A chara, - As members of iMeasc, a voluntary group of fluent Irish-speaking immigrants and Irish-speaking citizens of immigrant background in Ireland, we wish to address a number of points in Dr David Barnwell's letter of October 21st.
Dr Barnwell states that "99 per cent" of immigrants "are quite happy to ignore the first official language of the State", yet goes on to say: "this is not to blame immigrants, since they can hardly be expected to become more interested in Irish than the Irish themselves".
Therein lies the crux of the problem. Vast swathes of Irish citizens have been more than happy not only to "ignore the first official language" for many years, but have also actively sought to downgrade and dismiss the language, most significantly when Irish political representatives rejected an offer to afford full status for Irish upon Ireland's entrance into the EC in the 1970s.
As for Dr Barnwell's assertion that "foreign-born recruits will not even have the minimum competence in Irish currently required of our police", it was made very clear when the changes to entry requirements were announced that "all Garda recruits will be required to achieve an appropriate standard in Irish before becoming full members of the Force, and basic training in Irish will be given to recruits who have no qualification in the language". Indeed, iMeasc made representations to many of those involved in this change process, advocating that immigrants be treated equally and afforded the same cultural and linguistic reference points as their fellow Irish-born gardaí.
Overall, the onus is primarily on ethnically Irish persons, the vast majority of people in Ireland, to prove the validity of Irish by actually speaking it themselves. In this regard, we welcome support from all quarters, including Dr Barnwell, in addition to our own considerable efforts, in interacting positively with the Irish-language organisations of this State to develop the contexts in which Irish can be used and enjoyed, and address all issues which remain in the way of this process for all people sharing this island and working hard to contribute to its currently booming economy. - Is muide,
ARIEL KILLICK (Cathaoirleach), ALEX HIJMANS, HOY YEE DEBRA, CHAN ABDULLAHI EL-TOM, ÁINE UÍ GHIOLLAGÁIN, CHANTAL KOBEL, MUIREANN NIC CARRTHAIGH, ANDREAS VOGEL, CÓILÍN Ó FLOINN, COLLEEN DOLLARD, GEARÓID Ó MAELEARCAIDH, South Circular Road, Dublin 8.