Middle Class Dub

198 corporate convictions – and one person goes to jail

2012-01-26T12:59:00.004Z

A recent look at the annual reports of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforecement shows that it secured 198 convictions since it was set up in 2001.

Most of the convictions led to disqualifications and fines (mainly between €500-€1,500), while only eight included prison sentences. Of those, seven were suspended or overturned on appeal.

The one person who did go to prison, Kenneth Shanny from Dunshaughlin in Co Meath, was convicted of auditing offences under the 1990 Companies Act. He was sentenced to three years in prison, with the last year suspended, and is currently appealing the sentence.

So in ten years one person has been jailed by the body set up to tackle corporate crime in Ireland.

The Office is also investigating the goings-on in Anglo Irish Bank, an investigation that is in its third year. Due to the workload involved in the Anglo case the number of convictions the ODCE has secured dropped dramatically from 38 and 46 duine in 2005 and 2006 to just two in both 2009 and 2010.

Figures released by the Minister for Justice Alan Shatter in November also showed that ten prison sentences have been handed down for breaches of the Competition Act since 2001, but that all of them were suspended.

Meanwhile almost 7,000 people were jailed in in the first eleven months of 2011 for not paying fines (134 a week) up from 2,000 in 2008.

An torc i logainmneacha na hÉireann

2012-01-13T13:04:00.009Z

Tá díospóireacht ar siúl faoi láthair maidir le stádas an toirc in Éirinn.

Le blianta beaga anuas thángthas ar an ainmhí sa tír, idir chinn a d'éalaigh ó fheirmeacha agus cinn a scaoil sealgairí d'aon ghnó.

Tá Speicis Ionracha Éireann ag iarraidh stop a chur le scaipeadh an toirc, ach ní aontaíonn an Irish Wildlife Trust leis an bpolasaí seo.

Dar le Speicis Ionracha Éireann ní ainmhí dúchasach iad toisc nár tháinig siad go hÉireann as a stuaim féin i ndiaidh an Oighir Aois deireanach - thart ar 8,000 RC.

Dar leo thóg daoine iad go dtí an tír níos déanaí. De réir cláir sa tsraith 'Ag Dul in Éag' ar TG4 maraíodh an torc deireanach in Éirinn san 12ú hAois.

Ceist chasta atá ann ach níl aon dabht ach go ndeachaidh an torc (nó an collach mar a ghlaodh air chomh maith) i bhfeidhm ar dhaoine in Éirinn - mar a léiríonn an Fhiannaíocht agus na logainmeacha seo.

Inisturk - Inis Toirc - Boar Island
Kanturk - Ceann Toirc - Boar Head
Maamturk - Mám Toirc - Boar Pass
Bailieborough - Coill an Chollaigh - Boar Wood
Ballincollig - Baile an Chollaigh - Boar Townland

Má bhreathnaíonn tú ar 'Ainmneacha Cosúla' ag an nasc seo feicfidh tú go bhfuil go leor logainmneacha eile a bhaineann leis an torc, cúig 'Cluain Torc' ina measc.

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

€860 million worth of fish was taken from Ireland's seas in 2011

2012-01-05T09:05:00.007Z

The Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney told the Dáil before Christmas that 937,924 tonnes of fish would be taken from Ireland's waters in 2011, worth a total of €1.01 billion.

However, Irish fishers were only allowed to take 17% of this, meaning that €863 million was be fished by foreign trawlers. Only a quarter of the fish taken from Ireland's seas are landed in the country, meaning that the potential to create processing jobs is also being lost.

How did it all come to this?

Lorcán Ó Cinnéide from the Irish Fish Producers Organization (IFPO) explained thus; The EU doesn't view Ireland's territorial waters as 'Irish', they are seen more as a commonage to be divided up between all the nations of the EU. Indeed when Ireland joined the EEC its waters only extended 12 miles from shore. This was increased to 200 miles in the late seventies so foreign trawlers were already fishing in what become Ireland's waters.

The quotas for each EU nation's fishing fleets were set according to the historic size of the fleets. People in Ireland didn't recognise the potential of the fishing industry (and to be honest aren't all that mad about eating fish) and hadn't developed it by the time we joined the EEC.

Ireland had a small fleet when it joined whereas France, the UK and Spain had much larger ones – so we got a tiny quota and they get large ones. In fact, according to Lorcán, France gets about 32% of the fish from Ireland's waters, almost twice what Irish fishers get. To increase Ireland's quota France, Spain, the UK etc would have to reduce theirs and the IFPO don't believe there is much chance of that happening, so short of us leaving the EU there doesn't seem to be much we can do.

Ireland may not have recognised the potential of fishing in the past, but times have changed and it seems a bit unfair that the current quotas should be set in stone forever more. Certainly the next time France raises the issue of Ireland's “unfair” corporate tax rate we should mention the fishing quotas.

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

An-tóir ar dhrámaí Gaeilge i mBaile Átha Cliath

2011-12-21T16:40:00.007Z

Bhí páirt an-bheag agam i léiriú de chuid Aisteoirí Bulfin le déanaí - Gur Eile. Seo an chéad uair ó rang na naoínán móra a rinne mé aisteoireacht agus bhain mé an-sult as.

Bhí beagáinín d'imní orm nuair a chuala mé go mbeadh dráma Gaeilge eile, Sétanta, ar siúl ag an am céanna in Amharclann na Mainistreach. Cheap mé go mbeadh an lucht féachana do Gur Eile, a bhí ar siúl sa New Theatre, go mbeadh sé thíos leis dá bharr.

Ní amhlaidh a bhí, ná baol air. Bhí Gur Eile lán ón gCéadaoin go dtí an Satharn. Seo an chéad uair d'Aisteoirí Bulfin léiriú a dhíoladh amach go hiomlán ó bunaíodh an compántas ag deireadh na 1960í.

Bhí an-ráth ar Sétanta chomh maith. Díoladh é amach ceithre oíche agus bhí sé trí cheathrú lán an cúigiú oíche. Tá díomá orm nach raibh mé in ann é a fheiceáil ach tá súil agam go mbeidh sé ar siúl arís.

Sílim gur éacht den scoth a bhí ann dhá dhráma Gaeilge a chur ar siúl sa chathair ag an am céanna agus oiread sin tóir a bheith orthu.

Ardú croí atá ann gan amhras.

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

Dublin City Council didn't want stronger fire regulations

2011-12-15T13:44:00.005Z

Dublin City Council is currently embroiled in a dispute with builder Tom McFeely over the enforcement of fire safety regulations in the Priory Hall apartments. The apartments are virtual death traps due to the fact that they were not built according to fire safety regulations.

The council moved its tenants out of Priory Hall in 2009 and got a High Court order in October to remove private residents. The High Court ordered the council to pay for the residents' emergency accommodation but DCC is trying to overturn the ruling.

The lack of building regulation is causing major problems for the council, but it turns out that they and other local authorities didn't want stronger rules during the Celtic Tiger years.

Local authorities give buildings fire certificates based on architectural plans, not on inspections carried out following completion. The Competition Authority proposed a full inspection regime for construction projects as part of a consultation document on the architectural sector in 2003, but this was rejected by Dublin City Council and other local authorities.

The City and County Managers' Association wrote to the Authority saying that they did not have the resources to implement such a regime. They acknowledged that the cost could be covered by charging construction companies a fee, but rejected this option as it would increase the cost of building projects.

“We feel that monitored self-certification by suitably qualified persons should continue,” the Association said.

The Department of Environment recommends that 12-15% of completed buildings are inspected by fire brigade officers, but there is no way at present to verify that the remaining buildings were built according to plans.

Construction industry insiders say that plans are not always implemented as outlined to fire brigade officers due to pressure to cut costs.

The Chartered Institute of Building also wrote to the Competition Authority in 2004 saying there was an urgent need to introduce an inspection regime. The group condemned the self-certification system claiming that developers were discouraging building professionals from monitoring construction projects.

“It has become normal practice on large and medium-sized housing developments (and in some cases small developments) to refuse to allow work-in-progress inspections by client's professional representatives.”

“Self-certification by architects, building surveyors and appropriately qualified engineers etc should only be considered in conjunction with a combination of an increase in Local Authority inspections and resources, where necessary, in addition to the introduction of an approval system...in the interests of public health and safety.”

The recommendation to introduce a full inspection regime was not included in the final report on architects published by the Competition Authority in 2006, the year Priory Hall was built.

John Kidd from the Irish Fire and Emergency Services Association told me that Priory Hall is the “tip of the iceberg.” The trade union estimates that fire regulations were not complied with in 10% of Celtic Tiger-era buildings.

“It's only a matter of time before we have a major fire tragedy. Fixing the problems now could end up costing the council more than it would have to enforce a proper inspection regime during the boom, and lives would not have been put at risk either.”

Amen to that.

By the way Dublin City Council has not said why they didn't move private tenants out of Priory Hall when they moved their own tenants in 2009 due to fire safety concerns. It's unclear who would have been liable if a fire had occured there in the meantime.

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

An bhfuil gach sceimhlitheoir ar mire, nó Breivik amháin?

2011-11-30T12:13:00.007Z

Caithfidh mé a rá go bhfuil an-amhras orm faoin measúnú go bhfuil Anders Behring Breivik ar mire. Dar le saineolaithe, bhí Breivik síocóiseach nuair a dhúnmharaigh sé 77 duine san Iorua i mí Iúil.

Tá daoine san Iorua in amhras faoin maíomh seo chomh maith.

Má tá Breivik ar mire, caithfidh go bhfuil gach sceimhlitheoir nó saighdiúr a dhúnmharaigh daoine ar son cúis éigin as a meabhair chomh maith.

Bí cinnte de go raibh cúis shoiléir ag Breivik, is cuma más cúis lofa gan bhunús a bhí ann. Creideann sé gur bagairt iad Moslaimigh don Iarthar agus go bhfuil comhcheilg ar bun ag an eite chlé leo chun smacht a fháil ar an Eoraip. Sin an fáth gur ionsaigh sé daoine óga ó Pháirtí an Lucht Oibre san Iorua.

Má léann tú forógra Breivik feicfidh tú go gcuireann sé a chás i láthair le struchtúr - ní rámhaille atá ann. Níl sé níos áiféisí ná seasamh Al Qaeda go bhfuil an tIarthar ag iarraidh Ioslaim a scrios, nó seasamh Ronald Reagan go raibh bochtáin Ghuatamala, na Salvadóire nó Nicearagua ina mbagairt do na Stáit Aontaithe.

Bhí loigic lofa ag Breivik – níl an dara rogha againn na daoine seo a mharú toisc go bhfuil siad ar tí 'muidne' a scrios. Bíonn an 'loighic' chéanna ag sceimhlitheoirí mórthimpeall na cruinne. Sin an fáth go maraíonn Al Qaeda sibhialaigh de gach reiligiúin agus cúlra agus an fáth gur thacaigh SAM leis an sléacht bharbartha a mharaigh 200,000 duine i Meiriceá Láir sna 70í agus 80í.

Bheadh sé an-éasca dúinn beag is fiú a dhéanamh de Breivik mar 'ghealt'. Tá go leor daoine leis an tuairim chéanna faoi Ioslam agus an eite chlé is atá ag Breivik. Buíochas le Dia nach bhfuil níos mó acu sásta foiréigean a úsáid mar a rinne seisean.

Mura théitear i ngleic le hIoslamafóibe áfach athróidh sé sin amach anseo.

Internet crusaders target all Muslims, not just extremists

2011-10-31T13:15:00.008Z

The brutal murders of 77 people in Norway in July by Anders Behring Breivik has drawn attention to so-called 'anti-jihad' writers and bloggers.

So far the focus has been on whether the writings of people such as Robert Spencer (above) and Pamela Geller 'inspired' Breivik's terrorist attack. It is virtually impossible to say if this is true, so they should be presumed innocent.

What is undeniable is that dire warnings about 'Islamisation' have become more frequent in Europe and America in recent years. Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders and US Republicans Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich have now be joined by the first Irish politician to attempt to garner votes on the subject, co-opted Fine Gael councillor Joe O'Callaghan, who recently called for burkas to be banned.

Spencer and Geller are not marginal internet cranks however, they have appeared on Fox News, CNN and NBC in America. Spencer has advised the FBI on Islam and his best-selling books have been recommended for its agents by the FBI.

