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Go raibh mile maith agaibh as bhur sínithe. An tseachtain seo caite, seoladh ceithre ríomhphost leis na sínithe go dtí  úinéar Foinse, Pádraig Ó Ceidigh, Brian Cowen, Éamon Ó Cúiv agus Foras na Gaeilge, agus cópieanan crua ina dhiadh sa phost. Bheartaigh mé an t-iarratas a fhágáil oscailte ar fheadh tamaill eile, go dtí go mbeidh na daoine réamhráite ábalta iad a fheiceáil mar aon leis an tacaíocht leanúnach a bhfuil ag teacht isteach. De réir dealraimh ba é Pádraig Ó Ceidigh féin a bhí ag iarraidh an nuachtán a chur chun deireadh ag an crinniú dé hAoine agus nach raibh an t-airgead ó Fhoras na Gaeilge go leor, cé go raibh siad ag iarraidh níos mó a thabhairt dó. Mar sin, níl a fhios agam cad atá ar siúl fós maidir le todhchaí Foinse. Is amhlaidh go bhfuil cabhair ag teacht ó Údarás na Gaeilge, a deir Concubhar Ó Liatháin iGaeilge agus de réir a TG4 (nuacht trathnóna Déaradaoin)Youtube ach níl sé go soiléar fós. Caithfimidh fanacht.

When it comes to the Irish language there really are some insecure B.S. artists out there! I recently had the misfortune of having a conversation with an old-school Irish speaker – Correct grammar was all important and the occasional English word thrown in was a cardinal sin… the “proper use of Irish” or not-at-all approach was more important than the “every-day” speaking and growth of the Irish language. Pride coming before a fall. As many, the only hope of recovering my Irish language roots is through the occasional interjection of English words. I come from the school of thought that says: the purpose of language is to communicate… not to promote elitism at the cost of a culture.

Don’t get me wrong – I truly believe that proper grammar and all the trimmings of correct language usage are something to be aspired to – and those great in the technical application of a language should be respected and not feared… but respect is earned, not taken, especially, by putting down beginners who are striving to learn. Once you have acquired a high standard of usage of a language it’s easy to look down on those who are not quite to your standard, but that’s just insecurity dressed up as pomp! I want Irish to retake its place in our culture (it’s a unique, beautiful and expressive language) and I want to learn it, without the rebuke of those who are better in its usage than me! When I encounter fluent Irish speakers use the occasional English word as is the modern trend, I feel more at ease and inspired… old ideas get buried with the past and I really want to see the Irish language grow, not wither, because of stick-in-the-mud ideals – If people are passionate about using a language, they will naturally seek the correct grammar.

I had only one response for my elitist companion… I can find more people who fear speaking the language because of people with his idea of “Irish” – than he can fluent speakers. Sadly! Needless to say, there are those who will not change and if the Irish language fades, I hope it will not be because of my fear of people like that… I intend to continue my rediscovery of the Irish language… and little by little, get better at its proper usage – and who knows, one day…!

In my own computer naivety I decided the only thing to do was to start from scratch and reload WordPress and big “Whoops!”. That created its own blend of problems… namely dreaded “404 errors”, a term I never really understood prior to now but one which resulted in having to figure out “redirects! It’s all been a lot of unexpected work that’s meant having very little time to blog… and yet I can’t help but feel that this has been a good thing… To be honest, through all my mistakes and moments of getting disheartened, I’ve learned more in one week than in the four months prior in which I’ve been blogging.

I just hope anyone who visits my blog can bear with me while I figure out the few problems my blog is having with getting fully back on track!

Lá Nua, the Irish language newspaper is under threat of closure after having been published for more than twenty years. This would come as yet another loss to Irish heritage… It seems that in a time when the Irish are being asked to embrace an influx of different cultures into Ireland, we are slowly losing touch with our own. Below is a worthwhile link, to a petition to Foras na Gaeilge, the cross-border Irish language body, to support Lá Nua, the Irish language daily newspaper, to ensure its survival and to put a proper basis under the future development of the Irish language print journalism.

Tar i gcabhair ar Lá Nua/Support Lá Nua

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rusting,  abandoned  cars—

that  silence  before  a

getaway:  the  perfect

murder  of  a  syllable...

the  flawed giving-birth

to  a  verbal  child—

                                the  imperfect

concept  of  an  original

point  of  view  or  quiet

whisper  in  picking  a  lock....

Smoking causes cancer—

Smoking  causes  cancer—

and  no-one  seems

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                                 a  book

is  made  of  wood  like

the  match...  It  

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itself  and  dares  to  steal

a  life—

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lingers

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we  write  just  turns  to

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