Irish Language

Woke Hogan · 10-12-2019 9:04pm

is_that_so wrote: »

It really doesn't. It relies on them on wanting to use it. They largely don't need to in adult life. That's also untrue about adults. They can achieve a whole lot more than phonetics.

It is true about adults. I have met literally hundreds of adults who have tried to learn a second language (Hebrew) as an adult to fluency and not a single one of them sound like a native speaker regardless of their mastery of vocabulary or grammar.

jimgoose · 10-12-2019 9:06pm

buried wrote: »

On the subject of subjects in school. Get rid of f**king maths. Everybody saying Irish is a dead subject, so is maths. The maths teachers back in the day told me I needed to know the hoors bastard of a subject because when I left school I'd never have a calculator 24/7 in my pocket. Goes to show what those eegits knew.

No, let's not get rid of maths - there's enough thickness out there. And those "eegits" knew what I know - the machine is a useful tool, an automaton that takes the heavy work out of operations for those who know what to do with it, like a JCB.

buried · 10-12-2019 9:10pm

jimgoose wrote: »

No, let's not get rid of maths - there's enough thickness out there. And those "eegits" knew what I know - the machine is a useful tool, an automaton that takes the heavy work out of operations for those who know what to do with it, like a JCB.

They knew jack $hit man, if they did know anything about the future, they would have known we'd not only have calculators in our pockets 24/7, but actual 64gb storage multimedia computers.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 10-12-2019 9:12pm

Woke Hogan wrote: »

It is true about adults. I have met literally hundreds of adults who have tried to learn a second language (Hebrew) as an adult to fluency and not a single one of them sound like a native speaker regardless of their mastery of vocabulary or grammar.

I doubt you were able to assess the second language proficiency of “literally hundreds of adults”. That would take a lot of expertise and quite the investment of time.

is_that_so · 10-12-2019 9:12pm

Woke Hogan wrote: »

It is true about adults. I have met literally hundreds of adults who have tried to learn a second language (Hebrew) as an adult to fluency and not a single one of them sound like a native speaker regardless of their mastery of vocabulary or grammar.

Some adults do lose some of that phonetic ability but have far greater ability to learn how to mimic it. Hebrew, as a Semitic language, is a very poor example of second language learning. Aside from the script and direction there are a lot more sound differences than between Irish and English. The native speaker thing in Irish is also a bit of snobbery. On that basis there are only three ways you can sound, like you're from Connemara, Munster or somewhere up North. You are right in that Irish has moved on past certain things, especially this type of elitist carry-on.

Woke Hogan · 10-12-2019 9:15pm

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

I doubt you were able to assess the second language proficiency of “literally hundreds of adults”. That would take a lot of expertise and quite the investment of time.

I seem to recall you accusing me of being two other people earlier this evening, perhaps the three of us pooled our resources. Or you're talking out of your hole.

jimgoose · 10-12-2019 9:15pm

buried wrote: »

They knew jack $hit man, if they did know anything about the future, they would have known we'd not only have calculators in our pockets 24/7, but actual 64gb storage multimedia computers.

If you didn't know basic arithmetic - times tables and so forth - life would be a big pain in the arse even with the JCB in your pocket.

buried · 10-12-2019 9:19pm

jimgoose wrote: »

If you didn't know basic arithmetic - times tables and so forth - life would be a big pain in the arse even with the JCB in your pocket.

But that's basic maths. That's enjoyable and everybody gets the basics of that at 8 years of age. I'm talking about the pythagoras clapped salmon fin theory of pi squared by 3.14 or whatever that wollox they were peddling in secondary school was. Fair enough, if you want to learn that mess, have at it, just leave the sane people out of it!

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 10-12-2019 9:19pm

Woke Hogan wrote: »

I seem to recall you accusing me of being two other people earlier this evening, perhaps the three of us pooled our resources. Or you're talking out of your hole.

Your posts are obvious bullshit. Don’t be narky at people for noticing that.

Woke Hogan · 10-12-2019 9:22pm

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

Your posts are obvious bullshit. Don’t be narky at people for noticing that.

I'm not the one resorting to making baseless accusations of operating multiple accounts. Floundering.

jimgoose · 10-12-2019 9:23pm

buried wrote: »

But that's basic maths. That's enjoyable and everybody gets the basics of that at 8 years of age. I'm talking about the pythagoras clapped salmon fin theory of pi squared by 3.14 or whatever that wollox they were peddling in secondary school was. Fair enough, if you want to learn that mess, have at it, just leave the sane people out of it!

