Disclaimer: any quotes used are actual quotes I’ve received from Irish people
I’ve began this… well, I suppose could call it a series, where I write letters to the things that I believe in most. Partly because it’s summer and I’m slowly but surely running out of things to do but I’m also doing it as a method to find closure. I have so many questions for so many people that I'll never get to ask and that will never get answered so by writing these at least I’ll be able to get them off my chest.
So here it goes:
To the citizens of Ireland,
Why are you letting our language die?
Why are you standing there watching our language slip out of our mouths never to be seen again? What is your excuse? “The Brits invaded, they promoted English and it stuck!” But you didn’t allow them to take away your music or your folklore, so what make Gaeilge different?
Two days ago I asked my sister what she was most looking forward as she ventured into her last year in secondary school, she responded “I’ll never have to speak Irish again and I couldn’t be more excited!” My heart dropped.
The majority of the countries in the world have their own language. Sweden has Swedish, Germany has German, France has French but Ireland? We have English!! And whatever Irish you can remember from school, which trust me after speaking to my parents, isn’t much.
A survey collected in 2011 revealed that 41% of Irish people could speak Irish. Since then the number has decreased and frankly I don’t think that’s good enough.
Pádraig Mac Piarais once said, “tír gan teanga tír gan anam” and I’m afraid soon enough Ireland will lose theirs. I’m not sure anything has ever frustrated me quite as much as watching our language die down and not being able to do a thing about it.
First it’s our language and next our music, soon everything we know and love about our Irish culture will fade out into nothing. So I speak as Gaeilge everyday, to my family, my friends, my teachers and to complete strangers. It’s not much and it definitely won’t revive the language but, it’s something. And I urge you all to do the same. What good is it if we don’t at least try.
So to the citizens of Ireland, I’ll leave you with this:
Why are you allowing this to happen?
-Emer Neville, lead writer
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