Irish language gets full EU status today

My American wife loves it and asks me to read it for her. She is getting better at pronouncing the words properly. I have an American cousin who immigrated into secondary school and he picked it up quickly and they claim is now the best in his class at Irish. Shows the difference that enthusiasm makes. I know that almost everyone of my peers, including me, dreaded it in school. I enjoyed speaking it in the gealtacht but the way they teach it is dreadful. The leaving cert, is rota learning essays and stair na geal etc. They should focus on conversational Irish like the Welsh and less on the stuffy higher level material where you are expected to be as good at Irish as you are at English.

A point of order on the OP's post for those who may not know.

'Dual language signage is NOT controversial in 'much of the north', in fact it exists in much of the north and nobody bats an eyelid at it.

Saw this the other day. Repudiation of Irish and Irishness is a recent development and restricted to a noisy few.

You could say that of the output of many governing bodies.

It's a bit selective to pick on Irish in this way tbh.

I'm not understanding the politicization. It's just a language. You can put french and German signage up for all I care? What's the problem lads?

Ah I see. Yes so I can live with the union jacks, I know I passed through a coastal towns in down a few years back that have a union jack every 5 metres which seems a bit much but whatever, flags can't hurt me, I'll still walk down there maybe with a slight exaggeration of my southern Irish accent, to let them know I don't give a sh*t. I suppose it's easy for me though, I never had to feel threatened by it all not growing up there.

Of course you will get people using it to triumphalise...but like parades and the fleg, you can legislate to prevent idiots doing that.

I think that's a bad and destructive way to approach the ongoing issue of Irish language in NI.

It's just a language at the end of the day. Being able to speak it or wanting to speak it, and wanting the (local) govt. to support that doesn't make someone some sort of "traitor" to the British state/terrorist sympathiser etc.

This sort of atavistic fear and hatred is (obviously) not good at all really. 

As regards expense for signs or more translations to Irish/content in Irish in NI, I doubt it is going to be noticed. I think the other 2 non English regions (Wales and Scotland) have similar uncontroversial provisions for Wesh and Gaelic as surviving minority languages. As far as I understand, all that is being sought for NI is to put Irish on the same footing as them.

Well it's a national identity & therefore an emotional thing...may as well ask what is the point of "Irishness"/"Britishness" etc. It's not fully rational or able to be reduced down to all costs and benefits. The language is an absolutely massive part of what makes a people or a nation a people at all. Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam has truth in it. I say that as someone who liked learning and was fairly good at the language in school, but have not put the effort in to keep it up as an adult. By the way, there doesn't necessarily have to be "supremacy" in feeling an attachment to your culture/national identity.

Have to say, am on the fence about the worth of the "EU working language" thing to Irish. I can see why the government and I suppose Irish language advocates would push for this. It is basically a pride or self respect thing. It's (likely?) an oddity that Irish would not be a full official language at the EU with all legislation translated etc. when it is specified in the constitution as the language of this state and we are an EU member state. 

I expect all of the national languages (if countries have them specified in a constitution) would be working languages...but of course they probably are not in the sad half dead state that Irish is in. 

Like alot of things politicians/governments do this ends up being about optics rather than much harder and probably more expensive work of actually trying to grow the use of Irish in the country, number of speakers etc.

It makes good jobs for translators, but one wonders as always about some of the opportunity costs. Would they be better paid & employed by government at home here expanding translation of content for TG4/Radio na Gaeltachta, translating more books people might want to read etc in Irish from other languages (esp. for children say) instead of sending them to the EU to translate important but very dull legislation?

I think we should teach Irish differently - who in national school caress about adverbs etc, There should be a designated day in NS where they speak Irish for the day - not for maths or English - so social conversation, playground chat, instruction and repeat of lessons etc, Make it more relaxed and not the big stick to beat us all with. Teach it through dance, music and literature. Then in secondary school teach it more formally, with sentence structure, grammar etc. That way they learn the basics properly before the grammar stick. Should we all know our national language, yes IMO. I think it should be treated like Welsh in Wales - lots of every day people speak it in every day situations and yes, I think it should be an official EU language. Irish signs in the north? Lets have a referendum and let the people choose - lets discuss it, pros and cons, and add it to the referendum about a united ireland as its a similar divisive issue.