You're probably referring to the formulae for the diameter and area of a circle, and Pythagoras' Theorem. They're quite simple and I find them rather useful. YMMV.

buried · 10-12-2019 9:26pm

jimgoose wrote: »

You're probably referring to the formulae for the diameter and area of a circle, and Pythagoras' Theorem. They're quite simple and I find them rather useful. YMMV.

If I want a circle I just use a compass and a rule jim, but sure, whatever you're into you're into.

JohnnyFlash · 10-12-2019 9:30pm

Woke Hogan wrote: »

I'm not the one resorting to making baseless accusations of operating multiple accounts. Floundering.

It’s the last resort of the moron, Woke. Accusing accounts of being ran by the same person.

Woke Hogan · 10-12-2019 9:37pm

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

It’s the last resort of the moron, Woke. Accusing accounts of being ran by the same person.

Like trying to veer a discussion about a language to the school curriculum, for some reason.

"Would you ever like to learn French?"

"Nah my French teacher was a bitch."

"That's hardly the language's fault."

"That ****in' bitch."

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 10-12-2019 9:38pm

Woke Hogan wrote: »

I'm not the one resorting to making baseless accusations of operating multiple accounts. Floundering.

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

It’s the last resort of the moron, Woke. Accusing accounts of being ran by the same person.

Baseless. Sure, sure.

whisky_galore · 10-12-2019 9:40pm

Woke Hogan wrote: »

Reviving any language relies primarily on teaching children how to speak it. Adults simply lack the capacity to learn languages to native-level quality, especially ones as phonetically different as Irish and English.

More excuses.

But happy to force it on kids who may or may not want to learn it.

JohnnyFlash · 10-12-2019 9:41pm

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

Baseless. Sure, sure.

Listen, dude, it’s not my fault you didn’t like Irish as a school subject. I’m talking about the language here. You know the one that was spoken as the working language of the Irish people. The one that some folks believe should be consigned to the rubbish bin of history. The morons, the short-sighted populists, the internet dwelling losers.

Deiseen · 10-12-2019 9:43pm

Imagine a Government in Italy, Germany, Spain, France or even England, introducing a policy that would harm their native languages in any shape or form. There would be absolute uproar and murder. And rightly so!

Ours language might be down but if you ask anyone from those countries what is the single most important aspect of their culture above all else, they will tell you it is their language.

In Ireland however, we have people that want to abolish it and kill it off completely.

I'm sorry lads but you should be ashamed.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 10-12-2019 9:44pm

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Listen, dude, it’s not my fault you didn’t like Irish as a school subject. I’m talking about the language here. You know the one that was spoken as the working language of the Irish people. The one that some folks believe should be consigned to the rubbish bin of history. The morons, the short-sighted populists, the internet dwelling losers.

The lack of self-awareness. My word.

saabsaab · 10-12-2019 9:45pm

How do you feel about Irish? The thread seems to be going off topic.

gifted · 10-12-2019 9:49pm

My three daughters go to a gaelscoile......only reason i sent them was because I struggled very badly at school with irish, dreaded irish classes and failed the Irish in leaving cert.

Truth be known if I could put them into a Spanish speaking school I would....at least then they could use it abroad in numerous countries

Deiseen · 10-12-2019 9:50pm

gifted wrote: »

My three daughters go to a gaelscoile......only reason i sent them was because I struggled very badly at school with irish, dreaded irish classes and failed the Irish in leaving cert.

Truth be known if I could put them into a Spanish speaking school I would....at least then they could use it abroad in numerous countries

If they grow up Bilingual then learning Spanish in the future will be much much easier.

10-12-2019 9:52pm

Deiseen wrote: »

If they grow up Bilingual then learning Spanish in the future will be much much easier.

yeah it's a good start.

i like the language well enough but i had a teacher one year who loved it, so i think that got passed on. jaysus you'd wish it were taught better though.

is_that_so · 10-12-2019 9:53pm

Deiseen wrote: »

If they grow up Bilingual then learning Spanish in the future will be much much easier.

In theory, but exposure to two doesn't mean an innate gift. Not everyone has it but it will help.

