The Essence of Irishness

Nigel Govan is a former translation trainee at the Council of the EU and an expert in everything Irish. He has a BA in Irish and Spanish, an MA in Irish, and is currently undertaking a graduate diploma in Irish legal translation. He kindly agreed to have a chat with the Apertis Verbis team about the Irish language, its role within the European institutions, and Irish culture.

Hi, Nigel and thank you for agreeing to do this interview with us. Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.

You’re very welcome. I guess the most interesting things to mention are that I’m a Dublin native and have lived here most of my life except the 6 months I spent in Belgium doing a traineeship within the EU Council during the first half of this year. I am also extremely proud of being Irish, ask anyone who knows me, particularly those who aren’t Irish themselves, they get constantly informed of all things Irish, so much so that they should be able to handle their own in a pub quiz in Ireland. I’m about as Irish as you can get. I’m an Irish dancer, fluent Irish speaker and have a keen interest in Irish sports and music. I am currently doing a graduate diploma in King’s Inns Dublin in legal translation in Irish. Prior to this I studied both Modern Irish and Spanish during my bachelor’s degree and continued to do a master’s degree in Irish in UCD. I also work as a dancer at weddings and functions with the Irish dancing show Celtic Dance Fusion.

Can you tell us about the current policies in Ireland regarding learning and teaching Irish, and accessing public services in this language?

Currently, Irish (or Irish Gaelic) is the first official language of the island of Ireland as stated in our constitution. Stemming from this Irish is a mandatory school subject up to the age of 18 and a pass in this subject is required to gain entry into university courses within the Republic. However that being said an exemption can be granted from having to study Irish, anyone born outside of the country or anyone with learning difficulties can be granted a waiver of sorts to allow them to pursue studies at third level if they so wish. Under Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (or the Official Languages Act) Irish was granted certain protections. Anyone has the right to use Irish when communicating with the state or in the courts, this allows extends to bodies of the state. Aside from this people in Ireland can choose to have their schooling through the medium of Irish or English and can sit any state examinations in either language.

Do you think these policies helped promote and spread the use of Irish? Do you feel more people are studying it? Which specific policy has had, in your opinion, a considerable impact on how Irish is perceived?

I think in certain ways these policies have helped protect Irish over the years but they have also led to a resentment against Irish being fostered amongst many people. Year after year you will hear young school children say “I never have to speak/use Irish ever again” as they finish their Irish oral and written exams in their Leaving Certificate examinations (school leaving examinations in the Republic of Ireland). That being said there are many people that have the total opposite reaction and enjoy using Irish. A childhood rite of passage for many would be to head to one of the Gaeltacht areas of Ireland (places where Irish is spoken as opposed to a Galltacht where English is spoken) and attend one of the many Coláistí Samhraidh which are for lack of a better term a summer school. However, unlike most people’s perception of summer school these tends to be some of the most memorable days for Irish people during their youth and certainly were for me when I headed west to Coláiste Uí Chadhain in Galway every summer during my school years.

In relation to numbers of people studying Irish I wouldn’t be able to comment with certainty on this. There are statistics released every year following the Leaving Certificate which show that the majority of those who sit these exams sit the Irish exam as part of it, this number seemed to remain near enough the same year in year out to the best of my knowledge. With regard to numbers who study Irish at third level I can’t comment either as some people may study Irish for their undergraduate or postgraduate or may take an elective in a subject area related to it so it would be difficult to get an exact number. I think there has been a greater interest in recent years particularly since Irish achieved official working language status within the European Union. There were several scholarships granted by the government for the postgraduate course I have completed and this I know was a strong incentive for several people to apply for this course, so this I would imagine has led to an increase in numbers of people who study Irish at postgraduate level. Both Irish being recognised as the first language of the state and the ability of people to use Irish when communicating with the state has had considerable impact on Irish and how it’s perceived. I feel that Irish being our first language fostered the idea of teaching Irish in schools and it being a requirement for entry to third level education in Ireland, without which many people wouldn’t have by chance discovered their interest in Irish in schools across the country. On a personal level, my ability to use Irish when communicating with the state or when taking a state examination has shown me that Irish is respected and has its benefits. If I wasn’t able to use Irish I would question why Irish is enshrined as our first language within the constitution yet left to be ignored the rest of the time. This choice, while maybe only used by a minority most of the time, is an important choice to have and allows those who wish to live their lives through either of the recognised languages in Ireland.

What more could be done to mainstream Irish from a policy point of view?

A very radical but productive method I believe would be to have all primary education through the medium of Irish. This would give everyone a solid basis in the language and then if the individual or parents of the individual so wish they could continue education through Irish at second level. All primary school teachers are expected to be qualified in Irish and to be able to teach it to all students from four to twelve years of age. However that being said a majority of primary school teachers I regret to say are nowhere near a sufficient standard to ensure this, I myself noticed this when I entered second level education without much knowledge of Irish and an inability to string together even the simplest of sentences. Many of my friends who are on primary teaching courses have said the vast majority of people on their courses have little or no confidence speaking the language. Therefore, it’s clear these teachers of the future will have little or no ability to pass on fluency, confidence or even interest in the mother tongue of Ireland, so it’s evident the idea I mentioned above can’t at present be met. A different policy that could be easily implemented and which would be achieved faster would be to employ one or more teachers per school, which are fluent, perhaps even native speakers and confident in using the language. Then get these teachers to educate the children in the language but also to hold classes in different subjects through Irish so as to produce an awareness and give children incentive to use it in a broader scope of subjects. A fun way to encourage spoken Irish outside the classroom setting and in a more enjoyable environment would be to hold P.E. (physical education) classes through Irish.

