by Eliott Eddings
At best, 380,000 people fluently speak Irish Gaelic (henceforth Irish and/or Gaelic). The national language of Ireland is spoken by only a fraction of her population of nearly 4.25 million. What can be done about this situation without harming the English-speaking majority? Well, there is one solution I know of, and this is it. It would take at least three generations before the plan would come to full maturity, but it is the best solution out there that does not neglect the needs of English speakers.
I will be outlining this from the view of the current generation of people now entering into adulthood (15-25 or so) and starting their own families. This generation will henceforth be known as our generation.
The first step is for us, young adults and teenagers entering into adulthood, is to raise our children completely bilingual in both English and Irish Gaelic. Now, this would require things such as immersion programs and a good education in both languages, but it is entirely possible. The end goal is to have our children speak fluently in both English and Irish. Also, by fluently, I mean as close to a native-like degree as possible. Therefore, cupla words do not count as bilingual in this context.
As we all age, our children will begin to start their own families. Being that they speak fluent Irish and English, it will be less burdensome for them to raise their children fully bilingual in both Irish and English. Again, the children, our grandchildren, would speak both languages with native fluency.
Finally, as our grandchildren have their own children, they will raise them completely monolingual in Irish. More or less any people from the generations before our generation will be gone from us by this point, and many people from our generation will either be gone already or headed out the door.
The main purpose of the bilingualism in the first two generations was to make it to where the English speakers would not be neglected and still be able to function. By the time the third generation arrives, the majority of monolingual English speakers will be no longer around or fairly old, and our generation itself would have a median age most likely in the 80s and 90s. As such, catering to the needs of people no longer living is not needed, and very few if any English speakers would be neglected by having the youngest generation speaking only Irish.
All generations after the third generation (ie. the first generation of fully monolingual Irish speakers) would raise their children speaking Irish as their primary language. As such, Irish would once again be restored to its rightful place as the language of Ireland and would no longer be in immediate threat of dying out.
From an economic standpoint, this is a feasible plan. There would be a greater need for Irish teachers and immersion programs available at any given location in the beginning stages, but the costs of this would not be in extreme measures. There would in addition be a reduced need for translating back and forth official government papers into Irish and English, thus reducing government costs on such things. Also, there would be a greater need for Irish publications and media outlets, although the majority of these would be privately-owned. Therefore, there would be very little money actually used in the scheme, and it would be well worth it when the payout arrives.
Works Cited and Consulted:
"Demographics of the Republic of Ireland" Wikipedia. 11 July, 2007.
<http://en.wikipedia.org>.
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