At first glance it would appear that their websites, Jihadwatch.org and Atlas Shrugs are committed to highlighting crimes and oppression by extremist Islamists. They claim to be defending human rights, religious tolerance, freedom of speech and equality for women from Islamic supremacists.

Articles posted on Jihadwatch.org in recent months detail the scandalously short sentences handed down to Islamists for the brutal lynching of three members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim minority in Indonesia, despicable honour murders against Muslim women by their families, repression under Sharia law and the persecution faced by people around the globe who leave Islam.

All very commendable, so far.

The more you look into the sites, however, the clearer it becomes that the 'anti-jihad' writers are not just targeting extremist and violent Islamists, but all Muslims.

Their argument, essentially, is that Osama Bin Laden is the true face of Islam (1) and that the root cause of extremist violence is the religion itself (2). Spencer, the intellectual heavyweight of the movement who regularly quotes from Islamic texts, derides the concept of 'moderate Islam,'(3) and claims that “there is no political Islam, no 'Islamism', no 'Islamists' -- there are only Islam and Muslims.” (4)

According to this school of thought, Muslims who say they don't agree with a violent campaign for world domination either don't understand their own religion or are lying and waiting until Muslims are in a strong enough position to reveal their inner fundamentalist.

The documentary Islam: What the West needs to know, which features many of the most influential anti-jihad writers, makes this point clear. A short TV ad is shown of ordinary Muslim Americans describing their backgrounds and finishes with the statement that “Muslims are part of the fabric of this great country and are working to build a better America.” The contributors to the documentary warn ominously however that the Koran allows Muslims to deceive non-believers in the service of Islam.

This is possibly the most reprehensible claim made by the anti-Muslim writers. If you accepted what they say it would mean that you can't trust your friends, relatives, neighbours or work colleagues if they happen to be Muslim. In fact, all Muslims are suspect according to this poisonous allegation.

Jihad Watch would be better called Muslim Watch as its modus operandi is to collate as much evidence as possible to prove that the Koran obliges Muslims to use violence to conquer the world - and ignores all evidence to the contrary. This is the trademark tactic of internet hate sites, similar to 'Gombeen Nation' which incites hatred against Irish speakers or the 'Jewish Crime Thread' found on neo-Nazi website Stormfront, which seeks evidence to reinforce pre-existing antisemitism.

Jihad Watch mixes real, harrowing examples of violence and oppression by Islamic extremists with transparent and ludicrous attempts to convince readers that Muslims as a whole are a threat to the rest of humanity. All conflicts between Muslims and others are interpreted as part of the global jihad. Resistance by Uighur Muslims to oppression by the Chinese government is therefore part of the 1,400 year struggle by Islam to dominate the world (5).

Spencer even refers to Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci as a 'jihadist' (6) while Geller has described Kosovo as a “radical Islamic state in the heart of Europe” (7) and included Somali piracy as another front in the conflict. It is noteworthy that in the case of Kosovo, the anti-jihadi writers are targeting Europe's indigenous Muslims, people who have been living on the continent for thousands of years, not recent migrants.

The anti-jihadi narrative is that Islam and Muslims are the problem, so they must be opposed in all contexts. Spencer and Geller don't just confine their activities to the internet or TV, they organised the protests against the planned mosque and community centre close to Ground Zero in New York, claiming it was a 'victory mosque' to celebrate the murder of 3,000 people by Al Qaeda on 9/11. They have also targeted recently appointed New Jersey judge Sohail Mohammad (8), America's first Muslim Congressman - Keith Ellison (9), and David Ramadan (10), a Republican Party member who is running for the Virginia House of Delegates. Ramadan is labelled an 'Islamic supremacist' by Geller simply because he doesn't oppose the 'Ground Zero mosque'.

Comments by readers of Jihad Watch leave us in no doubt about the core issue. 'Quranimals', 'subhuman barbarians', 'parasites', 'savages', 'bearded apes in pajamas', 'people infected with the musloid faith', 'vermin', these are just some of the dehumanising descriptions of Muslims that Spencer allows on his site. He himself has called Pakistan a “den of vipers.” (11).

One commenter has called for anti-jihadis to form groups modelled on Irgun and the Stern gang (12), Zionist terrorist groups that were active in Palestine during the British Mandate period, and states that Anders Breivik “chose his targets well” but that anti-jihadi activists should not follow his example “at this time, anyway.” (13). “It's only a matter of time before there's a Pan-European parasite-cleanse,” another commenter predicts (14).

An indication of the grasp on reality that fans of the site have is the claim that “Ireland is becoming just as dhimmified as the rest of Europe. The last time I was there, I barely recognised Dublin. Jilbabs, niqabs, and saffron beards everywhere.” (15).

Anyone who doesn't buy into this world-view is unilaterally dismissed as a 'dhimmi', a term that refers to subjugated Christians and Jews who live under Islamic rule. The media are said to be part of a Leftist-Islamist conspiracy because they don't explicitly explain to the public that the Koran orders Muslims to commit violence against infidels.

If the anti-jihadi activists confined themselves to highlighting human rights abuses by Islamic extremists and governments the charge of Islamophobia would not be true. They go way beyond this legitimate activity however, and demonize all Muslims and all Muslim communities.

The one defence that anti-Muslim writers have to the charge that they are mimicking Nazi Jew-baiting is to say that Jews were not launching terrorist attacks against Germany in the 1930s (16). This is true of course, but just like the Islamophobes, the Nazis were able to mix facts, canards and prejudice to portray Jewish people as a threat to Germany.

It may be extremely difficult for us to comprehend how the Nazis were able to generate such a frenzy of hate against Jewish people, but examining how Muslims are being dehumanized today shows how simple it might have been for them to spread their doctrine of genocide.

All they had to do was highlight the disproportionate number of Jewish people in business, law, medicine, entertainment and the media and to use this as evidence that Jews were conspiring to dominate society. The Nazis also promoted the 'Jewish Bolshevik' conspiracy, claiming that Jews were an imminent threat to Germany through their supposed control of the Soviet Union.

Add in the latent religious antisemitism in Europe and soon you had a large group of people convinced that there was an intractable Jewish 'problem' that had to be 'solved' somehow. Jews could then be barred from certain professions, have their property seized and their citizenship stripped. The Nazis contemplated deporting Jews from Europe but then decided to murder them all as deportation was not 'practical'.

All of the above solutions to the Muslim 'problem' have been backed directly or indirectly by various anti-jihad activists. That's right, all solutions, including the final one. John Joseph Jay, a co-founder of the Spencer/Geller organisation American Freedom Defense Initiative (17) and a board member of its campaign group, Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA) (18), has recommended “old fashion war with wholesale slaughter including indiscriminate death of innocents and babes. down to the last muslim, if necessary.” (19).

Robert Spencer says that Muslims should not be allowed to emigrate to Western countries (20) but claims he does not support the deportation of European or American Muslims. He is however an enthusiastic supporter of people who do, like Geert Wilders, the far-right Dutch politician who has said it may be necessary to deport millions of European Muslims (21).

Wilders mixes standard anti-immigrant rhetoric with attacks on the deviant minority du jour - Muslims, based on alleged concerns for human rights. He blames crime among Muslim communities on their religious background and ignores the link between petty criminality, poverty and inequality found in all societies.

He has blithely spoken of deporting millions of Muslim from Europe. To highlight what this would actually involve, let us imagine that his plan was implemented in the UK. Wilders has said that Muslims who won't integrate should be stripped of their citizenship and deported. According to research 40% of British Muslims support Sharia law (22). In a city like Bradford this would mean deporting 30,000 of the 75,000 Muslims living there (23). But what if these English people don't want to leave their country for ever, what if some members of a family support Sharia but others don't? What if no country was willing to accept deportees? How much money would it cost to deport and compensate over a million people in total from Britain? Eventually other 'solutions' would be sought for this 'problem'.

This may sound like a far-fetched scenario, but once you start demonizing and dehumanizing an entire community you've begun to lay the tracks to Auschwitz.

The anti-Islam activists don't just fantasise about futuristic doomsday scenarios involving the ethnic cleansing of Muslims however, they include people linked with actual ethnic cleansing and killing of Muslims in Europe.

One of the contributors to Islam: What the West needs to know, is a man called Serge Trifkovic, a former spokesperson for the Bosnian Serb forces (24) that waged a bloody campaign of ethnic cleansing against Muslims and Catholics in Bosnia.

As Muslims were involved in the conflict, the anti-Islamic writers conclude that it was part of the global conflict between Islam and Judeo-Christian civilisation (the targeting by Orthodox Serbs of Catholic Croats is conveniently ignored).

Trifkovic was a spokesman for the Bosnian Serb government during their onslaught which killed at least 30,000 Muslim civilians (25) (26). This campaign of ethnic cleansing, which involved murdering, torturing and raping civilians, was designed to drive Muslims from their native areas and leave them too terrified to ever return.

He has supported indicted war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic and denied genocide and planned ethnic cleansing took place in Bosnia (27) (28)(29). He spoke for the defence at the trial of convicted war criminal Milomir Stakic (30), whose fiefdom included the notorious Omarska concentration camp.

Trifkovic, whose writings on Islam have been praised by Spencer (31), was also an advisor to former Bosnian Serb President, Biljana Plavsic (32), who pleaded guilty to war crimes against Muslims (33). Plavsic was considered to be 'extreme' by yet another indicted war criminal, Vojislav Seselj. As hard as this may be to believe, Seselj claimed at his trial that Radovan Karadzic also considered her to be extreme (34).

You may never see an outright justification of the monstrous crimes committed against Bosnia's Muslim community by Robert Spencer, Pamella Geller or other writers, but what you will see are attempts to downplay or deny these crimes and repeated efforts to contextualise the Bosnian war as being part of a conflict between peace-loving Christianity and violent Islam (35).

The anti-Muslim writers are as thorough in ignoring extremism in other religions as they are in scouring the earth for evidence that Islam is violent. This may seem like a minor point, but without it demonization becomes much harder. To dehumanize a group of people it must be shown that they are different from 'us', that they are an 'other'. We are peaceful, they are violent; we are enlightened, they are backward; we treat women equally, they oppress women; we are honest, they lie.

If the anti-Muslim writers acknowledged that Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and others are not without sin, it would show that 'we' are not that different from 'them' after all, thus making it harder to turn Muslims into social outcasts.

As the quotes at this post show, the anti-jihadi message bears a remarkable similarity to the antisemitism of Nazi propagandist Julius Streicher, the editor of Der Stuermer. It includes the quoting of religious texts to prove the nefarious and conspiratorial nature of Muslims/Jews, the claim that the Left are allied with Muslims/Jews while governments stand idly by, the slur that Muslims/Jews are deceitful and the contention that criticising Muslims/Jews is not incitement to violence against Muslims/Jews.

Spencer et al would no doubt feign outrage at being compared to Nazis like Julius Streicher, and others may think it unfair or exaggerated. However, given the fact that he portrays the entire Muslim community as a threat, calls for legal discrimination against Muslims, supports advocates of future ethnic cleansing of Europe's Muslims, has collaborated with people linked to real life ethnic cleansing of European Muslims and makes every effort to downplay an act of genocide in Srebrenica (36) – the worst massacre in Europe since the Nazis, the comparision is entirely appropriate.

Demonizing and dehumanizing a community has consequences. In Streicher's case it had personal consequences for him, as he was tried and executed for crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Tribunal despite the fact he had no part in the planning or implementation of the Holocaust. His anti-Jewish writings and speeches were enough to convict him.

Reacting to claims his writings inspired Anders Breivik, Spencer said that this was like blaming the Beatles for the Tate/La Bianca murders because Charles Manson said he was inspired to commit them by their song Helter Skelter (37). This comparison would only be apt however, if Helter Skelter contained lyrics which said Sharon Tate, Leno La Bianca and their friends were involved in an evil conspiracy to take over the US, that the media was helping them and that the US government, police and FBI knew of the plan to enslave the American people but refused to prevent it.

If indeed the Beatles had made such a claim would they be to blame for the Manson Family's violence? It's hard to know, but they would certainly be shunned by society for using such highly irresponsible rhetoric.

