At first when John pointed me at this report, I thought, “I speak Irish, but how many of my friends do? How many times do people really do business as Gaeilge?”
That’s not the point however. Many Irish people are willing to let our language die but with it will go a rich heritage (and I’m talking of more than Peig!) and culture.
There’s a new generation growing up who’ve gone through the Gael Scoileanna and have a sound understanding of the Irish language. It’s a slow process but schooling is much better these days, and hopefully today’s parents will get over the mental block that old style Irish teaching brought with it.
Conradh Na Gaeilge have almost the same text on their homepage. It’s not likely to stay there indefinetly so use the above link if you’re reading this a year from now!