Sir, – EF Fanning's use of the Census 2011 language question (February 26th) illustrates a statistical anomaly with a self-selective question such as how often people speak Gaelic, which tends to favour romantic sentimentalism over scientific accuracy. It is highly likely that most of the 119,000 Polish speakers are actually fluent in that language. I sincerely doubt the same could be said of the 1.77 million people who claim to be able to speak Gaelic. But the 1.77 million includes schoolchildren.
In fact, only 77,185 people, or 1.7 per cent of the population, claimed to use Gaelic on a daily basis outside of school. It is probable that there are more daily users of Polish than Gaelic. Perhaps the question could be rephrased to ask if you are fluent in Gaelic, or maybe the question should be asked in Gaelic on the English form to see how many people are able to answer it.
Speaking of the English form, for Census 2011 people were offered the choice of the English or Gaelic form. A total of 1,654,447 English forms were collected, whereas only a measly 7,806 Gaelic forms were collected. Or, to put it another way, only 0.47 per cent of census forms were the Gaelic version!
Instead of lecturing English speakers, criticising Government for lack of services, or demanding more force-feeding, perhaps Gaelgoirí should start with themselves and actually use the Gaelic form for Census 2016. – Yours, etc,
JASON FITZHARRIS,
Rivervalley,
Swords,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – On Saturday last, in a replica Irish cottage in the centre of Phoenix, Arizona, I was shown a small room where children of age five and upwards learn Irish in much the same setting as they would in an Irish national school. They can then cross a small plaza to the Irish-language section of the recently completed McClelland Irish Library (linked with the main public library across the road), or join the adult Irish classes in the fully equipped learning suites adjoining. Someone should tell them about how Ireland feels about all of this before they waste any more time or resources. – Yours, etc,
DENIS BERGIN,
Schoolhouse Road,
Mount Pleasant,
South Carolina.