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Posted by Mike on November 16, 2003 at 11:49:05:
In Reply to: Why did we fail to revive the language? posted by Tuars on November 16, 2003 at 10:59:19:
"Ironically it seems that Irish independence was the nail in the coffin for the Irish language" Irish independence actually HASTENED the decline of the language for several reasons
Mainly it was the brutal and hamfisted way successive Government of the time attempted to impose the language in schools. Which more or less mirrored the methods used in the 18th and 19th centuries to eradicate it.
Although they delighted in recalling such atrocities as the "tally rod" and the requirement for English in order to obtain exams the irony that they were using the same methods in an attempt to reverse the process was completly lost on them.While The lack of any emphisis by educators on conversational use of the language served to make it seem irrelavent in the real world. Plus there was the factor that the economic and cultural benefits of English (Especially at a time when the majority of school leavers were destined to spend their lives In Britain, North America or Australia) were far stronger.
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