Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Tá an Ghaeilge fós ag méadú i gContae an Chláir, buíochas le Dia. Ar an chéad dul síos, fáiltím roimh an Aire, an Teachta Martin. Caithfidh mé comhghairdeas a ghabháil léi as an tacaíocht ar fad a thug sí ó thaobh "Cúla4" de. Is stáisiún teilifíse nua é atá go hiomlán as Gaeilge i gcomhair páistí. Is iad na páistí todhchaí na teanga. The future lies in the Irish kids’ hands. Má tá cainéal iomlán Gaeilge acu, tá sé sin iontach cabhrach chun an Ghaeilge a choinneáil beo in aigní agus croíthe na ndaoine óga. Gabhaim comhghairdeas agus buíochas leis an Aire as ucht na tacaíochta ar fad a thug sí do TG4 chun é sin a thosú.

Tá grá mór agam don Ghaeilge. Bhí an t-ádh liom nuair a bhí mé óg; cuireadh go Conamara mé i m’aonar ar feadh trí mhí. D’fhan mé le muintir Mhic Fhlannchaidh i Rinn ar an gCeathrú Rua. Tar éis trí mhí, tháinig mé ar ais le Gaeilge cruinn álainn agus meas mór agam ar mhuintir Chonamara, ar mhuintir na Gaeltachta agus meas mór ó thaobh na teanga Gaeilge de agus an chaoi a bhfuiltear in ann rudaí a rá trí Ghaeilge nach bhfuiltear riamh in ann a rá i mBéarla. I am lucky that when was I was 11, my parents sent me to An Cheathrú Rua with Gael Linn for three months. I would say they needed a break. I stayed with the Clanceys in Rinn for three months. I came home with a new respect for my language, for the people of the Gaeltacht areas and for how important Irish is as a part of our culture. We can say many magic things in Irish that cannot be said in English. Mar shampla, má tá duine i ngrá le duine éigin, deir sé nó sí “is tú mo chuisle”. In Irish, a person says “you are my pulse” if he or she is in love with someone. It does not sound the same in English, however. If someone says “mo chuisle”, that is a beautiful term of endearment. There is a uniqueness to Irish that is not there in the English language. Irish is rich, romantic, poetic and beautiful. I often find myself in English contexts wishing I could speak in Irish because I could express it better in Irish than in English. There is great phraseology in Irish that is not there in the English language. This may be something that is in all of us; we have a natural desire to speak the Irish language.

Uaireanta, cuireann sé díomá orm nuair bhím ag caint as Gaeilge os comhair daoine nach bhfuil an Ghaeilge go flúirseach acu. Mothaíonn siad feargach nó náireach. Often, when I am speaking Irish in front of Irish people who do not speak Irish, they either feel angry or embarrassed. It is important not to blame people who have gone through the education system and have not been able to speak the Irish language. A lot of us did it for 14 years in school. We must look at this to find out what is happening and where proper policy on the Irish language is. To get this right, the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, needs to set up a group to look at a proper policy in which Irish comes from naíonra right up to third level. Currently, there are Gaelscoileanna. We cannot depend on the Gaeltachtaí alone for Irish because the Irish language is broader than just the Gaeltachtaí. A big part of that is the Gaelscoileanna.

Bhí mé thíos in Inis le déanaí nuair a bhí confirmation ar siúl ag mo nia. Bhí mé ann mar an godmother. Bhí Gaeilge na bpáistí óga go hálainn. Bhí Gaeilge líofa acu ar fad ón naíonra suas go dtí rang a sé agus ba chuma leo faoi; ní raibh a fhios acu fiú go raibh siad ag caint i dteanga difriúil. I was at a confirmation recently with my nephew, who attends a Gaelscoil in Ennis, and it was amazing to hear the beautiful Irish spoken by children between the ages of four and 12. They were completely oblivious to it. They were not trying to make a statement by speaking Irish and saying they are cool. For them, whether they speak in Irish or English, it does not make a difference; it is a way of communicating. The caighdeán, the standard of Irish, i mbunscoileanna lán-Ghaeilge, in Irish-medium primary schools, is amazing. The students have beautiful, in-depth Irish but where do they go after primary school? There is a lack of support for Gaelcholáistí in Ireland. If we are serious about our language, we must start funding Gaelcholáistí without needing another campaign. We should not have to campaign for Irish-language supports in the education system; it is what we should be doing in Ireland. Everybody should have that opportunity. It is a shame that when people struggle with Irish, they feel bad and they have this thing about it for a long time afterwards. It goes on for decades. Some people are bitter about it as well.

It is important that we put as much effort as we can into free Irish classes for adults and into sending kids to Irish college. I have said here before that every sixth-class student should be thrown into an Irish college somewhere for three weeks, for free, so they can do it all and experience Irish as a living language at least once. In most cases, when a person goes to school, he or she hears no Irish except in the classroom where it is often grammar-heavy and not fun-heavy. Why would anyone want to do that? There is a lot to learn from TEFL methods, which are used all around the world. When I taught English as a foreign language, I used dance, art, racing and all kinds of games to teach the language. I used those tools to teach Irish to adults as well and they loved it.

Tá an-obair le déanamh againn ó thaobh an bhealaigh a múintear an teanga agus faoin tacaíocht atá á lorg ag na bunscoileanna agus meánscoileanna lán-Ghaeilge. Ní cheart go mbeadh orthu protest a dhéanamh taobh amuigh. Caithfidh muid níos mó tacaíochta a thabhairt dóibh. Tá an-tacaíocht tugtha ag an Aire ó thaobh na teanga de agus gabhaim buíochas léi óna thaobh sin. Is iontach an rud é go bhfuil stáisiún teilifíse lán-Gaeilge i gcomhair páistí ar fáil anois de bharr na tacaíochta a thug an tAire seo do TG4. Iarraim ar an Aire coinneáil uirthi leis an dea-obair.