Siún Ní Dhuinn Dá gcuirfeadh an Rialtas gach pingin rud ar fad atá acu ar fáil do scéim fhorbartha don Ghaeilge níl a fhios agam an ndéanfadh sé an oiread maitheasa agus atá déanta ag Uachtarán Mheiriceá agus Banríon Shasana. Is ait liom fós go bhfuil an abairt sin scríofa agam, go ndearna an Bhanríon maitheas don Ghaeilge – cé a cheapfá?
Bímis, níl mórán luach curtha ar an teanga sa saol laethúil anseo in Éirinn. Tá iarrachtaí áirithe déanta ag daoine, ó thaobh an aistriúcháin de, ach braithim, nach ndéantar na rudaí seo a aistriú ach ar mhaithe le hachtanna teanga a chomhlíonadh.
Bhain an duine is cumhachtaí úsáid as an teanga atá i mbaol an bháis anseo le blianta anuas. Ní hamháin gur bhain sé úsáid aisti ach chreid sé an méid a bhí á rá aige. Agus níos tábhachtaí fós, chreid muid, mar náisiún, é.
Duirt sé: “Tá áthas orm a bheith in Éirinn” – chreid muid é agus é ag croith láimhe le muintir an bhaile bhig is cáiliúla sa domhan Muine Gall. Mheas muid go raibh muid tábhachtach don Uachtarán agus a bhean. Léirigh Obama cion agus meas orainn agus é ag tabhairt cuairte ar an tír bheag seo. Spreag sé muid chun machnamh dearfach, rud atá uainn go géar.
Is dócha go mbainfidh gach duine againn rud éigin difriúil ón gcaint agus ón gcuairt ach domsa, thaispeáin sé go bhfuil luach ar an teanga mar chuid lárnach de fhéiniúlacht na tíre, rud nach bhfuil léirithe againne féin go dtí seo. Bíodh meas níos mó againn orainn féin as seo amach, tá laethanta geala amach romhainn – agus ‘is féidir linn’.
Is scríbhneoir agus léachtóir le Gaeilge í Siún Ní Dhuinn in UCD
Siún Ní Dhuinn
If the Government put every penny they had into a language development scheme for Irish, I doubt it would have as big as effect as President Obama and the Queen Elizabeth II have had. I still find it strange to write that sentence, the Queen doing good for the Irish language – who’d have thought it?
Let’s be honest about it, there isn’t much value placed on the Irish language in daily life in this country. There have been some efforts made at translation, but I feel that these are mostly to fulfil language act requirements.
The most powerful person on the planet used the language that has been in danger of dying for years. Not only did he use a few token words, but he believed what he was saying. And more importantly, we believed him.
“I am happy to be in Ireland,” he said, and we saw the proof of this when he shook hands with the people of the most famous village in the world, Moneygall. We felt important to President Obama and his wife. He showed us respect and revealed his fondness for our country on his visit. He inspired us to reflect positively on our country, something that we desperately needed.
I suppose every one of us will take something different from his speech and his visit. For me, it will stay with me that our language is at the heart of our identity something we haven’t been believed until now. We should have more pride in ourselves from now on, there are bright days ahead – and yes, ‘we can’.
Siún Ní Dhuinn is a writer and lecturer at UCD
