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The Goidelic language which is spoken in the Republic of
Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States,
is constitutionally recognized as the first official language
of the Republic of Ireland. On 13 June, 2005, EU foreign ministers
unanimously decided to make Irish an official working language
of the European Union. The new arrangements will come into
effect on January 1, 2007.
According to statistics released by the Government of Ireland
in 2004, there are approximately 1.6 million speakers of Irish
in the Republic. Of these, 350,000 use Irish every day, 155,000
weekly, 585,000 less often, 460,000 never, and 30,000 didn't
state how often. However, these statistics are often disputed
by Irish language activists and their opponents. 80,000 people
has been quoted as the number of people in the Gaeltacht who
use the language as their first, daily language1. Other data
state that 165,000 can speak Irish in Northern Ireland and
25,000 in the United States.
Names of the language
In English
The language is sometimes referred to in English as Gaelic
or Irish Gaelic. This has generally been the common name for
the language in the Irish diaspora. Within Ireland proper,
it has inevitably acquired political significance. Referring
to the language as "Gaelic" suggests that the language
is as distant and unrelated to modern Irish life as the civilization
of the ancient Gaels. Calling it Irish, on the other hand,
indicates that it is and should be the proper national language
of the Irish people, and this is the generally accepted term
among scholars and in the Irish Constitution. Some Unionists
insist that Gaelic is the correct term as dialects of the
language are also spoken in parts of Scotland and insist that
the term Irish Language is an invention by Irish nationalists
to justify separatist claims from the rest of the British
Isles
Use of the term Irish also avoids confusion with Scottish
Gaelic (Gàidhlig), and Manx Gaelic (Gaelg), the closely
related languages spoken in Scotland and the Isle of Man and
often referred to in English as simply Gaelic. The archaic
term Erse, originally a Scots form of the word Irish, is no
longer used and in most contexts is also considered derogatory.
It is a fact, however, that as late as the early part of
the 18th century, the Scottish Highlanders still referred
to their native language as "Irish", as witnessed
by a letter dated 21 July 1713 from a young Campbell, John,
Lord Glenorchy at Christ Church, Oxford, to his grandfather,
John, Earl of Breadalbane at Taymouth: "I still take
care about my Irish and some times meet with Sir Donald Macdonald's
son, who is here, and another gentleman, when we talk nothing
but Irish." -- quoted in "A Bit of Breadalbane",
by Alastair Duncan Millar, The Pentland Press Ltd, 1995.
In Irish
In the Caighdeán Oifigiúil (the official written
standard) the name of the language is Gaeilge, which reflects
the southern Connacht. Before the spelling reform of 1948,
this form was spelled Gaedhilge; originally this was the genitive
of Gaedhealg, the form used in classical Modern Irish. Older
spellings of this include Gaoidhealg in Middle Irish and Goídelc
in Old Irish.
Official status
Irish is given recognition by the Constitution of Ireland
as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland
(with English being a second official language), despite the
limited distribution of fluency among the population of that
country. Since the State was founded in the 1920s as the Irish
Free State (see also History of the Republic of Ireland),
the Irish Government required a degree of proficiency in Irish
for all civil service positions (including postal workers,
tax officials, agricultural inspectors, etc.), as well as
for employees of state companies (e.g. Aer Lingus, RTE, ESB,
etc). Proficiency in Irish for entrance to the public service
ceased to be a compulsory requirement in 1974, in part through
the actions of protest organizations like the Language Freedom
Movement. While the requirement was also dropped for wider
public service jobs, such as teaching, Irish remains a required
subject of study in all schools within the Republic which
receive public money (see also Education in the Republic of
Ireland). The need for a pass in Leaving Certificate Irish
for entry to the Gardaí (police) was dropped in September
2005, although applicants are given lessons in the language
during the two years of training. Most official documents
of the Irish Government are published in both Irish and English.
The National University of Ireland, Galway is required to
appoint a person who is competent in the Irish language, as
long as they meet all other respects of the vacancy they are
appointed to. This requirement is laid down by the University
College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3) and recently was subject
of a High Court case on the matter - it is expected that the
requirement may be repealed in due course.
As a treaty language of the European Union, the highest-level
documents of the EU are translated into Irish; in addition,
the language has also recently received a degree of formal
recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, under
the Good Friday Agreement.
Furthermore, Irish will become an official working language
of the European Union beginning January 1, 2007.
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