If Spencer, Geller and other anti-jihad writers want to show they are not hate-mongering crypto-fascists they must in future restrict their efforts to highlighting religious persecution and intolerance in all faiths, desist from publishing noxious anti-Muslim comments on their websites, end campaigns to restrict the religious and civil freedoms of Muslims and efforts to downplay horrific war crimes committed against Muslims. Above all they must stop targeting 20% of the world's population because they are followers of Islam.

Otherwise there will be no doubt that they are inciting hatred against Muslim people.

(For further information on Islamophobic activists see www.loonwatch.com and www.islamophobia-watch.com).

Notes

(1) http://usminc.org/pigtislam.html. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), 2005.
(2) http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/11/will-muslims-serve-on-the-911-muslim-terrorist-jury.html
(3) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2006/01/what-is-a-moderate-muslim.html
(4) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/09/islam-versus-islamism----a-distinction-without-a-difference-1.html
(5) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2005/04/china-crushing-muslim-uighurs.html
(6) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/12/more-on-kosovo-jihadists-organ-trafficking.html
(7) http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/02/give-em-a-state.html
(8) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/08/nj-governor-christie-says-critics-of-hamas-linked-judge-are-ignorant-and-this-sharia-law-business-is.html
(9) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2006/09/spencer-keith-ellison-cair-and-hamas.html
(10) http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/04/ramadan-watch-defeat-islamic-supremacist-david-ramadan-in-virginia.html
(11) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/08/shocker-terrorists-who-attack-kill-civilians-in-western-china-were-trained-in-pakistan.html
(12) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/07/the-malaysian-response-to-the-norwegian-massacre.html
(13) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/07/lebanon-roadside-bomb-targets-un-peacekeeping-convoy.html
(14) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/07/us-special-ops-commander-warns-of-al-qaedas-next-generation.html
(15) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/05/ireland-muslim-arrested-for-threatening-obama.html
(16) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/08/the-atlantics-jeffrey-goldberg-equates-resistance-to-islamization-with-nazism.html
(17) http://powerbase.info/images/6/66/AFDIarticles.pdf
(18) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/08/hamas-linked-cair-dhimmi-leftist-bloggers-lie-again.html
(19) http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/11/mumbai-muslims.html?cid=140889682#comment-6a00d8341c60bf53ef010536253cce970b
(20) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2007/08/australian-pol-to-oppose-islamic-immigration.html
(21) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCxKjcwrBo4
(22) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1510866/Poll-reveals-40pc-of-Muslims-want-sharia-law-in-UK.html
(23) http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do;jsessionid=36FMTG4HYGnjMGnTfDhMLpLswGyDpSy59nV1RZncQ8161K2rlWkp!193229230!1313274023452?a=7&b=276807&c=bradford&d=13&e=16&g=379385&i=1001x1003x1004&o=35&m=0&r=1&s=1313274023452&enc=1&dsFamilyId=95&nsjs=true&nsck=true&nssvg=false&nswid=1280
(24) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1423835.stm
(25) http://www.icty.org/sid/10591
(26) http://www.icty.org/x/cases/stakic/trans/en/030319IT.htm
(27) http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/2008/07/22/karadzics-arrest-bosnian-myths-rehashed/
(28) http://truthfrequencynews.com/?p=4363
(29) http://www.srpska-mreza.com/WarCrime/ST-Hague.html
(30) http://www.icty.org/x/cases/stakic/acjug/en/sta-aj060322e.pdf
(31) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2006/05/trifkovic-jihads-fellow-travelers.html
(32) http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=20283
(33) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2293037.stm
(34) http://www.icty.org/x/cases/slobodan_milosevic/trans/en/050830IT.htm
(35) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/03/setting-the-record-straight-on-bosnia.html
(36) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/06/un-officials-and-the-muslim-regime-in-sarajevo-orchestrated-the-srebrenica-massacre.html
(37) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/07/anders-breivik-stole-the-counterjihad-movement-from-freedom-fighters----were-stealing-it-back.html

Jihad Watch support for restrictions on rights.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2005/07/fitzgerald-bomb-mecca.html
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2007/08/fitzgerald-needed-a-muslims-only-airline.html

Jihad Watch comments:
'Quranimals/Bearded apes in pajamas' - http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/07/uk-there-are-25-areas-around-the-country-which-the-government-has-earmarked-as-areas-where-violent-e.html
'Subhuman barbarians/Savages' - http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/06/taliban-raid-on-kabuls-hotel-inter-continental-ends-after-six-hours-nato-helicopter-support.html
'Parasites' - http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/04/we-urge-all-muslims-to-stay-away-from-the-royal-weddingbecause-of-the-likelihood-of-an-attack-by-the.html
'People infected with the musloid faith' - http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/07/shocker-anti-semitism-marrs-malaysian-football-match-with-british-club.html
'Vermin' - http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/04/israeli-foreign-minister-there-was-quiet-and-hamas-took-advantage-of-the-quiet-in-order-to-smuggle-m.html

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

Islamophobia and Antisemitism: Same message, different minority.

2011-10-31T09:53:00.006Z

Below are quotes which highlight the disturbing similarities between Islamophobic and Antisemitic messages.

Ten statements by 'anti-jihad' writer Robert Spencer and Nazi propagandist Julius Streicher are compared.

Julius Streicher was the editor of Der Stuermer, a Nazi paper that spread vicious Antisemitic propaganda from 1923-1945. As Nazi Party leader in Nuremburg he organized the destruction of synagogues in the city.

He was not directly involved in the Holocaust but was convicted of crimes against humanity after WWII. He was found guilty of inciting hatred against Jews in Der Stuermer and was executed in 1946.

Robert Spencer is a prominent critic of Islam who runs the Jihadwatch.org website. He is the author of several best selling books on Islam and he has spoken on Fox News, CNN, NBC and other news channels.

He has organized protests against the construction of mosques in New York. He has advised the FBI on Islam and his books were recommended by the FBI for its agents.

The following is a comparison of their views on Muslims and Jews respectively.

1 Muslims/Jews have a religious duty to conquer the world.

“Islam understands its earthly mission to extend the law of Allah over the world by force.”

Robert Spencer.

“Do you not know that the God of the Old Testament orders the Jews to consume and enslave the peoples of the earth?”

Julius Streicher.

2 The Left enables Muslims/Jews.

“The principal organs of the Left...has consistently been warm and welcoming toward Islamic supremacism.”

Robert Spencer.

“The communists pave the way for him (the Jew).”

Julius Streicher.

3 Governments do nothing to stop Muslims/Jews.

“FDI* acts against the treason being committed by national, state, and local government officials...in their capitulation to the global jihad and Islamic supremacism.”

(Freedom Defense Initiative, Robert Spencer/Pamela Geller organisation).

“The government allows the Jew to do as he pleases. The people expect action to be taken.”

Julius Streicher.

4 Muslims/Jews cannot be trusted.

“When one is under pressure, one may lie in order to protect the religion, this is taught in the Qur'an.”

Robert Spencer.

“We may lie and cheat Gentiles. In the Talmud it says: It is permitted for Jews to cheat Gentiles.”

From The Toadstool, children's book published by Julius Streicher.

5 Recognizing the true nature of Muslims/Jews can be difficult.

“There is no reliable way for American authorities to distinguish jihadists and potential jihadists from peaceful Muslims.”

Robert Spencer.

"Just as it is often hard to tell a toadstool from an edible mushroom, so too it is often very hard to recognize the Jew as a swindler and criminal."

From The Toadstool, children's book published by Julius Streicher.

6 The evidence against Muslims/Jews is in their holy books.

“What exactly is ‘hate speech’ about quoting Qur’an verses and then showing Muslim preachers using those verses to exhort people to commit acts of violence, as well as violent acts committed by Muslims inspired by those verses and others?”

Robert Spencer.

“In Der Stuermer no editorial appeared, written by me or written by anyone of my main co-workers, in which I did not include quotations from the ancient history of the Jews, from the Old Testament, or from Jewish historical works of recent times.”

Julius Streicher.

7 Islamic/Jewish texts encourage violence against non-believers.

“'And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter...' -- 2:191.”

Koranic verse quoted by Robert Spencer on Jihadwatch.org.

“'And when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally: men and women and children, even the animals.' (Deuteronomy 7:2.).”

Biblical verse quoted by Julius Streicher in Der Stuermer.

8 Christianity is peaceful while Islam/Judaism is violent.

“There is no Muslim version of 'love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you' or 'if anyone strikes you on the right cheek turn to him the other also'.”

Robert Spencer.

“The Jew is not being taught, like we are, such texts as, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,' or 'If you are smitten on the left cheek, offer then your right one.'"

Julius Streicher.

9 Muslims/Jews are uniquely violent.

"(Islam) is the only major world religion with a developed doctrine and tradition of warfare against unbelievers."

Robert Spencer.

"No other people in the world has such prophecies. No other people would dare to say that it was chosen to murder and destroy the other peoples and steal their possessions."

Julius Streicher.

10 Criticising Muslims/Jews is not incitement to violence against Muslims/Jews.

“There is nothing in anything that I have ever written that could be reasonably construed as an incitement to violence against anyone.”

Robert Spencer.

“Allow me to add that it is my conviction that the contents of Der Stuermer as such were not (incitement). During the whole 20 years, I never wrote in this connection, 'Burn Jewish houses down; beat them to death.' Never once did such an incitement appear in Der Stuermer.”

Julius Streicher.

Notes:

Robert Spencer quotes;

(1) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-871902797772997781
http://www.ourbeacon.com/cgi-bin/bbs60x/webbbs_config.pl/md/read/id/314123119154008
(2) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/07/anders-breivik-and-the-echo-chamber.html
(3) http://freedomdefense.typepad.com/about.html
(4) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-871902797772997781
(5) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2007/08/australian-pol-to-oppose-islamic-immigration.html
(6) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/07/daniel-greenfield-in-defense-of-robert-spencer.html
(7) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/08/wapo-do-critics-actually-read-the-koran-uh-yeah.html
(8) http://books.google.ie/books?id=eanFm7hiM1cC&pg=PA27
(9) http://www.jihadwatch.org/2006/01/what-is-a-moderate-muslim.html
(10) http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00hz34g

Sources for Julius Streicher quotes;

http://propagander.tripod.com/js2.html
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/story5.htm
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Streicher.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Giftpilz.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/secretplan.html

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

Téarma Uachtarántachta amháin, ar feadh seacht mbliana

2011-10-21T15:21:00.008+01:00

Ó thosaigh an feachtas Uachtarántachta táthar ag caint ar leasú a dhéanamh ar théarma na hoifige. Faoi láthair maireann an téarma seacht mbliana agus tá cead ag an Uachtarán dhá théarma a chaitheamh san Áras.

Ceann de na moltaí ná go leanfadh an téarma ar feadh cúig bhliana ionas nach mbeadh Uachtarán sa phost ar feadh 14 bliain dá gceapfaí iad faoi dhó.

Sílim gur cheart an post a leasú – ba cheart an téarma a fhágáil ag seacht mbliana, ach srian téarma amháin a chur ar gach Uachtarán.

Ceannaire Stáit gan chumhacht atá san Uachtarán agus tá sé nó sí ceaptha bheith 'os cionn' na polaitíochta. Ní bhíonn aon bhaint acu le riaradh na tíre agus is annamh a dhéantar cáineadh orthu.

An t-aon am a tharla sé sin, in 1976, d'éirigh Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh as an bpost “to protect the dignity and independence of the presidency as an institution”.

Bhí roinnt conspóide ann in 2004 nuair a ceapadh Máire Nic Giolla Íosa don dara théarma gan toghchán. Abraimis go raibh toghchán ann - bheadh uirthi teacht anuas ón ardán neamh-pholaitiúil ómósach go gáitéar na polaitíochta arís.

Tá sé feicthe againn le cúpla mí anuas cé chomh salach agus gaingeadach is atá toghchán na hUachtarántachta, agus ní bheadh sé ceart ná cóir go mbeadh ar an Uachtarán bheith páirteach ina leithéad d'fheachtasaíocht mhíchuibhiúil.

Dá mbeadh an bua ag Nic Giolla Íosa in 2004 fillfeadh sí ar Áras in athuair, ach is cinnte nach mbeadh an meas céanna ag an bpobal uirthi dá mbeadh sí ag argóint leis na hiarrthóirí eile.

Mar sin molaim fad an téarma a fhágáil ag seacht mbliana, ach srian téarma amháin a chur leis an Uachtarántachta.

