Speech by Minister Mary Hanafin at launch of Fianna Fáil Irish Language and Gaeltacht policy

Léiríonn suirbhéanna éagsúla go bhfuil dearcadh níos dearfaí ag pobal na hÉireann i leith na Gaeilge ná mar bhí le blianta fad. Bronann an Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge deis stairiúil orainn tógail ar an dea-thoil sin agus ar an dea-obair atá déanta againn ar son na teanga le deich mbliana anuas.

At a time when there has never been such a positive attitude to the promotion of Irish it is unfortunate that the only discussion of the language during this election campaign has centred on what is a negative and destructive plan to downgrade the status of Irish in our education system.

During my time as Minister for Education, when Enda Kenny first proposed to abolish the teaching of Irish as a core subject for the Leaving Cert I pointed to his failure to provide a single shred of evidence or research to support his position.

In the intervening five years, he has failed to come up with a single scientific or research-based argument to support his proposal. The reason for this is simple; there is no evidence to back Enda’s hunch.

To say that he spoke to school children before announcing his plan is simply not good enough. Did he ask the same school children whether they loved Maths, English or Science? Or indeed whether or not they loved school?

In last week’s TG4 debate, Enda once more failed to make any credible case for his position, claiming that this was a ‘personal issue’ for him as a father and a former teacher.

As a teacher and former Minister for Education this is not a ‘personal issue’ for me; it is an issue of national importance.

So while there is no evidence to support Enda’s position, there is a considerable body of evidence to support the view that such a move would lead to the marginalization and eventual decline of Irish.

One need only look to what happened when a similar measure was introduced in relation to the teaching of modern European languages in the UK.

The decision in the UK to make the teaching of languages optional in the UK had a catastrophic impact on the number of students taking languages.

In a few years the number of students studying languages almost halved, schools opted out of teaching languages altogether, teachers lost their jobs, and universities across the UK closed their language programmes. The consequences for Irish, a minority language competing with the highest status language in the world, would be even more dramatic.

All experts in the area of language agree that languages live or die depending on their status in society. I agree with the assessment that to downgrade the status of the Irish language in our schools would amount to an act of cultural and national vandalism that would lead inevitably to the decline and eventual extinction of the language.

As Minister for Education, I made some radical changes to the way Irish is taught but I agree, as most people do, that further changes need to be made to the way we teach and learn Irish.

As Minister Carey has outlined, these changes are being made and the Twenty Year Strategy for the Irish Language contains many radical measures that will transform the way Irish is taught and learnt.

After five years of refusing to listen to expert opinion from educationalists, language experts and the Irish language community, Mr. Kenny, in recent weeks, has promised to consult stakeholders before pressing ahead with his proposal.

He has also said that he is not open to changing his mind irrespective of the views expressed during the proposed consultation. This face-saving exercise is insulting, as was his call on Raidió na Gaeltachta last week for anyone who disagrees with his stance ‘to grow up’.

In addition to the disastrous effects that Enda Kenny’s proposal would have for the future of the language in our entire education system, it would also have a traumatic knock-on effect on the local economy of the Gaeltacht regions.

The stark reality for Gaeltacht communities is that the inevitable decline in the number of students studying Irish to Leaving Cert would lead to a corresponding decline in the over 20,000 students who visit these areas annually.

I don’t think it is necessary to spell out the economic implications that this will have in areas such as Kerry, West Cork, West Waterford, Connemara, Donegal and elsewhere.

While Fine Gael representatives, including members of their front bench, have spoken out locally against this measure, they have not said they would vote against if Enda Kenny is in a position to implement this policy.

I would now call on those Fine Gael candidates to state publicly that they will under no circumstances vote for this retrograde measure if in Government.

Seasfaidh Fianna Fáil leis an nGaeilge agus leis an nGaeltacht. Tabharfaimid gach cosaint do stádas na teanga sa chóras oideachais agus tá an tuiscint atá againne ar a thábhacht an stádais sin bunaithe ar thaighde eolaíoch agus saineolas.

Creidimid go bhfuil an ceart ag gach dalta an Ghaeilge a fhoghlaim agus gur chóir go mbeadh an deis ag gach dalta an Ghaeilge a fhoghlaim.

Tá sé i gceist againne stádas na Gaeilge a threisiú i ngach aon ghné de shochaí agus de shaol na tíre seo seachas baint den stádas sin mar atá molta ag Fine Gael.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh.