Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP has written to the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern urging him to seek and secure official status for the Irish language during the Irish Presidency of the European Union.
Bank may act as euro rise puts jobs at risk.
When my wife and I visited Ireland two summers ago, the exchange rate for the Euro was about $0.87. We paid about $0.95 per Euro at banks across the country, discovering the hard way that the official exchange rate and the actual exchange rates are quite a bit different. Now the exchange rate is about $1.30 per Euro, making Irish products, and Irish trips, much more expensive for Americans. I hope that it does come down again and make a return visit more feasible. At the current rate, forget about it.
There has been a lot of discussion regarding the smoking ban in Ireland, and its affect on the tourism industry.
My wife and I did not have a single drink in any pub in Dublin’s famed Temple Bar district, simply because we could not find one that had breathable air. We didn’t fare much better in Glenn Colm Cille, though we lasted about a half a few nights at Biddy’s (pic at right). Unfortunately the stench of cigarette smoke on our clothes lingered for the walk back the our rooms. As enjoyable as our trip was, it would have been infinitely more enjoyable had we been able to find a smoke-free pub.
Building A Better Ireland.
Bernie Goldbach points to what sounds like a disturbing set of papers on the social fabric of Ireland. I wonder how many descendents of the Irish diaspora, such as myself, hold an overly romantic and idyllic image of Ireland, in much the same way many people also view Hawai’i. While my wife and I were in Ireland during the summer of 2002, I let myself dream about what it would be like to move to Ireland, maybe retire there. The dreams were short-lived, for sure, but not because of stories like these.
‘Irish Language Champions Fail the Talk Test’ is a poorly worded headline for this story from scotsman.com.
Can you fault these Irish language advocates for their inability to speak the language? Better to fault the education in the language provided to them and the political environment they grew up in. Same here in Hawai’i. A generation of native speakers here decided not to pass the language to their children, mostly to the atmosphere and politics of their era. The EU should still recognize the language. If they can accept new countries and their languages, they need to accept Irish. A opinion from the middle of the Pacific.
I never realized that Irish was not one of the EU’s recognized languages.
There a bunch of new countries joining the EU this year, along with their languages. Since the EU Presidency is in Ireland for the next six months, maybe this will get fixed. Did you know that Hawai’i is the only state in the US that officially recognizes two languages, English and Hawaiian?
Irish drink culture faces clampdown.
It’s interesting that a drink that used to proclaim that it’s “good for you” might have a health warning slapped on it.
Another interesting Irish language discussion on Slugger O’Toole.
This one involves a proposal to make instruction in Irish language mandatory in all Northern Ireland schools. Some interesting perspectives, but none of the participants seem to support the idea nor believe it will happen. I don’t think I would even support such a proposal for Hawaiian language, at least at this point it time. To make it available to every student who wanted it – absolutely. The opportunity to learn it must be there, but forcing upon those who don’t want it, I don’t think so. It would generate more bad will than it would positive results.
This website has a nice breakdown of the Irish Gaelic dialects.
I won’t vouch for its accuracy but it looks impressive.
The current Irish course I’m using is Pimsleur’s Irish I audio CD set.
The current Irish course I’m using is Pimsleur’s Irish I audio CD set. It contains 4 audio CDs and no textbook at all. This method also discourages the student from writing down notes as you learn. I’m up to lesson 4 (there are 8 lessons on the 4 CDs). It’s convenient as you can listen and learn while driving, as I tend to do each morning and afternoon. There is a narrator that provides introduction and instructions, you listen to a native speaker, mimic their pronuciation, and later participate in mock conversations with them. So far so good. The first…