Do Unionist politicians understand what British means?

2011-10-17T10:27:00.011+01:00

There was a furore in the Northern Ireland Assembly last week when SDLP MLA Dominic Bradley was censured following a spat involving the Irish language.

Bradley was in the process of asking a question in Irish (which he was going to translate to English), when he was interrupted by David McNarry of the UUP (you can read the transcript here).

McNarry is an extremist when it comes to Irish, having tried to ban the language in the Assembly a number of years ago.

Bradley objected to being barracked by McNarry, but instead of being allowed to carry on he was asked to sit down by the Deputy Speaker, Roy Beggs. He refused and was later sent a letter by the main Speaker, Willie Hay, saying he would be denied speaking rights for an unspecified period.

The sorry episode is another example of hostility to the Irish language among Unionist politicians. It shows that they oppose the language even when spoken by peaceful constitutional nationalists like the SDLP.

All bases are covered in Stormont when it comes to the language. If it's a few words of Irish at the start of a speech it's tokenism, if it's half in Irish and half in English it wastes time and if simultaneous translation was proposed that would be waste of money. The message is clear - no Irish speakers about the place.

Antipathy to the Irish language has been a feature of British politicians in Ireland since the Middle Ages, so this is not something new.

Various reasons are given by today's Unionist parties for their hostility to Irish, one of which is that it is a threat to Northern Ireland's Britishness, an argument that has been made by people in the DUP, UUP and TUV.

These parties' entire world view is defined by being British. They are British in the same way that Americans are American or Danes are Danish, yet many of them don't seem to understand what 'British' actually means.

British, by definition, incorporates cultures and characteristics that are indigenous to or have developed in the United Kingdom. We are told that it is an inclusive, 'umbrella' term which covers English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish identities. It allows people to be English and British, Scottish and British, Welsh and British etc.

The Unionist parties say that Northern Ireland is British, which is why they often have images of the six counties covered in the Union Jack, so that means that cultures indigenous to Northern Ireland are also British (this also holds for the rest of Ireland for people who use the term 'British Isles').

Scots and Welsh people complain that many in England use the word 'British' when what they really mean is English. It seems that many Unionist politicians in the North think the same too.

If they believe Northern Ireland is British, they have to accept that the Irish is a British language in the same way as Unionists in Scotland and Wales say their indigenous languages are. In fact, compared to the respect shown to Scottish Gaelic and Welsh in Britain, Unionist opposition to the Irish language is downright anti-British.

Of course, the above definition of Britishness is the de jure one. The de facto definition has been different - culturally and politically, Great Britain can often seem like Greater England.

In terms of language, one thing is clear, the Union has been a complete and utter disaster. Manx, Cornish, Channel Island French and Irish (in the parts of Ireland that remained in the UK) have been wiped out as community languages, Scottish Gaelic is at death's door, Scots has been ridiculed and marginalised while even Welsh is under severe pressure from English in its heartland.

The de facto definition of Britishness promoted in Britain and Ireland until recent decades was Englishness, essentially. Things have changed in Scotland and Wales, and some people in Northern Ireland like the UUP's Basil McCrea have too , but it's about time other Unionist politicians realised that English and British are not the same thing.

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

X-Men ag iarraidh bean a smachtú

2011-10-10T10:25:00.006+01:00

Bhí mé ag breathnú ar X-Men The Last Stand tamall ó shin agus thug mé rud éigin suimiúil faoi dheara faoin bplota.

Sa scannán déanann ceannaire na X-Men, Professor X, iarracht smacht a choiméad ar Jean Grey, baill den ghrúpa 'sóiteáin'.

Tá dhá phearsantacht ag Grey, ceann deas agus ceann fíochmhar. Bíonn sí stuama agus sochar nuair a chuireann Professor X a cumhachtaí faoi smacht, mura ndéantar é seo tiocfaidh pearsantacht dainséireach Grey chun cinn, an Phoenix.

Mar a deir ceannaire na X-Men: “whereas Jean is calm and thoughtful, the Phoenix is pure will, instinct, glee, rage...she has to be controlled.”

Ní féidir le Jean Grey srian a chur ar a pearsantacht dainséireach í féin. Tá an Phoenix oll-chumhachtach ach níl aon chiall ná réasún aici, mar sin is baol an-mhór í do gach rud mórthimpeall uirthi, an domhan é féin san áireamh.

Mura gcuireann na X-Men an bhean seo faoi smacht éireoidh sí mí-loighciuil, mí-réasúnta agus rialóidh a cuid mothúchán céard a dhéanann sí, ní a hintinn.

Mar achoimre, caithfidh na fir an bhean seo a choiméad faoi smacht nó rachaidh sí ar mire agus scriosfaidh sí an domhan.

Hmm...táim ag ceapadh go bhfuil ábhar tráchtais anseo do mhic léinn patrarachta!

Dublin-Monaghan was Ireland's 9/11

2011-10-06T10:12:00.017+01:00

Last month people in America and around the world commemorated the ten year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. On that day 3,000 civilians were murdered by Al Qaeda.

In response to this massacre the US government launched a massive worldwide campaign to destroy Osama Bin Laden's group. It invaded Afghanistan and removed the Taliban from power because they were sheltering Al Qaeda.

It got a resolution in the United Nations which called on all countries “to work together urgently to bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of those terrorist attacks and stressed that those responsible for aiding, supporting or harbouring them would be held accountable.”

George Bush said that anyone helping terrorists were terrorists. The US built the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and kidnapped and tortured people it suspected of being involved in the 9/11 attack.

It eventually caught up with Osama Bin Laden in May of this year and killed him.

Now imagine that the US had taken a different approach to the greatest single act of murder against its citizens. Imagine that the investigation had been wound down after two months. Imagine that leads were not followed up and that US authorities ignored strong evidence that a foreign government had helped the terrorists to carry out their bloody attack.

Imagine that survivors who were campaigning for justice were placed under surveillance by the FBI. Imagine that police and Department of Justice files on the case went missing. Imagine that for years there was no official commemoration of the event and that the families had to campaign for a monument to the victims.

Imagine that the Taliban refused to share information they had on the attack but the US continued to have friendly relations with them. Imagine that Al Qaeda carried out more terrorist attacks on America while the Taliban continued to give them shelter.

It's hard to imagine such a scenario, but one just like it happened, and continues to to happen, in Ireland.

The Dublin-Monaghan bombings were Ireland's 9/11. It was the single biggest crime in the history of the State. 33 people were killed, including one pregnant woman, when bombs went off in Dublin and Monaghan town in 1974.

The UVF were suspected at the time of being behind the atrocity, and they finally admitted responsibility in 1993. Evidence suggests that the loyalist paramilitary group did not act alone, and that the British government's security forces, MI5, the British Army and the RUC, may have helped them to carry out the terrorist attack.

As you might guess from the paragraph above, the Garda investigation into the attack was stopped after two months and leads indicating UVF involvement weren't followed up. The families of the victims were outraged and began a campaign to find the truth. Garda Special Branch officers surveilled the families at protests and commemorative events. Garda and Department of Justice files on the case have disappeared, presumed destroyed.

The families eventually forced the government to holding an inquiry into the attacks. It concluded that the allegation that British forces were involved in the attack was “neither fanciful nor absurd” but that as the British government refused to cooperate with the inquiry, it could not give a definitive answer. A parliamentary report ohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifn inquiries into other loyalist attacks in the Republic accused the British government of engaging in 'international terrorism'.

Earlier this year newly-elected Taoiseach Enda Kenny asked David Cameron to hand over files the British government it has on the bombing. He refused. This is how things stand at the present – the Irish government half-heartedly asks the British government for the files, they say no and we say ok, no worries.

Given the way the Irish and British states have dealt with the attacks since 1974, it's hard not to suspect that both governments are happy to allow the situation to remain as it is.

All the while the British government was, at best, refusing to reveal all its knew about loyalist attacks in the Republic, at worst, actually involved in them, the Irish government was helping the British government to stop the IRA from attacking the UK.

If you're not from Ireland you may be totally baffled as to the reasons the Irish government has basically covered up Ireland's 9/11. If you're Irish you may have an idea, but it'll most likely be one that is almost never openly discussed in Ireland.

It's got to do with the implications of possible British involvement in the attack. If it so happened that the British government organised the bombing, it would mean that they had launched a terrorist attack on their nearest neighbour and had committed an act of war. This would have massive international repercussions.

More importantly for Irish governments, it would cause massive outrage in Ireland.

The main priority of the Irish establishment since the beginning of the Troubles has been to maintain 'stability' south of the border. This means keeping support for the IRA in the Republic as low as possible. If it were known that Britain bombed Ireland, support for the IRA could grow. Looking the other way with regards to the Dublin-Monaghan bombing was done in the name of protecting the State.

Unfortunately the 'State' in this case does not include the citizens of the State, and more specifically the 33 citizens killed on 17 May 1974. They, their families and the truth have been sacrificed in the name of the 'State'.

Since 1974 Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour, the Progressive Democrats, the Green Party and Democratic Left have been in power and have been involved in this scandal. Remember this the next time you hear people from these parties pontificating about law and order or morality.

Ochón, ochón tá Blagadóireacht na Gaeilge marbh

2011-10-03T11:57:00.004+01:00

Scríobh Breandán Delap alt ar Beo.ie tamall ó shin a mhaígh go raibh blagadóireacht na Gaeilge chomh marbh le hArt.

An fhianaise a luaigh sé don ráiteas gruama seo ná an easpa chlúdaigh a thug blagadóirí na Gaeilge don scanall ionsaí gnéis i gColáiste Cholmcille agus an laghdú atá tagtha ar ghníomhaíocht ar bhlaganna áirithe.

Ina measc bhí Garraí Johnny Mhorgan, iGaeilge, An Druma Mór, an tImeall, Dónal na Gealaí, Blag Mháirtín Uí Mhuilleoir agus Blag na Gaeilge.

Scríobhadh an t-alt, Blagadóireacht na Gaeilge RIP, ag tús na míosa, agus d'fhéadfaí a rá gur léiriú eile é ar easpa beochta na blagadóireachta Gaeilge gur thóg sé mí orm freagra a thabhairt ar an maíomh éadóchasach seo.

I rith na míosa chaill Ciarraí Craobh Pheile na hÉireann in éadan Bhaile Átha Cliath. Samhlaigh dá scríobhadh saineolaí spóirt alt faoin méid a bhí déanta ag foireann Chiarraí le deich mbliana anuas agus gur luaigh siad na cluichí a chaill an Ríocht in aghaidh na Mí, Ard Mhacha, Tír Eoghain (faoi thrí), an Dún agus Baile Átha Cliath.

Samhlaigh gur sin an méid a bhí san alt, agus nár luadh na craobhacha a bhuaigh Ciarraí in 2004, 2006, 2007 agus 2009. Is ionann sin agus an t-alt faoi bhlagadóireacht na Gaeilge.

Níl sé ceart ná cóir an drochscéal a lua agus neamhaird a dhéanamh den dea-scéal. Má táthar chun cur síos a dhéanamh ar na blaganna atá imithe le sruth ní mór na cinn atá beo agus gníomhach a lua chomh maith.

Ní mór cuir san áireamh chomh maith go bhfuil gach seans ann go bhfuil neart blaganna Béarla imithe le sruth ó thosaigh an bhlagadóireacht in Éirinn. Ní fheictear domsa ach an oiread go bhfuil mórán tionchair imeartha ag blagadóireacht an Bhéarla ar an bpobal i gcoitinne in Éirinn.

Ó thaobh an bhlaig seo de ba cheart dom níos mó a scríobh air, an t-aon chúis nach ndéanaim amhlaidh ná am, ach dar ndoígh, ba cheart dom níos mó ama a chur ar leath-taobh don bhlag.

Cuireann an t-alt ar Beo.ie ráiteas i gcuimhne dom a rinne craoltóir Raidió na Gaeltachta, Máirtín Mac Donnchadha, roinnt blianta ó shin go raibh Gaeltacht Mhaigh Eo 'chomh marbh le hArt'. Anois tá's againn go bhfuil cainteoirí dhúchais beo beathach i Maigh Eo, agus go bhfuil páistí á dtógáil le Gaeilge, cé go bhfuil cúrsaí ag éirigh níos laige i gcónaí.