Woke Hogan · 10-12-2019 10:00pm

saabsaab wrote: »

How do you feel about Irish? The thread seems to be going off topic.

I don’t speak it. In fact, until very recently I was totally ignorant about it until I had a chat with my son about the language.

He is fluent in English, Hebrew and Irish. He is also a firm believer that speaking multiple languages, regardless of their perceived “usefulness” (whatever that means) is always valuable.

Much like how a musician uses different instruments to play different songs, beings multilingual allows a person to be able to experience even internal thoughts through spectrums of expression totally unknowable to monolingual people.

His views made me realise that the Irish language doesn’t belong to the school curriculum or to the State. It’s not a drum to bang to show that we’re not English either. It’s just another way to express ourselves that we are happy to lose because we think monochrome is enough.

FunLover18 · 10-12-2019 10:07pm

Deiseen wrote: »

Imagine a Government in Italy, Germany, Spain, France or even England, introducing a policy that would harm their native languages in any shape or form. There would be absolute uproar and murder. And rightly so!

Ours language might be down but if you ask anyone from those countries what is the single most important aspect of their culture above all else, they will tell you it is their language.

In Ireland however, we have people that want to abolish it and kill it off completely.

I'm sorry lads but you should be ashamed.

The difference is that Italian, German, Spanish, and French are the native language of their respective countries. Irish is the native language in Ireland in name only. No disrespect intended, that's just fact. Something like 60% of the population never use the language upon leaving school. It simply doesn't have the same cultural resonance. I have nothing against the language itself but the idea I should have some romantic nostalgia for it is nonsense, if you do, fair play but you can't expect Irish people to feel the same way about Irish as Italians feel about Italian.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 10-12-2019 10:08pm

Woke Hogan wrote: »

I don’t speak it. In fact, until very recently I was totally ignorant about it until I had a chat with my son about the language.

He is fluent in English, Hebrew and Irish. He is also a firm believer that speaking multiple languages, regardless of their perceived “usefulness” (whatever that means) is always valuable.

Much like how a musician uses different instruments to play different songs, beings multilingual allows a person to be able to experience even internal thoughts through spectrums of expression totally unknowable to monolingual people.

His views made me realise that the Irish language doesn’t belong to the school curriculum or to the State. It’s not a drum to bang to show that we’re not English either. It’s just another way to express ourselves that we are happy to lose because we think monochrome is enough.

Seems you've drifted from accusing people of "post-colonilaist self-hatred" to it "not being a drum to show we're not English".

I'd agree with you on pretty much everything else, but there are numerous ways to express oneself, even if you're monolingual. First thing to be sorted out is who is expressing themselves and what they are actually expressing.

Then you an move on to the actual medium used.

saabsaab · 10-12-2019 10:13pm

FunLover18 wrote: »

The difference is that Italian, German, Spanish, and French are the native language of their respective countries. Irish is the native language in Ireland in name only. No disrespect intended, that's just fact. Something like 60% of the population never use the language upon leaving school. It simply doesn't have the same cultural resonance. I have nothing against the language itself but the idea I should have some romantic nostalgia for it is nonsense, if you do, fair play but you can't expect Irish people to feel the same way about Irish as Italians feel about Italian.

I suppose that the poll will indicate how Irish people feel about this.

Woke Hogan · 10-12-2019 10:13pm

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Seems you've drifted from accusing people of "post-colonilaist self-hatred" to it "not being a drum to show we're not English".

I'd agree with you on pretty much everything else, but there are numerous ways to express oneself, even if you're monolingual. First thing to be sorted out is who is expressing themselves and what they are actually expressing.

Then you an move on to the actual medium used.

Those two quotes aren’t contradictory if you actually spend any time thinking about them.

As for the rest of your post, I have no idea. Put it back in the oven, it’s not finished baking.

Upforthematch · 10-12-2019 10:23pm

FunLover18 wrote: »

The difference is that Italian, German, Spanish, and French are the native language of their respective countries. Irish is the native language in Ireland in name only. No disrespect intended, that's just fact. Something like 60% of the population never use the language upon leaving school. It simply doesn't have the same cultural resonance. I have nothing against the language itself but the idea I should have some romantic nostalgia for it is nonsense, if you do, fair play but you can't expect Irish people to feel the same way about Irish as Italians feel about Italian.

