Nessa Cosgrove (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Is mór an onóir dom é seasamh anseo inniu sa Seanad ag labhairt ár dteanga dhúchais. Ba mhaith liom buíochas mór a ghabháil le m'athair a thug grá mhór don Ghaeilge dom. Ba mhaith liom Gaeilge líofa a labhairt ach ní féidir liom. Tá mé ag éirí níos fearr agus inniu labhróidh mé as Gaeilge agus as Béarla. Ar dtús, our teanga iontach is a vital part of our cultural identity, not just in Ireland but across Europe. It stands as one of the oldest spoken and literary languages still in use. Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. While more and more young people are embracing Gaeilge and we can see a rise in TG4 and an increase in people, particularly adults, going to the Gaeltacht, very sadly the latest census shows a decline in daily and weekly speakers. The majority of people in Ireland learn Irish for 14 years but sadly do not speak Irish once they finish school.

Tá náire ar a lán daoine nach féidir leo Gaeilge flúirseach a labhairt agus mar sin ní labhraíonn siad ar chor ar bith í. Tá go leor daoine cosúil liom. Ní thagaim ón Ghaeltacht. Níor fhreastail mé ar Ghaelscoil ach is breá liom bheith á labhairt. Uaireanta bíonn náire orm. We need to get serious about creating a truly bilingual society. We need action to protect and grow our language.I mo thuairim, Voltaire said that the best is the enemy of the good. Instead of striving for perfection, we should be encouraging the cúpla focal, cosúil liomsa. We should be encouraging Gaeilge bhriste. There is a wonderful expression, "Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí". Ceapaim go moltar daoine a labhraíonn an Ghaeilge, an teanga. Is breá liom Gaeilge a labhairt ach níl go leor di agam. Gaeilge bhriste is better than no Gaeilge at all.

There are practical steps the Government can take. Right now, we need well-resourced community facilities in every town and welcoming open spaces where people can gather to learn and speak the language in cafés and shops. In Cartron, the area where I live, we have set up a grúpa cainte just for our own group, grúpa tosaigh. We started two weeks ago and already the numbers are growing. We are going from focal amháin go Gaeilge líofa. We need to create opportunities for everyone to practise a cúpla focal and we need to look at what our neighbours in Wales did. The Welsh Government set an ambitious goal of 1 million speakers by 2050. They are delivering the Welsh language by means of an education strategic plan, expanding social opportunities for people to use the language and increasing awareness of language training opportunities. We should seek to match this and should look at bilingual signage, particularly in the context of road signs, where an Ghaeilge is smaller than an Béarla. It should be the other way around. We need to look down the line at bilingual packaging on all products. I know that is a big ask, but it is something we could do.

Seachtain na Gaeilge reminds us of the deep connection between our language and our identity, but we need to move beyond rhetoric. Tá sé an-bhrónach nach bhfuil go leor daoine feeling comfortable á caint. Is breá liom a bheith ag caint and exploring the possibilities of expressing thoughts and emotions and it is such a wonderful, poetic and spiritual connection to our language that is often lost because we do not use it enough.

Research over many decades has shown that multilingualism is the natural state and that monolingualism is a modern phenomenon that is not holistically beneficial. Multilingualism holds benefits across a range of human experience, psychologically, cognitively, emotionally and, of course, linguistically. An scannán “Kneecap” has shown the potential of what our native language can do and I think that they are making fantastic strides with the language up North. It is important that we learn to express ourselves well and to improve our proficiency. Táim féin ag iarraidh agus ag éirí níos fearr. I did a course in Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board in Gaelchultúr last year. There are wonderful opportunities within the public sector. That is where we need to start where people are encouraged to speak, to learn and to feel comfortable using their cúpla focal.

Is fearr liom Gaeilge bhriste gan aon Ghaeilge ar chor ar bith. Mar sin, Seachtain na Gaeilge shona daoibh go léir agus bain úsáid as an cúpla focal.