Seans nach bhfuil tuiscint iomlán agam ar an mbrí atá le 'chomh marbh le hArt' ach shílfeá gur rud nach bhfuil ann a thuilleadh atá i gceist. Más féidir a rá go bhfuil Gaeltacht Mhaigh Eo chomh marbh le hArt céard faoi Ghaeltacht Liatroma nó Gaeltacht Ros Comáin, chomh marbh le seanathair Airt?

Tá an Ghaeilge lag a dhóthain cheana féin - níor cheart neamhaird a dhéanamh den laigeacht seo, ach níor cheart áiféala a dhéanamh air ach an oiread.

www.twitter.com/colmobroin.

Why Dublin's All Ireland victory means so much

2011-09-23T16:56:00.006+01:00

It's five days since Dublin won the Sam Maguire Cup and I'm still smiling. Indeed I've never seen so many people with smiles on their faces as I did last Sunday.

The celebrations went late into the night and there was another session the next day in the local GAA club in Clondalkin and at the homecoming event in Merrion Square.

It'll take me a bit to explain why Dubliners are so delighted with this victory.

The first one is that we haven't won the All Ireland in 16 years. But even in 1995 and the time before that in 1983 the victories were controversial and left a bit of a sour taste.

In 1983 three Dublin players were sent off, Brian Mullins for elbowing a Galway player in the head and Ciarán Duff for kicking another in the head. Depending on where you were from the players became known as the the 12 Apostles or the Dirty Dozen. I'm not sure when the 'Dirty Dubs' tag got attached to the county but it's been around for as long as I remember and I'm sure that game added a lot to it.

In the 1995 final Charlie Redmond was sent off for headbutting a Tyrone player, but managed to stay on the pitch for a few minutes in one of the most bizarre episodes in GAA history. This incident led to the introduction of yellow and red cards in the games. The awarding of a free out against Peter Canavan in the dying minutes of the game as Tyrone were about the equalize and the accusations that the referee had favoured Dublin also cast a shadow over the victory.

Even though the Dubs did win in 1995, that team should have won at least two other All-Irelands, but they never lived up to their potential. They could and should have won all of the four games against Meath in 1991 but failed on each occasion.

Since then bad luck and nerves have plagued the Dublin team. Look at the record at this link to see what I mean.

In the past ten years there was the epic draw against Kerry in Thurles after we were ten points down, the free kick in the last minute that came off the post against Armagh in 2002, the physical pressure we buckled to against the same team next year, the eight point lead we lost against Mayo in 2006, the shameful capitulations against Tyrone and Kerry in 2008 and 2009, and the one point loss against Cork last year.

One of the best things about the win this year is that it was against Kerry, the team that has gotten the better of us eight times since 1977.

They destroyed Dublin in 1978 and 79 and made a laughing stock out of Paddy Cullen in 1978.

They were the better team in 1984 and 1985 but Dublin were unlucky in 2001. They were the better team again in 2004 and 2007, but you can't fault Dublin's great effort in the latter year.

The worst loss came two years ago. After Tyrone had trounced us in 2008 the team looked like it had recovered and were favourites to win against a Kerry team that was playing terribly that season.

Dublin totally bottled it however, and lost by 17 points.

Pat Gilroy was in charge of that team, and things didn't improve at all at the start of the 2010 Championship. The games against Wexford, Meath and Tipp were the worst performances by a Dublin team I'd ever seen. I was just hoping that my fears about Gilroy's management were wrong (thankfully they were).

I was so despondent about the team that I was almost ready not to go to the next game against Armagh. One of the things that persuaded me to go was the fact that the Dublin hurlers were playing Antrim beforehand, so I was thinking that we'd at least have one victory to celebrate.

Then the hurlers threw away a comfortable lead and lost in the last minute! The time between the end of that game and the victory over Armagh was the darkest in the entire time I've been following the Dubs.

Now I'm going to forget about all that heartbreak!

Last Sunday the Dubs did things they hadn't done for many many years. They beat Kerry, they won a game that was slipping away from them and they showed incredible bravery and composure. The dramatic manor of the victory only adds to the celebrations.

I used to watch clips on Youtube from the 1977 victory over Kerry every so often, but now we have a successor. I've watched the glorious last nine minutes of the 2011 final on the RTÉ Player a few times since Monday, and I might just watch it a few more times in the future.

As well as that I've been watching clips of the last minute of the game, some of which are below. Fans from counties who haven't succeeded on the big day like Mayo and Kildare can take some inspiration from them, for the Dubs...enjoy!

An bua is sultmhaire riamh

2011-09-22T17:50:00.008+01:00

Tá sé ceithre lá ó bhuaigh Baile Átha Cliath Corn Sam Maguire agus tá an meangadh gáire fós ar m'aghaidh. Go deimhin féin ní fhaca mé an méid sin daoine le meangadh gáire ar a n-aghaidheanna is a chonaic Dé Domhnaigh seo caite.

Bhí oíche go maidin ann dar ndóigh agus seisiún mór eile Dé Luain sa chumann peile áitiúil i gCluain Dolcáin agus ag an ócáid don fhoireann i lár na cathrach. Tógfaidh sé píosa dom míniú cén fáth go bhfuil muintir Bhaile Átha Cliath ag baint an méid seo sonais as an mbua.

An chéad cheann ná nár bhuaigh muid Craobh Uile-Éireann le 16 bliain. Fiú in 1995 agus an uair roimhe sin in 1983 bhí na buanna a fuair muid an-chonspóideach.

In 1983 cuireadh triúr imreoir de chuid Bhaile Átha Cliath den pháirc, Brian Mullins as buile a thabhairt d'imreoir Gailleamhach lena uilleann agus Ciaran Duff as cic sa cheann a thabhairt do dhuine eile. An 12 Aspal nó the Dirty Dozen a ghlaodh orthu ina dhiaidh, agus d'fhan an leas ainm na 'Dirty Dubs' leis an gcontae ar feadh na mblianta.

Sa chluiche ceannais in 1995 d'fhan Charlie Redmond ar an bpáirc ar feadh cúpla nóiméad tar éis gur chuir an réiteoir é den pháirc agus bhí raic ann faoin gcic amach a bhronnadh in aghaidh réalta Thír Eoghain, Peter Canavan, ag deireadh an chluiche. Droch-chluiche amach is amach a bhí ann.

Cé gur éirigh leo an corn a bhaint in 1995, ba cheart don fhoireann sin ar an laghad dhá chraobh eile a bhuachan, ach theip orthu ar an lá mór. Bhí an-deis acu sa cheithre chluiche a bhí acu in éadan na Mí in 1991 ach theip orthu an bua a chinntiú gach uair.

Idir an dá linn bhí idir mhí-ádh agus néirbhísí ag cur isteach ar an bhfoireann sa chraobh. Breathnaigh ar an taifead sa nasc seo le cur síos cuimsitheach a fháil ar an méid atá á rá agam.

Le deich mbliana anuas bhí an comhscór i nDurlas Éile in 2001, tar éis dúinn teacht ar ais ó bheith deich gcúilín taobh thiar de Chiarraí, an liathróid a bhuail in aghaidh an phosta in éadan Ard Mhacha in 2002, an géilleadh a rinne muid don fhoireann chéanna in 2003, an farasbar ocht gcúilín a chaill muid in aghaidh Mhaigh Eo in 2006, na cailliúntí náireacha in éadan Tír Eoghain agus Ciarraí in 2008 agus 2009 faoi seach agus an chailliúnt aon phointe in éadan Chorcaí anuraidh.

Ceann de na rudaí is fearr faoin mbua i mbliana ná go ndearna muid é in éadan Ciarraí. Bhí an ceann is fearr faighte ag an Ríocht ar Bhaile Átha Cliath ocht n-uaire ó 1977.

Rinne siad sléacht ar Bhaile Átha Cliath in 1978 agus 79, agus ceap magaidh de Paddy Cullen in 1978.

B'iad an fhoireann is fearr in 1984 agus 1985 ach bhí mí-ádh orainn in 2001. B'iad an fhoireann is fearr in 2004 agus 2007, cé go ndearna Baile Átha Cliath traen iarrachta in 2007.

Tharla an chailliúnt is measa dhá bhliain ó shin. Tar éis do Thír Eoghain ár a dhéanamh orainn in 2008 bhí an fhoireann ar ais ar a shean léim arís agus iad mar rogha na coitiantachta in aghaidh Chiarraí, a d'imir go dona sa chraobh go dtí sin. Ghéill Baile Átha Cliath sa chluiche áfach, agus bhí 17 cúilín le spáráil ag an Ríocht ag an deireadh.

Bhí Pat Gilroy i gceannas don chluiche sin, agus níor tháinig aon leigheas ar chúrsaí ag tús na craoibhe in 2010. Ba iad na cluichí in aghaidh Loch Garman, na Mí agus Tiobraid Árainn na taispéantais is measa a chonaic mé riamh.

Bhí an méid sin lagmhisneach orm go raibh drogall orm dul chuig an gcéad chluiche eile in aghaidh Ard Mhacha - ceann de na fáthanna go ndeachaigh mé ná go raibh iománaithe Bhaile Átha Cliath ag imirt roimh na peileadóirí, agus bhí mé ag ceapadh go mbeadh bua san iomáint le ceiliúradh againn ar a laghad agus nach cur amú iomlán a bheadh sa lá.

Ansin chaill na hiomáinithe in aghaidh Aontroma sa nóiméad deireanach!

Anois táim chun dearmad a dhéanamh faoin gcrá croí sin ar fad! Dé Domhnaigh seo caite rinne Baile Átha Cliath rudaí nach raibh déanta acu le blianta blianta fada. Fuair siad an ceann is fearr ar Chiarraí, bhuaigh siad cluiche a bhí ag sleamhnú uathu, agus léirigh siad crógacht agus stuaim dochreidte.

Tráth dá raibh bhreathnaigh mé ar sean-fhíséain ón gcluiche cáiliúil idir Baile Átha Cliath agus Ciarraí in 1977, ach tá a chomharba againn anois. Tá an naoi nóiméid draíochta de Chluiche Ceannais 2011 feicthe agam iliomad uair ar an RTÉ Player ón Luan seo caite ar aghaidh, agus táim ag ceapadh go mbreathnóidh mé air anois agus arís amach anseo.

Mar aon le sin bhreathnaigh mé ar na físéain den nóiméad deireanach ar Youtube, tá roinnt acu le feicéail thíos. Do na contaetha nár éirigh leo ar an lá mór ar nós Mhaigh Eo agus Chill Dara - bainigí ionspioráid astú, do lucht Bhaile Átha Cliath - bainigí sult astú!

Ireland could pay for the entire African famine relief

2011-09-05T09:00:00.004+01:00

Revelations about the hundreds of thousands of euros spent by Anglo Irish Bank on parties, corporate gifts and golf outings in the months before they were bailed out will rightly infuriate the public.

The actions of the Anglo Irish bosses and the recent statements by Bertie Ahern show the level of delusion that plagued Ireland's Celtic Tiger elite.

As bad as this waste of money by Anglo Irish was, the wider picture of what has happened in the last few years is even more shocking.

Consider this; Over 12 million people are threatened by famine in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Djibouti. The US estimates that 30,000 children have died so far. The UN says 750,000 people could die in Somalia. Ten children are dying every day in one refugee camp alone.

The UN is seeking $2.4 billion in total to deal with this humanitarian disaster. $2.4 billion, or €1.68 billion. The Irish people have pledged over 17 times that amount to Anglo Irish Bank. As of 2nd September, €1 billion has been pledged to the relief fund, leaving just €675 million to go, or one 43rd of the Anglo Irish bailout.

Unlike the tens of billions we are giving Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank, none of the €29 billion going to Anglo Irish is to recapitalise it, to enable it to continue operating and lending to businesses and households. The bank will be closed and the money is going into a black hole to cover bond debts run up by Anglo Irish.

The reason we have to do this is that the rules of international finance have been fixed so that senior bank bonds must be repaid in full or the entire global economic system will collapse, apparently.

At this stage we still don't know how much the banks are going to cost us. The margin of error in the predicting the final bill isn't in the millions or even the billions, it's in the tens of billions, with estimates going from €70 billion to €100 billion.