I think a lot of irish do feel the same way about irish as Italians feel about Italian. Look at the census results with all those "fluent" irish speakers. The fact that a lot of people who dont use irish from one end of the year to the other still feel this strong about it says a lot to me.

I like Irish. Always keep an eye out for irish tv and music and looking for opportunities to use it.

10-12-2019 10:57pm

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

A perfect illustration of why Irish is dying and why constructive debate is impossible. My thanks.

I pitched it at a level that I knew you'd be comfortable with. It is abundantly clear that your mind is firmly made up, hence debating the topic with you would be akin to running headfirst into a Sherman tank and expecting it to budge.

is_that_so · 10-12-2019 11:01pm

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

A perfect illustration of why Irish is dying and why constructive debate is impossible. My thanks.

Constructive debate is possible, solutions are quite another thing.

Junkyard Tom · 10-12-2019 11:06pm

We need to take care of our culture now more than ever before with the ubiquity of mass media.

Darknight77 · 10-12-2019 11:17pm

Should be restored as the main used language of the state. In order to do this all primary schooling would have to be taught compulsorily through Irish so that verbs and tenses would come naturally and not from a book. In this way you’d have fairly good fluency for secondary school. I am a little prejudiced in this way as I went to a Gaeltacht primary school and have a degree in Irish. My one regret is not going to an all Irish secondary school. I have to admit my English suffered honours grade d in junior cert and honours grade c for leaving.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 10-12-2019 11:28pm

Woke Hogan wrote: »

Those two quotes aren’t contradictory if you actually spend any time thinking about them.

As for the rest of your post, I have no idea. Put it back in the oven, it’s not finished baking.

Yes, they are: you're saying it's a form of differentiating ourselves from post-colonial rule and then saying we shouldn't be using it to do that (unless, by post-colonial, you mean something other than British?)

The rest of the post is fairly simple: self-expression relies on a knowledge of the self. What you're arguing is national identity - which is fine if the individual feels a deep connnection with their nationality. But that's not always the case, nor should it be.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 10-12-2019 11:34pm

Darknight77 wrote: »

Should be restored as the main used language of the state. In order to do this all primary schooling would have to be taught compulsorily through Irish so that verbs and tenses would come naturally and not from a book. In this way you’d have fairly good fluency for secondary school. I am a little prejudiced in this way as I went to a Gaeltacht primary school and have a degree in Irish. My one regret is not going to an all Irish secondary school. I have to admit my English suffered honours grade d in junior cert and honours grade c for leaving.

Terrible idea - there isn't the will among the parents and from what I'm told (open to correction) there aren't enough teachers speaking good enough Irish.

And that's before we get to the issue of hijacking education...

EmmetSpiceland · 10-12-2019 11:41pm

saabsaab wrote: »

I suppose that the poll will indicate how Irish people feel about this.

I wouldn’t put too much faith in a poll on this site, a lot of the users here seem like the type that would put more stock in learning “Klingon” or having passable “Dothraki” than they would in reviving the Irish language.

FunLover18 · 10-12-2019 11:42pm

Upforthematch wrote: »

I think a lot of irish do feel the same way about irish as Italians feel about Italian. Look at the census results with all those "fluent" irish speakers. The fact that a lot of people who dont use irish from one end of the year to the other still feel this strong about it says a lot to me.

I like Irish. Always keep an eye out for irish tv and music and looking for opportunities to use it.

I never said Irish people do or don't feel that way, I said you can't expect them to feel that way because Irish simply doesn't play the same role in Irish culture and society as Italian does in Italy, they're not comparable. People do feel that way and they're entitled to but there's an expectation amongst some that all Irish people should feel that way and if they don't they're "west Brit" or "should be ashamed" and it seems to be only happen with the Irish language.

Imreoir2 · 11-12-2019 12:11am

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Poll options are ridiculous.

Make it optional. Support independent initiatives to promote it. Learn from Wales where Welsh is still widely spoken. Stand up to the Gaelgoirs who've been bleeding it for nearly a century.

Making it optional (preumably in schools?) would not be learning from Wales as Welsh is not an optional subject in their education system.

Personally I would like if Irish were optional in other aspects of life, like when dealing with the vast majority of the public service, never mind the private sector, I don't usually have the option to use Irish. That should change.

Imreoir2 · 11-12-2019 12:18am

Mohammed Thoughtless Gasoline wrote: »

I think you'll find that people don't hate the language itself — they hate the idea that every child should be forced to endure 13 years' compulsory education in it.

