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Irish Language: Northern Ireland
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Irish is given recognition by the Constitution of Ireland as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland (with English being a second official language), despite the limited distribution of fluency among the population of that country. Since the State was founded in the 1920s as the Irish Free State (see ... History of the Republic of Ireland), the Irish Government required a degree of proficiency in Irish for all civil service positions (including postal workers, tax officials, agricultural inspectors, etc.), as well as for employees of state companies (e.g. Aer Lingus, RTÉ, ESB, etc). Proficiency in Irish for entrance to the public service ceased to be a compulsory requirement in 1974, in part through the actions of protest organizations like the Language Freedom Movement. While the requirement was also dropped for wider public service jobs, such as teaching, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools within the Republic which receive public money (see also Education in the Republic of Ireland). The need for a pass in Leaving Certificate Irish for entry to the Gardaí (police) was dropped in September 2005, although applicants are given lessons in the language during the two years of training.
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Irish Sign Language (ISL) is the sign language of Ireland, used primarily in the Republic of Ireland. It is ... used in Northern Ireland, though Northern Ireland Sign Language (NISL) is used more often. Irish Sign Language is more closely related to French Sign Language than to British Sign Language, which was first used in Dublin. It has influenced sign languages in Australia and South Africa, and has little relation to either spoken Irish or English.
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[T]he Irish language has its own media, Raidió na Gaeltachta, which operates from stations in the Gaeltachts of Ireland and Raidió na Life, which operates out of Dublin. In 1996 the Irish language television station, Teilifís na Gaeilge, (TG4),started broadcasting news, documentaries, children’s shows and even soap operas as Ghaeilge. Irish is ... rapidly gaining ground in the new computer age of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. There are now numerous websites, mail lists, chat rooms, and even courses like Gaeltalk.net, available to Irish speakers, students and enthusiasts online.
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[W]here did the Irish language come from you might ask? Well, it's believed it was the Celts who first brought an early form of Gaelic to Ireland. It was a Celtic language closely related to Scottish Gaelic and Manx Gaelic (spoken in the Isle of Man). The earliest form of primitive Irish in Ireland can be seen on ogham stone inscriptions around the 4th century. Modern Irish evolved around the 16th century and up until the 19th century, Irish was widely spoken in the country.
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The Irish language is a compulsory subject in government funded schools in the Republic of Ireland and has been so since the early days of the state. However, the curriculum was arranged in the 1930s by Father Timothy Corcoran SJ of UCD, who could not speak the language himself. The Irish Government has endeavoured to address the unpopularity of the language by revamping the curriculum at primary school level to focus on spoken Irish. However, at secondary school level, students must analyse literature and poetry, and write lengthy essays, debates and stories in Irish for the Leaving Certificate examination. The exemption from learning Irish on the grounds of time spent abroad, or learning disability, is subject to Circular 12/96 (primary education) and Circular M10/94 (secondary education) issued by the Department of Education and Science.
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There are pockets of Ireland where Irish is spoken as a traditional, native language. These regions are known as the Gaeltacht. These are in County Galway (Contae na Gaillimhe), including Connemara (Conamara) and the Aran Islands (na hOileáin Árann); on the west coast of County Donegal (Contae Dhún na nGall; in the part which is known as Tyrconnell (Tír Chonaill); and Dingle Peninsula (Corca Dhuibhne) in County Kerry (Contae Chiarraí). Smaller ones ... exist in Mayo (Contae Mhaigh Eo), Meath (Contae na Mí), Waterford (Contae Phort Láirge), and Cork (Contae Chorcaí). However, even within the Gaeltacht areas, the Irish-speaking populations have declined since the Gaeltacht boundaries were drawn up.
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