Given the amounts involved in the bailout, and the number of lives that would be saved, €675 million is virtually nothing. The Irish government could cover the remaining money needed by the UN to deal with the African famine.

If we're going to bailout the richest people in the world to the tune of €70,000 million or more, there should be no problem with coming up with another €675 million to save some of the poorest people on earth from starving to death.

Teip Translations

2011-08-22T09:13:00.006+01:00

Chonaic mé dráma Brian Friel, Translations, don chéad uair le déanaí. Baineann an dráma le meath na Gaeilge i nDún na nGall, in áit darbh ainm Baile Beag.

Tá sé suite in 1833 agus an tSuirbhéireacht Ordanáis ag déanamh Béarlaithe ar logainmneacha na tíre. Bhí go leor cloiste agam faoi Translations i rith na mblianta, ach bhí díomá orm faoin dráma.

Shíl mé roimh ré gur léiriú ar na fáthanna gur tháinig meath ar an nGaeilge a bhí ann, ach theip ar an dráma an t-athrú sóisialta ollmhór seo a mhíniú.

Cuirtear go leor cúiseanna chun cinn i rith Translations le míniú a thabhairt ar an bhfáth gur fhoghlaim daoine Béarla – bochtanas, imirce srl. Sean scéal agus meirg air atá ann.

Tuigeann gach duine na buntáistí a bhaineann leis an mBéarla. Thuig daoine é in 1833 agus tuigeann daoine timpeall na cruinne é in 2011.

Níl mistéir nó iontas ag baint le hÉireannaigh san 19ú hAois a bheith ag iarraidh Béarla a fhoghlaim – is rud iomlán nádúrtha go bhfoghlaimeodh daoine teanga na himpireachta atá i gceannas ar a dtír. D'fhoghlaim daoine i dTíomór Thoir Indinéisis, d'fhoghlaim Seicigh, Slóvacaigh agus Polannaigh Gearmáinis, d'fhoghlaim Eastónaigh, Laitviaigh agus Liotuánaigh Rúisis.

Chuir Translations neart roghanna bréagacha os comhair an lucht féachanna – Béarla nó Gaeilge, Béarla nó bochtanas, (go deimhin tugann an dráma le fios nár mhúin scoileanna scairte an Béarla, ach nílim cinnte an bhfuil sé sin fíor).

An difríocht idir Éireannaigh agus Tíomóraigh, Seicigh, Eastónaigh srl ná nár stop siadsan ag labhairt a dteangacha dúchais tar éis dóibh teangacha a máistrí a fhoghlaim.

Ó thaobh cúrsaí teanga in Éirinn ní hé 'Cén fáth ar fhoghlaim daoine Béarla' an cheist is tábhachtaí, ach 'Cén fáth ar stop daoine ag labhairt Gaeilge.”

Theip ar Translations díriú ar an gceist seo.

Is cinnte gur chuir na Breatanaigh brú ar dhaoine droim láimhe a thabhairt don Ghaeilge, ach níor chuir siad iachall ar éinne. Féin-mharú cultúrtha a bhí ann.

Níl na fáthanna don fhéin-mharú seo chomh láidir is a bhí, ach tá siad fós beo in Éirinn, rud a mhíneoidh mé in alt amach anseo, agus tá siad fós ag baint an bhoinn den Ghaeilge.

Riots in the UK

2011-08-11T14:47:00.003+01:00

The authorities in the UK seem to have regained control of the streets following days of looting and rioting.

I've no doubt that most of the people involved in the chaos are those who normally spend their days and nights robbing, joyriding, intimidating residents and generally making people's lives a hell.

That doesn't mean that law and order is the only response to this issue. There is rarely a clear line between criminal, sociopathic elements and the rest of society.

Increased poverty, unemployment and reduced services like community centres etc will swell the ranks of the 'disaffected youth' making outbursts like those seen in England more likely.

Letting criminals in the middle and upper classes away with behaviour that can lead to massive spending cuts or bankrupt a nation entirely also doesn't help with the 'working man is a sucker' argument of criminals either.

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

NAMA: Cairt na ngaimbíní

2011-08-01T13:03:00.009+01:00

Tá cúpla scéal suimiúl sna meáin faoi NAMA le déanaí a léiríonn nach bhfuil ann ach cairt do ghaimbíní na hÉireann.

Bunaíodh NAMA chun drochfhiacha maoine na mbanc a thógáil óna gcuid cuntas. An teoiric a bhí ann ná go mbeadh na bainc in ann iasachtaí a thabhairt go comhlachtaí dá mbainfí na drochfhiacha. Gan amhras theip go hiomlán ar an mbunaidhim sin.

An dara chuid den phlean ná go gcoimeádfadh NAMA an mhaoin go dtí gur ardaigh praghsanna in athuair agus go bhféadfeadh siad brábús a dhéanamh amach anseo. Ach céard a tharlaíonn mura n-ardaíonn na praghsanna?

Tá go leor forbairtí ceannaithe ag NAMA ó na bainc, 8,000 teach san áireamh, ach má thiteann luach na maoine seo caillfidh NAMA airgead (chaill siad €1.1bn in 2010). De réir mar a thiteann luach na bhforbairtí atá ag NAMA ardóidh caillteannais na háisíneachta agus an costas don cháiníocóir.

Anois tá NAMA ag cur a ladhar isteach sa mhargadh tithíochta ach ag séanadh ag an am céanna go bhfuil siad ag cur a ladhar isteach sa mhargadh tithíochta.

An aidhm ná an margadh a “spreagadh”. Má cheannaíonn tú teach ó NAMA ar €200,000 le hearlais €20,000, mar shampla, íocfaidh NAMA as má thiteann an luach 20% thar cúig bhliana. Má thiteann an praghas €40,000, ní bheidh ort ach €140,000 a íoc arais chuig na bainc – íocfaidh NAMA, sé sin an pobal, as an gcuid eile.

Nochtaíodh chomh maith go mbeidh na forbróirí atá ag comhoibriú le NAMA in ann airgead a dhéanamh fiú má tá an praghas a dhíoltar a gcuid maoine faoi bhun an luach a bhí ar na hiasachtaí sa chéad dul síos.

Mar shampla, dá mba rud é gur íoc NAMA €600m chun iasacht €1bn a bhaint ó leabhair na mbanc, gheobhaidh an forbróir a fuair an iasacht sin 10% de bhrabús NAMA má éiríonn leo an fhorbairt a dhíol ar €650m, mar shampla. Beidh muintir na hÉireann ag íoc as an gcaillteanas €350m a rinne na bainc ar an iasacht sa sampla seo – athchaiptliú a ghlaotar air.

Anuas ar sin tuairiscítear go bhfuil NAMA ag admháil anois nach mbeidh siad in ann suas le €37bn a fháil ar ais ó fhorbróirí. 'Maithiúnas fiachais' an t-ainm atá ar seo. Beidh ar an bpobal glacadh leis na fiacha seo de réir mar a sheasann rudaí.

Aisteach go leor ach nuair a mholtar 'maithiúnas' d'iarfhiacha na mbanc agus na bhforbróirí atá a i seilbh an cháiníocóra, deirtear go scriosfadh a leithéid córas baincéireachta na hEorpa, nó an domhan fiú.

Is fior go bhfuil rialacha ar leith do Mháistrí na Cruinne agus rialacha eile don chosmhuintir.

Níl i NAMA ach cairt do na máistrí áitiúla.

The only power the Catholic Church has is the power we give it

2011-07-25T11:59:00.006+01:00

“How many divisions does the Pope have?” Soviet tyrant Joseph Stalin famously asked. His Chinese counterpart, Mao Zedong, claimed that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. The power of the Catholic Church is one example that disproves Mao's claim.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny's excellent speech on child abuse has made headlines around the world, and with good reason. 'Catholic' Ireland has finally told the Vatican that its behaviour is no longer acceptable.

The only caveat I would add is that the speech didn't go far enough in acknowledging the State's ultimate responsibility to protect its children.

An oft-repeated claim is that the Catholic Church wielded immense power in Ireland up until very recently. The words of bishops and priests were law, both literally and socially.

People who challenged the power of the church were sidelined and ostracised, many of them felt forced to leave the country.

However, the Catholic Church has no divisions, it has no guns to enforce its will on the Irish people. The only power the Catholic Church has is the power the Irish people give it.

It was the citizens of Ireland that followed and enforced every pronouncement from the pulpit. It was the citizens of this country that allowed priests and nuns to abuse children.

The Church did cover up much of what was being done, however, people looked the other way on the rare occasions that victims and campaigners did speak out.

A perfect example of this was in 1954 when the case of a 14 year old boy who was hospitalised after a severe beating in Artane Industrial School was raised in the Dáil by Independent TD Peadar Cowen.

According to Creating Ireland by Paul Daly, Education Minister Seán Moylan said:

"I would be as much concerned as the Deputy is if I thought it was anything other than a very isolated incident and in one sense what might be called an accident...I cannot conceive any deliberate ill-treatment of boys by a community motivated by the ideals of its founders. I cannot conceive any sadism emanating from men who were trained to a life of sacrifice and of austerity. They are also trained to have a greater devotion to a very high purpose...The point is that accidents will happen in the best regulated families and in this family there are 800 boys...These boys are difficult to control at times. Maybe it is essential now and again that children should be punished."

One of the reason priests could get away with the rape of children, why they could be transferred from parish to parish, was because of the slavish, subservient attitude people had to them. How many times have you read of parents whose children were abused going to the local parish priest or bishop instead of straight to the gardaí?

The Irish State allowed Catholic religious orders to run schools, orphanages, industrial schools and Magdelene Laundries and abdicated its duties to protect children from sexual and physical abuse.

The Catholic Church couldn't have gotten away with their horrific behaviour in relation to child abuse without the power the Irish people and State gave them.

The Government should indeed expel the Papal Nuncio, as the Irish people would have lost their deference to the Church a lot sooner if it hadn't covered up most of its crimes.

It should pursue the Church for half the cost of compensation for victims. If the Church pleads a lack of funds to pay up, I know of three massive houses plus extensive grounds it owns in the parish I'm from, Clondalkin village, alone, which even in today's market could fetch well over a million euros.

The Irish people and State are liable for the rest of the compensation as they are ultimately responsible for the protection of the children of the nation.

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

Riail Órga an Chaipitleachais

2011-07-21T13:03:00.011+01:00

Tá an-chuid cáinte déanta ag grúpaí den eite chlé ar an tarrtháil atá déanta ar bhainc san Eoraip agus sna Stáit Aontaithe Meiriceá.

Tá na céadta billiún caite ag rialtais ar bhainc a theip de bharr droch-iasachtaí.

Cháin go leor daoine ar an eite dheis an tarrtháil seo chomh maith, ina measc, an Tea Party i SAM agus eacnamaithe mór le rá in Éirinn.

Dar leo, ba cheart na bainc a fhágáil ag rialacha an chaipitleachais agus ligint dóibh teipeadh go hiomlán.

Ní thuigeann siad riail órga an chaipitleachais áfach, go gcuirfear gach prionsabal caipitleach ar fionraí má chaithfear saibhreas an uasail aicme a chosaint.

Tá tuairim shoineanta acu go gcreideann lucht an rachmais i rialacha an chaipitleachais – an fhírinne ná go dtacaíonn siad le pé córas a thuillfidh níos mó airgid dóibh. Is é saint agus féinleas bunchlocha an chaipitleachais, mar sin, níl aon chúis nach gcuirfeadh siad a rialacha féin ar leataobh chun níos mó airgid a thuilleadh.

An raibh creidimh daingean ag na tiarnaí agus barúin sa feodachas agus ag ríthe agus impirí sa schlábhaíocht, nó ar thacaigh siad leo toisc gur bhain siad leas as na córais eacnamaíochta sin?

Deir na daoine a thacaíonn le tarrtháil na mbanc go gcaithfear é a dhéanamh toisc go gclisfeadh ar an gcóras ar fad dá dteipfeadh ar na bainc. Sé sin, teipfidh ar an gcaipitleachas má chloítear le rialacha an chaipitleachais.

Tá go leor fadhbanna ag an gcóras reatha ach an bhfuil córas níos fearr ann? Go dtí seo níl an fhianaise ó thíortha sóisialacha ró-láidir. Tá sampla rathúil amháin den sóisialachas daonlathach sa tríú domhain, Kerala san Ind, ach níl aon cheann sa chéad domhain.