You completed a five-month translation traineeship at the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU, and before that, a one-month compulsory traineeship at the Commission, so you have a wide overview of the role of Irish within the European institutions. Do you think that since Irish became an official EU language, its prestige and visibility have improved?

I would agree most certainly that its prestige and visibility have improved. I would say more so on an international scale in terms of visibility. Had Irish not been granted official status I wouldn’t have completed either traineeship and those who worked with me, not directly in the Irish language units, wouldn’t perhaps have been aware of the language at all. Back home in Ireland it has also encouraged a different career path for graduates of Irish and other subject areas to pursue careers using Irish in a more international field such as working in the EU institutions. There have also been more postgraduate courses developed all around the island of Ireland to encourage people to pursue a wider range of professions using Irish, such as the postgraduate course MA Scríobh agus Cumarsáid na Gaeilge (Writing and Communications in Irish) which I graduated from last year. Courses such as these have developed a young, well-skilled generation of Irish speakers who are very active in promoting the language in social, professional and even legal circles, for example looking for equal rights for Irish speakers.

Within the institutions, does everything get translated into Irish, or does this language have a special regime for the time being?

At present, there is still a derogation on the Irish language so not everything is translated into Irish. This derogation is gradually being lifted with the aim that by the end of this decade Irish will be a full working language of the institutions. This derogation also means that the Irish language units don’t have the same number of staff as the other language units, but as mentioned above there is an influx of interest into working with the EU using Irish due to the development of more postgraduate courses in Ireland and Irish speakers have more of an awareness that there are such opportunities for them.

Are Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Manx similar? Would you be able to understand them, or even have a conversation with someone speaking Manx, for instance? And also, linking on to this, are there considerable differences between the regional variants of Irish?

Both Scottish Gaelic and Manx stem from the Irish Gaelic language. Therefore syntax and a lot of vocal sounds are very similar. However, I wouldn’t say I’d be able to speak in Irish Gaelic and communicate efficiently with someone speaking either Scottish Gaelic or Manx. Having briefly studied Scottish Gaelic and having spent time in areas where this language is spoken I don’t believe a conversation other than that of a very basic one could be mutually understandable for speakers of two different Gaelics. Whenever I heard Scottish Gaelic, prior to studying it, I felt like I should understand what the person is saying or that they were speaking in a very strange dialect of Irish. There are also several faux amis between Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic and these would make conversations between speakers of both languages a bit more difficult to determine exactly what someone is trying to communicate to you. Differences between the different regional variants or dialects of Irish are very clear. Many people unless extremely proficient in the language would have some difficulties understanding someone speaking in a dialect they aren’t accustomed to. In terms of grammar there are different verbal forms and different rules relating to lenition and eclipsis across the various dialects and these rules can sometimes confuse learners of the language. Some basic nouns are totally different from one dialect to another and some words change meaning slightly depending on the dialect as well. The last main difference which would very noticeable to people with no prior knowledge of Irish to those who are native speakers is pronunciation which changes drastically when comparing a speaker from Donegal with someone from west Kerry.

Where do you see yourself in ten years' time? Would you like to use your Irish-language skills in your future career?

There are various ideas I have in mind for myself when I imagine what the future holds for me. One constant is that I qualify as an Irish dance teacher and open my own dancing school. With this in mind I would love to teach Irish dancing through the medium of Irish to help create another social outlet where young people can use and enjoy the language. Added to this, I would love to work within the Irish language sector whether it be within the civil service, working for a language promotion group, or in media, I’ve a particular interest in journalism however it is something I haven’t yet had the proper chance to pursue yet since finishing university.

Could you also tell us what your favourite tradition from your country is?

Without any doubt my favourite Irish tradition is Irish dancing, something that I have practiced since the age of 9. For me it is a huge part of my life and of the Irish identity with competitions held every weekend all over Ireland and abroad. Most people who aren’t Irish would probably call it Riverdancing, due to the popular show that began during the 1994 Eurovision as an interval act. This show and others, Lord of the Dance, Rhythm of the Dance etc. have completed tours all over the world making Irish dancing a very global tradition. To me this is an amazing achievement to have something that is so Irish be so international and so internationally celebrated at the same time. When I was in Belgium during my traineeship I found several Irish dancing schools dotted across Belgium, this is something I think would be quite hard to come across if you were to pick another traditional or folk dancing form.

Through Irish dancing and other Irish cultural activities, Irish people abroad can still hold onto their cultural identity and even spread it abroad while integrating into new societies. This is also something I have in mind for the future should I ever move abroad, my first step would be to open a dance school to connect with Irish people living in the locality or even people with Irish roots and then to help share our culture with other people abroad.

And, finally, what is your favourite word in Irish, and how would you translate it into English?

My favourite word in Irish would be smugairle róin, which is the Irish word for jellyfish but if you were to literally translate it, it means seal snot.