitchen of some rural 1950's black and white backwater.

As for Gaelscoils I have no issue with them particularly. Well they can be quite narrow in the oul ethnicity. Not a lot of "darkies" saying a haon do a tri in them. A point noted by a few nice middle cloooss parents who admitted to me that was one of the reasons they put their kids down for them. That and the smaller classes and more interested teachers. The Irish language stuff was actually quite low down the list. I see them as the equivalent to private fee paying schools. There is an element of elitism to them. Nothing wrong with that in my book though.

Doesn't have to be overt policy. How many africans or asians attend as a percentage of the school population and in comparison to "standard" schools? Stand outside a Gaelscoil in an urban centre and then stand outside an average non gaelscoil and lets play spot the Pole or NIgerian. Then get back to me. Though in fairness P loitering outside primary schools tends to attract the rightful attention of the Guards wielding batons so maybe not.

Links? Not supposition. Actual figures. I know the OP likes making opinion statements as fact, but I'd have expected better of you.

The Irish language itself is a different thing. I don't think it's a dead language at all. We've still got a fair few thousand fluent folks happy to use it as a primary means of communication. And fair dues to them. Long may it continue. However I have quite the similar attitude to most Gaelgoirs as I do to most devout Christians. What they preach isn't so much the issue, but the preachers themselves usually are.

+1000 This in a big effin way.

nuf said;)