Tá neart deashamplaí den daonlathas sóisialta áfach, sna tíortha Lochlannacha ach go háirithe, agus ní mór d'Éirinn a n-eiseamláir a leanúint.

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

The Apprentice: 16 candidates, 12 weeks, one gigantic waste of time

2011-07-18T16:48:00.008+01:00

The finale of the BBC's Apprentice on Sunday was a total sham.

Having whittled down the original 16 contestants during 11 entertaining episodes, the final four were judged on their business 'plans'.

The candidate with the best one was apparently going to win the series. Suzie's was by far the strongest, but Tom was the eventual winner.

He had some vague notion of selling chairs to businesses to reduce the costs of back injury, but as it turns out, Alan Sugar ditched this plan after the show and decided to develop Tom's curved nail file which he had invented and sold before the Apprentice even started.

So what exactly was the point of the 11 weeks of gruelling tasks?

Clearly whoever came up with the 'business plan' concept for this year's series should be hauled before an panel of TV heavyweights and ritually humiliated before being 'fired'.

The Apprentice is entertaining mainly because of the challenges the candidates are faced with, and like most reality TV you can't help but think what you would do and say if you were in that situation.

It is also is a bit of a guilty pleasure, a modern incarnation of the gladiator spectacles of old where contestants are pitted against each other in a dog eat dog fight to the bitter end.

The weakest members are selected for disposal and made to attack each other (delivered through the 'who do you think is responsible for this mess' question).

The competitors are then metaphorically shredded before Lord Caesar gives of of them the thumbs down.

Terrible stuff altogether...anyone know when TV3's Apprentice is starting?

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

Cáineann an rialtas nua an Vatacáin, chosain an sean rialtas iad

2011-07-15T11:38:00.012+01:00

Táthar ann a deir go bhfuil páirtithe polaitiúla go léir mar an gcéanna agus nach n-athraíonn toghcháin faic. Go hiondúil ní tharlaíonn athruithe ollmhóra nuair a bhuann páirtithe nua toghchán, ach níl sé fíor gur saothar in aisce atá i vótáil.

Chonacthas é seo tar éis foilsiú Thuairisc Chluana an tseachtain seo. Léirigh an tuairisc nár chuir Deoise Chluana rialacha na hEaglaise Éireannaigh i bhfeidhm ó thaobh líomhaintí faoi mhí-úsáid leanaí a chur ar aghaidh chuig na gardaí.

Dhiúltaigh an Vatacáin agus an Papal Nuncio comhoibriú leis an bhfiosrú ar Dheoise Chluana agus léiríodh chomh maith go ndúirt an Vatacáin leis an eaglais in Éirinn in 1996 nár chloí na polasaithe tuairisce diana in Éirinn le polasaithe an Vatacáin fhéin.

Tá cáineadh láidir déanta ag ionadaithe ón rialtas nua ar an Vatacáin de bharr seo. Dúirt an Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore go raibh sé go hiomlán doghlactha gur dímhol an Vatacáin do shagairt in Éirinn líomhaintí faoi ionsaithe ar pháistí a thuairisciú chuig na gardaí.

Tá sé ráite ag cathaoirleach Fhine Gael, Charlie Flanagan, gur cheart an Papal Nuncio a dhíbeart ón tír.

Anois, chuir é sin i gcomparáid leis an méid a bhí le rá ag Brian Cowen in 2009 nuair a nochtaigh Tuairisc Murphy gur dhiúltaigh an Vatacáin comhoibriú leis an bhfiosrú ar ionsaithe gnéis ar pháistí i mBaile Átha Cliath.

Creid nó ná creid ach chosain ár dTaoiseach ag an am seasamh náireach na Vatacáine.

Léiríonn an difríocht simplí seo nach bhfuil na páirtithe 'uilig mar an gcéanna' agus gur fiú vóta a chaitheamh i dtoghcháin.

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

Compulsory English and Compulsory Suits

2011-07-14T10:18:00.008+01:00

A fierce debate has been raging in the letters pages of the Irish Times and Irish Independent this week over language fanaticism and extremism.

It all started over two typically hyperbolic letters complaining about money 'wasted' on bilingual leaflets printed by state bodies. They argued that as everyone speaks English there is no need for any of this material to be made available in Irish.

Last year I wrote an article for the Insideireland.ie website (which unfortunately is no longer available due to changes in the site's layout) which pointed out that such an attitude is effectively arguing for compulsory, lifelong English for everyone in the State.

I also pointed out that if someone who forces Irish on others is to be labelled an Irish language fanatic, then someone who forces English on others is an English language fanatic. Some of the letter writers have made similar points, while one claimed that the 'cost' of translating one of the leaflets mentioned would be about €8.

Another letter says that Ireland is a 'wholly English-speaking nation' and always has been, which is false on both counts and a nice way to deny the existence of Irish speakers. It also claims that 'forcing' Irish on people has made people hate the language.

It's true that people do hate Irish, but people have been hating Irish for hundreds of years, long before 'compulsory Irish' or the Official Languages Act. Throughout the vast majority of that time there was one very simple reason the Irish language was hated, because it was the Irish language. This is the reason extremist British nationalists hated and continue to hate the language.

Many people from the Irish nationalist tradition also hated the language long before 'compulsory Irish' or the Official Languages Act.

In 1845 Thomas Davis wrote that the middle classes in Ireland think it a “sign of vulgarity” to speak Irish, while Douglas Hyde wrote in 1896 “that it is considered a disgrace in most Irish cities to speak Irish.” In 1926 the Gaeltacht Commission stated that in relation to the language “the educated were ignorant of it; and they protected their position by affecting to despise it, or often despising it with conviction.”

These were adults who had gone through the education system before Irish became compulsory, yet they despised the language, some of them “with conviction”.

There is a fallacy at the heart of the 'I hate Irish because it's compulsory in school' argument.

If this theory were true then we will shortly see a massive increase in hatred for suits among members of the Dáil. New rules are set to be introduced to make it compulsory to wear a suit in the chamber. A small number of TDs have objected to being forced to wear a suit - the TDs who don't wear one at present.

The rest of the members don't object to the rule, and won't end up hating suits because of the new compulsion, because they agree with wearing suits already. The TDs who object to the 'compulsory suits' rule don't want to wear a suit in the first place, not because there is a new rule forcing them to do so.

It's high time we had an honest debate about the real roots of hatred of the Irish language. The reason this hasn't happened, and that people make ludicrous arguments to justify their objections, is that bigotry and fear lie at the heart of this hatred.

I and many others speak Irish because it's the Irish language, so it should be no surprise that others rejects and hate the language for the same reason.

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

An tOrd Oráisteach

2011-07-12T12:35:00.007+01:00

Beidh na mílte baill den Ord Oráisteach ag mairseáil sa Tuaisceart inniu le ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar Chath na Bóinne. Beidh na mílte eile ar shráideanna na sé chontae ag tacú leis an gcomóradh ar chaithréim Rí Liam in 1690.

Táthar ann a cháineann an tOrd de bharr nach féidir le Caitlicigh a bheith mar bhaill den eagraíocht, ach níl aon chiall leis an gcáineadh sin. Is eagraíocht Phrotastúnach é nach ligeann do dhaoine ó chreidimh eile bheith páirteach ann, agus níl aon rud cearr le sin. Ní bheadh aon chiall le daoine neamh-Chaitliceacha a bheith páirteach in Opus Dei nó Léigiún Mhuire, mar shampla.

Níl chiallaíonn sé seo nach bhfuil údar gearáin ag daoine faoin Ord Oráisteach áfach, go háirithe Caitlicigh agus náisiúntóirí ó Thuaidh.

Níl aon amhras ach gur eagraíocht antoisceach frith-Chaitliceach atá san Ord. Ní féidir le baill den Ord a bheith pósta le Caitlicigh agus ní féidir leo freastal ar sheirbhís Chaitliceach. Seans nach bhfuil cead acu freastal ar sheirbhísí de chuid aon chreideamh eile, ach is é an Caitliceachas an t-aon reiligiún a luaitear i mionn an Oird.

Eagraíonn an tOrd iliomad mairseáil gach bliain le ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar chath a chaill Caitlicigh in Éirinn. Tar éis an chatha cuireadh dlíthe frith-Chaitliceacha i bhfeidhm sa tír agus cuireadh Caitlicigh faoi chois ar feadh na céadta bliain.

An bhfuil íonadh ar éinne go gcuirfeadh eagraíocht dá leithéid isteach ar Chaitlicigh? Go dtí go mbaintear na rialacha frith-Chaitliceacha ní bheifear in ann séanadh ach gur eagraíocht bhiogóideach atá san Ord.

Mar aon le Caitlicigh, tá údar gearáin ag náisiúntóirí faoin Ord. Tá dlúthbhaint ag an Ord le polaitíocht, bhí siad páirteach i mbunú an UUP agus chonacathas anuraidh go raibh sé i lár an aonaigh ó thaobh an vóta aontachtach a mhéadú. Sheas an tOrd in aghaidh Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta agus tá siad in aghaidh na cumhachtroinnte i Stormont.

Ní féidir a shéanadh ach gur eagraíocht náisiúnach Briotanach docht atá san Ord agus níor cheart go mbeadh íonadh ar éinne go mbeadh náisiúntóirí Éireannacha buartha go mbeadh an tOrd ag iarraidh ceiliúradh a dhéanamh i gceantar ina bhfuil go leor acu ina gcónaí.

Déantar cur síos ar imeachtaí an Oird mar chuid de chultúr an Tuaiscirt, ach ní chiallaíonn sé sin nach féidir é a cháineadh má tá sé tuillte aige. Shílfeá, i sochaí scoilte ar nós Thuaisceart Éireann, nach bhfuil sé ceart ná cóir go mbeadh pobal amháin ag déanamh ceiliúradh ar bhua a fuair siad ar an bpobal eile, go háirithe leis na mílte máirseáil.

Ní fios dom an bhfuil sochaí deighlte eile ar domhan ina dhéanann sciar amháin den phobal ceiliúradh ar bhua a fuair siad ar an gcuid eile. Samhlaigh dá ndéanfadh an pobal Easpáinneach i bPeiriú nó Guatamala ceiliúradh ar bhua a bhí ag a sinsir ar an bpobal Ceastuach nó Máigeach faoi seach.

Mholfainn don Ord Oráisteach deireadh a chuir leis an bhfrith-Chaitliceachas agus an seasamh docht atá acu in aghaidh na cumhachtroinnte agus laghdú a dhéanamh ar líon na máirséalaithe atá acu, go háirithe na cinn nach bhfuil ar 12ú Iúil.

Tá áit an Tuaiscirt sa Ríocht Aontaithe slán go dtí go vótáileanna móramh ar son Éire Aontaithe, agus tá glactha ag náisiúntóirí Éireannacha le sin. Tá sé thar am don Ord Oráisteach glacadh leis nach féidir leo a rogha rud a dhéanamh agus go bhfuil freagrachtaí acu ó thaobh dea-chaidreamh a chothú idir an dá phobal sa Tuaiscirt.

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

They're not honour killings, they're honour murders

2011-07-07T15:33:00.009+01:00

Millions of people around the world, mainly women, live in fear of murder by relatives over choices they have made in their personal lives. These are commonly referred to as 'honour killings'.

The UN estimates that 5,000 women are murdered every year while Robert Fisk has reported that the true figure could be much higher.

The practice is found mainly in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, but is not an 'Islamic' issue. Honour murders occur in other communities in the region, for example the stoning to death of a Iraqi Yazidi girl in 2007 (pictured above, see graphic report below) lead to the massacre of up to 800 members of that community.

Honour murders have also occurred in Christian, Sikh and Hindu communities. The practice is now found in Europe and other parts of the world, but thankfully none have been recorded in Ireland so far.

Women, and sometimes men, are murdered for a variety of reasons, marrying or falling in love with someone of a different religion or caste, marrying someone the family does not approve of or for refusing to accept an arranged marriage.

Victims of rape, gay people and women who refuse to wear Islamic dress are also murdered by their families. Justice systems in many countries turn a blind eye to these crimes. Others are pressurised by their families into committing suicide.

The number of honour murders is said to be on the increase, which could be the result of women and men no longer being willing to submit to oppressive social rules.