I think you'll find that most people don't actually hate that idea at all. Very few people actually hate the idea of compulsory Irish in schools. Some people on balance would prefer if Irish were optional, most support keeping it as a core subject, but very few actually have a strong negative emotional reaction to the idea of Irish remaining as a compulsory subject.

fattymuatty · 11-12-2019 12:43am

I hated Irish growing up. I thought it was useless and couldn't see the benefit. Now I have 2 children who attend a gaelscoil, one of them will be going to a gaelcholaiste in September and I have now changed my view completely. I think that there should be a lot more schools that teach through the medium of Irish. Gaelscoils teach Irish in a completely painless way, parents don't need Irish to have their children attend, my son is in 6th and I can count on one hand the amount of times I have had to google translate for him or help with homework. My children are proud to be able to speak in Irish and the school have given them a real love for it.

There are so many benefits to being bilingual and learning it for most children in a gaelscoil environment is easy. Why not encourage it?

Snow Garden · 11-12-2019 12:47am

Total waste of money. Should be optional from lower infants.

JohnnyFlash · 11-12-2019 1:06am

Snow Garden wrote: »

Total waste of money. Should be optional from lower infants.

We are talking about the language; not how it is taught.

What I always find interesting is people who harp on about how Irish culture is being diluted by immigration, yet are so dismissive of lovely and relatively benign aspects of our nation such as the language and hurling. Things you can legitimately be nationalistic about without coming across as a mouth breather.

Maybe my brain isn't wired to deal with such dichotomies.

FunLover18 · 11-12-2019 3:29am

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

We are talking about the language; not how it is taught.

What I always find interesting is people who harp on about how Irish culture is being diluted by immigration, yet are so dismissive of lovely and relatively benign aspects of our nation such as the language and hurling. Things you can legitimately be nationalistic about without coming across as a mouth breather.

Maybe my brain isn't wired to deal with such dichotomies.

For some people having to study a language that has little to no practical value outside the education system for 13 years is neither lovely nor benign. Disliking the way Irish is taught and liking the language are not mutually exclusive but I can understand why people struggle to differentiate between the language and how it is taught.

facehugger99 · 11-12-2019 8:14am

Snow Garden wrote: »

Total waste of money. Should be optional from lower infants.

Easy enough to get kids an exemption these days if you know the right health professionals.

It frees up a lot of time in secondary school to study useful subjects.

Snow Garden · 11-12-2019 10:59am

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

We are talking about the language; not how it is taught.

What I always find interesting is people who harp on about how Irish culture is being diluted by immigration, yet are so dismissive of lovely and relatively benign aspects of our nation such as the language and hurling. Things you can legitimately be nationalistic about without coming across as a mouth breather.

Maybe my brain isn't wired to deal with such dichotomies.

This is exactly why Gaelscoils became so popular in recent years.

Who is dismissive of hurling? I still play....badly.

machaseh · 11-12-2019 11:09am

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

We are talking about the language; not how it is taught.

What I always find interesting is people who harp on about how Irish culture is being diluted by immigration,

Yeah stop it right there buddy.

I came here from the Netherlands over 2 years ago. The first thing I was doing every day sitting on the luas to work was using Duolingo to learn Irish. Because I am like you should learn the language that is spoken in a country.

But guess what? Nboody was speaking Irish anyway. Of course I knew that Irish wasnt a super widely used language in ireland anymore, but I'd thought that maybe people would speak it at home, or among their friends, or in the villages. Just like we speak our native dialects back home in the Netherlands (some of which, such as Frisian and Limburgish, have now been recognized as fully official Languages with their own literature and spelling systems).

But nope nobody is ever speaking it anywhere. I literally know only one girl who has fluent Irish. You never ever ever hear it in Dublin.

You will very very very rarely hear it in Galway, and you will hear it in places such as Inishmore or elsewehre in the middle of nowhere, but that's about it.

So how do you expect us foreigners to speak Irish if nobody is speaking it anywhere? And I even thought about taking Irish language classes, but they are the same price as actually useful classes for languages such as spanish or french.

Why would the state not subsidize us so that we can learn the language if we want to? It's not that we immigrants don't want to learn it, it's just that no irish people speak it anyway.

is_that_so · 11-12-2019 11:44am

machaseh wrote: »

Yeah stop it right there buddy.

