This survey discusses the motives and consequences of the 13 June 2005 decision to include Irish among the EU’s official and working languages, and the 15 July 2008 decision to upgrade the status of languages recognised by law in the UK, such as Welsh and Scottish Gaelic. It also looks at the current state of Irish and Scottish Gaelic. Irish’s new EU status coincides with increased support at the top political level in Ireland. A tentative conclusion is that this happy coincidence could enhance the practical role of Irish, which in turn could exercise a knock-on positive effect on Scottish Gaelic. The continuing decrease in the use of Irish by young people in the Gaeltacht (Irish speaking regions), due to the unrelenting pressure of English, is a matter for deep concern, as is the failure of the authorities over many years to appreciate that language use, and not just language learning, needs to be planned. This may now be changing: expanded use of Irish in the electronic media, the structures put in place by the Official Languages Act of 2003, and Irish Government work on a 20-year strategic plan for Irish, together with continuing progress at EU level, give grounds for hope. To sum up: much has been done, but much remains to be done.
2020. The 23rd Language: Official EU Status for Irish as Portrayed in the Republic of Ireland's English-Language Press. English Studies at NBU 6:1 ► pp. 173 ff.
Moriarty, Mairead
2011. Minority languages and performative genres: the case of Irish language stand-up comedy. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 32:6 ► pp. 547 ff.
Moriarty, Máiréad
2014. Contesting language ideologies in the linguistic landscape of an Irish tourist town. International Journal of Bilingualism 18:5 ► pp. 464 ff.
Moriarty, Máiréad & Sari Pietikäinen
2011. Micro-level language-planning and grass-root initiatives: a case study of Irish language comedy and Inari Sámi rap. Current Issues in Language Planning 12:3 ► pp. 363 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 19 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.