Laura Colgan OUR VOICE IN NEW YORK Irish language no longer has bad rap
KNEECAP’S RESCUE MISSION
IT’S said around 800 languages are spoken in New York City. But I didn’t think Irish was one of them.
Pop-up Gaeltachts and Irish-language cafes seem the tokenistic part of St Patrick’s Day celebrations each March that people aren’t actually interested in.
Going to the pub, marching in parades and taking in Irish music are the much more enjoyable aspects of Irish culture.
And these activities hide the fact that most of us Irish people can’t speak our native tongue well enough to converse in it. sense of national pride.
The language isn’t dead. It’s the lads like Kneecap who know that speaking it says enough in itself.
It’s not just a language to them. It shows national identity. It’s a sign of where you came from.
It reflects beliefs and values. It sets out a political position. And it says more about who the speakers are than the actual words they’re speaking.
The movie is funny, original and a true reflection of Ireland without the paddywhackery.
Praise
Brendan Gleeson, actor extraordinaire, fan of the film and advocate of the Irish language, said: “You don’t want to say ‘the language is saved, we have one film’. Somebody said to me ‘It’s a dying language but if your mother was dying, you wouldn’t want her to die alone. That’s the reason I learn Irish’.
An Cailin Ciuin, the first Irish-language film nominated for an Oscar, garnered similar praise after its release last year.
There’s a place for Irish-language films on the world stage even though most Irish people can’t speak it fluently. That says plenty about Irish pride in itself.