I came here from the Netherlands over 2 years ago. The first thing I was doing every day sitting on the luas to work was using Duolingo to learn Irish. Because I am like you should learn the language that is spoken in a country.

But guess what? Nboody was speaking Irish anyway. Of course I knew that Irish wasnt a super widely used language in ireland anymore, but I'd thought that maybe people would speak it at home, or among their friends, or in the villages. Just like we speak our native dialects back home in the Netherlands (some of which, such as Frisian and Limburgish, have now been recognized as fully official Languages with their own literature and spelling systems).

But nope nobody is ever speaking it anywhere. I literally know only one girl who has fluent Irish. You never ever ever hear it in Dublin.

You will very very very rarely hear it in Galway, and you will hear it in places such as Inishmore or elsewehre in the middle of nowhere, but that's about it.

So how do you expect us foreigners to speak Irish if nobody is speaking it anywhere? And I even thought about taking Irish language classes, but they are the same price as actually useful classes for languages such as spanish or french.

Why would the state not subsidize us so that we can learn the language if we want to? It's not that we immigrants don't want to learn it, it's just that no irish people speak it anyway.

There is no actual need for an Irish person to speak it, knowing full well that anyone they meet speaks English. It is a tricky language to learn, heavy on grammar and the chances of finding a native who can string more than one sentence together is slim. The only place it is strong is within the education system but for many people it serves no useful purpose in life otherwise.

Imreoir2 · 11-12-2019 11:46am

machaseh wrote: »

But nope nobody is ever speaking it anywhere. I literally know only one girl who has fluent Irish. You never ever ever hear it in Dublin.

You will very very very rarely hear it in Galway, and you will hear it in places such as Inishmore or elsewehre in the middle of nowhere, but that's about it.

Sorry, but this is nonsence. People do speak Irish, you just don't notice it. Most of us don't go around wearing a fáinne and telling everyone we happen to bump into of our language skills. Irish speakers are essentially an invisable minority. We look like everyone else and unless we happen to be speaking Irish at a given moment then we just blend into the crowd and people assume we belong to the English speaking majority and it seems like no one speaks Irish.

If you don't know Irish, you are not very likely to recognise it when you hear it in passing. How often do you hear people speaking a different language without identifying which language they are speaking. Most of the time you just tune other people out if you are not involved in their conversation. I remember sitting in a café chatting to some non-Irish speaking friends while a large group of people (nearly half of the other people in the café) were loudly conversing in Irish at the next table. After about 20 minutes of this I asked my friends if they had noticed what language was being spoken right next to us and not one of them had.

Why would the state not subsidize us so that we can learn the language if we want to? It's not that we immigrants don't want to learn it, it's just that no irish people speak it anyway.

It does. Your local ETB should have subsidized adult education, including Irish classes, available in your local Adult Education Centre.

Quite a few Irish people speak Irish, go along to the next pop-up Gaeltacht in your area if you want to see it for yourself. Just becasue you don't bother with Irish does not mean it is not there. It just means that you have been ignoring it.

ohnonotgmail · 11-12-2019 11:47am

Imreoir2 wrote: »

Sorry, but this is nonsence. People do speak Irish, you just don't notice it. If Most of us don't go around wearing a fáinne and telling everyone we happen to bump into of our language skills.

If you don;t know Irish, you are not very likely to recognise it when you hear it in passing. How often do you hear people speaking a different language without identifying which language they are speaking. Most of the time you just tune other people out if you are not involved in their conversation. I remember sitting in a café chatting to some non-Irish speaking friends while a large group of people (nearly half of the other people in the café) were loudly conversing in Irish at the next table. After about 20 minutes of this I asked my friends if they had noticed what language was being spoken right next to us and not one of them had.

It does. Your local ETB should have subsidized adult education, including Irish classes, available in your local Adult Education Centre.

Quite a few Irish people speak Irish, go along to the next pop-up Gaeltacht in your area if you want to see it for yourself. Just becasue you don't bother with Irish does not mean it is not there. It just means that you have been ignoring it.

You should probably read a post before responding to it

I came here from the Netherlands over 2 years ago. The first thing I was doing every day sitting on the luas to work was using Duolingo to learn Irish. Because I am like you should learn the language that is spoken in a country.

Irish Language

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