Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. One of my few regrets since becoming a Member of the House was my decision not to participate in a previous debate on the future of Irish and ways in which we can preserve Irish as a vibrant language.

I did honours Irish in the leaving certificate and was almost fluent. In the years since, however, I have lost most, if not all, of the language because of working abroad and living in a home where Irish is not the chosen language. I am acutely aware of this issue now that I have a young son and a young daughter in primary school who are learning the language for the first time. Their father, who used to be fluent many years ago, is not in a position to converse with them. As they make their way through education, I have decided to reacquaint myself with my old líofacht.

During the summer, I experienced something that brought home to me what a signature part of our national identity our language is at home and abroad. It was in Malawi, of all places. With Trócaire, I visited Malawi to see the work being done. I was being taken around a village many miles and hours outside of Lilongwe, Malawi's capital city. When I asked the man who was taking me around what his name was, he told me that it was Padraic, which is Irish for Patrick. It was spelled exactly as we would write it here at home. He had the language because he had attended an Irish missionary school in Malawi and was taught by an Irish priest. Other people who I met in Malawi also had Irish names.

Although I am no longer in a position to be able to comment in Irish on a Bill such as this, I want that ability so that I can make a few points. I am determined that, before this Dáil comes to an end, I will speak as Gaeilge across an entire Bill, be it legislation on the language or some other topic. As an Irishman, I am conscious of what an absence it is in my identity that I cannot speak Irish.

When I saw this Bill on the agenda and read through it, I wanted to make a number of pertinent observations on the use of the language within the Oireachtas and abroad. First, my experience tends to be the direct opposite of Deputy Mattie McGrath's. He referred to how he saw Irish being used or not used abroad, for example, at EU events. The first time that I attended a meeting of the Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the European Union, COSAC, which was held in Brussels earlier this year, my colleague, Deputy Jim Daly, addressed it almost entirely in Irish. His contribution was translated, allowing other participants to understand it and to respond. While I am unsure of how simultaneous translation is facilitated across all European meetings, the facility is provided at every formal and informal EU meeting that I have attended. It has been used by colleagues from this House to convey their views on issues of relevance to Ireland. Parliamentarians from other countries had the opportunity to have those contributions translated so that they might understand them.

Second, Ireland will hold the EU Presidency next year. One only has an opportunity to realise the value of such events when one sees them occurring in other countries. I have no direct memory of our last Presidency. It offers us the opportunity to convey the role of our national language to foreign representatives visiting Ireland. When those meetings are held in Dublin and elsewhere, it is important that we make use of our language whenever possible and conduct as much business as we can in Irish.

Third, the constitutional convention will begin later in the year. It is important that the use and translation of Irish be facilitated in such a forum.

When a similar Bill is before us in the years to come, I look forward to being able to address my comments to the Minister of State entirely in Irish.

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