These despicable acts are carried out in the name of a family's 'honour,' although you might have imagined that there is nothing more dishonourable than murdering a member of your own family.

In some ways they are similar to the lynchings of African Americans that occurred in the USA in that members of a marginalised group which is considered inferior by the dominant group are killed for the perceived breaking of social 'norms'.

I believe it is time to stop calling these crimes 'honour killings' and to use the term honour murders instead. Murder, by definition, is always wrong, while 'killing' can be justified in some contexts (war, self-defence etc).

All honour murders are wrong and by using this term we can hasten the day when they are considered totally abhorrent in every corner of the world.

If you agree please retweet this message on Twitter and join the cause on Facebook. Please ask your friends to join too.

If enough people sign up I intend to ask the UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the National Union of Journalists and other groups to use the term honour murders from now on.

www.twitter.com/colmobroin

Admhaím é – is maith liom Glee

2011-07-04T14:21:00.005+01:00

Tá camchuairt Glee tagtha go hÉirinn an tseachtain seo agus tá sé in am dom mar sin admháil gur maith liom an clár.

Ní bheidh mé ag dul chun an seó a fheiceáil áfach, ar dhá chúis, a) ní cailín 14 bliain d'aois mé, agus b) nílim ró-thógtha leis an gceol.

Go deimhin féin nuair a bhreathnaím ar an gclár is minic a mhúchaim an fhuaim nuair atáthar i mbun amhránaíochta nó brúm 'Gluais Ar Aghaidh', go háirithe le linn na n-amhrán maoithneacha ó na ceoldrámaí móra.

Taitníonn an clár liom toisc nach bhfuil na carachtair gan smál, fiú stiúrthóir an chlub Glee, Will Schuester.

Ag tús an tsraithe bhí sé ag iarraidh tuilleadh scoláirí a mhealladh chun an chlub ach bhí air duine mór le rá sa scoil a earcú chun é sin a dhéanamh. Chuir sé ina luí ar chaptaen na foirne peile, Finn, bheith páirteach sa chlub trí líomhaintí bréagacha a chur ina leith go raibh cannabas ina sheilbh aige. Slíbhíneachas deas ansin.

Rud eile a thaitníonn liom ná nár ghéill an clár don ghnáthcheachtas ó thaobh an caidreamh 'will they/won't they' idir Schuester agus múinteoir eile, Emma.

An rud is mó a thaitníonn liom faoin gclár áfach ná an greann, go háirithe na carachtair Sue, Puck agus Terri.

Shílfeá nach bhfuil aon bhaint ag an nGaeilge le Glee, ach tá. Agus mé ag déanamh taighde ar thogra tháinig mé ar thagairt do ghrúpa 'Glee' de chuid Conradh na Gaeilge a bhí gníomhach roimh Chogadh na Saoirse.

De réir ráitis ó fhear darbh ainm James McGuill, a bhí mar bhall d'Óglaigh na hÉireann i nDún Dealgan ag an am:

“The Gaelic League at this time produced several plays in Irish and formed a small group of what was known as 'Glee' Singers, who were always at the disposal of rural districts and concerts and their collection of songs, recitations and Irish dances helped to rekindle the spark of Nationality which was at that time rapidly dying out.”

Glee Gaelach, ní bheadh aon drogall orm admháil go dtaitneodh sé sin liom.

http://twitter.com/colmobroin

Phone calls, lock-ins and offshore accounts - Ireland needs an ethics lesson

2011-07-01T09:59:00.009+01:00

Michael Healy Rae is in trouble this week over revelations that he received 3,636 votes from phone calls made in the Dáil when on RTÉ's Celebrities Go Wild show in 2007.

There is no suggestion that the Kerry TD or his father, Jackie, did anything illegal regarding these phone calls, but whoever made them it was certainly unethical and a shocking waste of citizens' money.

The amount involved in the Healy-Rae story is only €2,600, but the attitude that led to this latest scandal is at the heart of Ireland's current malaise.

As it happens I'm reading Fintan O'Toole's Ship of Fools at the moment, which details the unparalleled economic catastrophe that has happened in Ireland in recent years.

Part of the book deals with widespread corruption in the banking sector and related professions, massive tax evasion and the total failure of regulators and successive governments to crack down on white collar crime and to stop the banks' insane lending practices during the Celtic Tiger.

Among the people who cheated the state out of over €2 billion in tax on deposits using dodgy offshore accounts was none other than the most powerful man in the state, Taoiseach Charlie Haughey, who was described as a 'patriot to his fingertips' by his protege, Bertie Ahern.

Also, this week, TG4 repeated the Scannal programme about the National Irish Bank deposit theft scandal. Basically, NIB stole money from their customers in the 1990s, as revealed by journalists Charlie Bird and George Hook.

The programme includes an interview with then Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy, who actually tried to downplay the robbery, saying that the monies involved only amounted to a tiny percentage of NIB's overall deposits.

PD Leader Mary Harney promised a swift investigation into the scandal, which in the end took six years to complete. No one was ever prosecuted over these events, just as no one has been charged in relation to seriously questionable practices in the banks during and after the Celtic Tiger property boom.

'Cute hoors', 'gombeens', 'stroke politics'- these are terms much in use in recent years to describe petty and not so petty corruption in Irish life.

Ireland is one of the least corrupt countries in the world according to Transparency International, and we are spared the corrosive 'baksheesh' corruption found in many countries.

However, our brand of corruption tends to manifest itself in the blind eye turned to the illegal and the unethical, and our sneaking regard for cute hoors and 'insiders' who can get ahead through scratching backs.

This behavior is not all about high-powered officials and backroom deals, and may be happening in a place near you. It isn't always simply about gaining some advantage or privilege, the knowledge that you're on the inside track can be reward enough in itself.

Take one mundane example, the humble lock-in. In towns and villages throughout the country, there are pubs that flout the law by serving long after closing time. Many people in the area know this, but yet the gardaí turn a blind eye.

Of course not every pub can serve after hours, this privilege is restricted to a chosen few, the insiders, the people with the right contacts.

Ireland's antiquated closing times contribute to this problem, but instead of doing the sensible and mature thing - liberalising opening hours, we go for the cute hoor approach which sees the majority obeying the law and the insiders hovering above it.

Given a choice of allowing all pubs to set their own hours or breaking the law to get a late drink, I would not be surprised if some preferred the latter. There is, after all, a certain childish excitement in knowing that you are a member of a select group that can do something against the rules and get away with it.

It's a similar story with our tax, planning and banking systems, the plebs go by the rules and the gombeens get around them with impunity, always trying to get one up on 'them' – sometimes identified to as the government, 'Dublin', the media etc, but in reality their fellow citizens.

They're even able to bankrupt an entire country, forcing hundreds of thousands on to dole queues and emigrant airplanes with no real consequences for themselves.

Cute hoors can get elected to the Dáil because they can get some goodies for voters from central government, while neatly sidestepping the blame for the massive unemployment and spending cuts in their constituencies caused by governments they fully supported.

Another term used in relation to the economy is the 'invisible hand of the market'. In Ireland the invisible hand is the one that protects the cute hoors from the law, the one that covers our eyes to the corrupting anti-democratic influence of all donations to political parties.

There was a lot of blather about 'maturity' during the British Queen's recent visit – a real sign of maturity would be for us to end the power of the gombeens and cute hoors by ending our tolerance of their behavior across all levels of society.

http://twitter.com/colmobroin

Bua maith do na Dubs

2011-06-28T12:02:00.006+01:00

Bhí bua maith ag Baile Átha Cliath Dé Domhnaigh in éadan Chill Dara i gCraobh Laighean. Bhí go leor conspóide ag baint le deireadh an chluiche, ach fós féin bhí an bua tuillte ag na Dubs.

Seo an dara huair le trí bliana anuas go bhfuair Baile Átha Cliath an ceann is fearr ar Chill Dara agus 14 fear ar an ngort acu.

I gcluiche ceannais Laighean i 2009 cuireadh Ger Brennan den pháirc go luath sa chéad leath ach d'éirigh le Bleá Cliath an lámh in uachtar a fháil ar fhoireann Kieren McGeeney.

Rinne siad aithris ar an taispeántas sin Dé Domhnaigh tar éis gur cuireadh Eoghan O'Gara den pháirc don dara cárta buí.

Theip ar Chill Dara an deis a thapú tar éis an eachtra sin agus bhí BÁC ceithre chúilín chun cinn le dhá nóiméad fágtha agus an cosúlacht go raibh rás Chill Dara rite.

De bharr droch-chosaint ó Bhaile Átha Cliath scóráil Cill Dara 1-1 chun an scór a chothromú áfach.

Bhí mí-ádh ar Chill Dara faoin 'feall' a rinne Aindriú Mac Lochlainn ar Bernard Brogan ag an deireadh, ach is beag údár gearáin atá acu faoin gcluiche ina iomlána. Bhí fear breiseadh acu don chuid is mó den dara leath ach is beag tairbhe a bhain siad as de bharr nach bhfuil tosaithe láidre acu.

Déantar go leor gearáin faoin 'hype' a bhaineann le foireann Bhaile Átha Cliath, ach an fhírinne sa chás seo ná gur le Cill Dara a bhain an 'hype' le blianta beaga anuas. Tá siad ag déanamh dul chun cinn faoi McGeeney, agus bhí mí-ádh orthu in éadan an Dúin anuraidh, ach theip orthu ardú céime go Roinn 1 a bhaint amach sa tsraith i mbliana agus go dtí go bhfuil Craobh Laighean buaite acu ní féidir a rá go bhfuil siad i measc príomhfoirne na tíre.

Ó thaobh na Dubs Dé Domhnaigh bhí na cúlaithe an-mhaith ar fad, go háirithe an líne lán chúl, an líne is laige a bhí againn le blianta beaga anuas.

Tá go leor athraithe ar bun ag Pat Gilroy ar an bhfoireann agus nílim cinnte an rud maith é sin faoin tráth seo. Ní féidir le Eoghan O'Gara agus Diarmuid Connolly imirt le chéile, tá siad ró-chosúil mar imreoirí, seachas gur féidir le Connolly cúilíní a scóráil.

Bronnadh Laoch na hImeartha ar Alan Brogan ar an Sunday Game dá thaispeántas sa líne leath-thosach, ach measaim féin go bhfuil sé níos luachmhara sa líne lán-tosach in éineacht lena dheartháir Bernard.

Ní raibh cluiche iontach ag Connolly nó ag Michael Dara Macauley i lár na páirce, ach tá súil agam go mbíonn siad ar ais ar a sheanléim arís gan mhoill. Deá-sceál a bhí ann go raibh Eamon Fennell aclaí le himirt óir bíonn gá le fear mór i lár na páirce anois is arís chun seilbh a fháil ar an liathróid.

Is rogha na coitiantachta iad Baile Átha Cliath don chluiche ceannais in aghaidh Loch Garman ach táim ar nós cuma liom faoin toradh.

Bhuaigh BÁC cúig chraobh cúige as a chéile le déanaí ach i ndeireadh na dála cén mhaitheas a bhí leis? Níl ach craobh amháin á lorg ag lucht leanúna peile Bhaile Átha Cliath.

Malairt scéil atá ann ó thaobh iománaithe an chontae áfach agus iad ag ullmhú le haghaidh a thabhairt ar Chill Chainnigh Dé Domhnaigh seo chugainn.

Bheadh sé deacair shamhlú go bhfeadadh siad an ceann is fearr a fháil ar na Cait don tríú uair i mbliana, ach má éiríonn is éacht stairiúil den scoth a bheas ann.

Táim ag leanúint peileadóirí Bhaile Átha Cliath mo shaol ar fad, agus níor imir mé iománaíocht riamh, mar sin, ní bhíonn na mothúcháin chéanna ag baint le bua do na hiománaithe agus bua do na peileadóirí.

É sin ráite beidh mé i bPáirc an Chrócaigh Dé Domhnaigh beag seo agus an ceann ina diaidh – is nach mór gairm lán-aimseartha é a bheith i do thacadóir de chuid Bhaile Átha Cliath na laethanta seo!

http://twitter.com/colmobroin

The obsession with Peig

2011-06-23T13:31:00.012+01:00

One of the most prominent entries on the seemingly endless list of things that “put people off the Irish language” is Peig Sayers.

Her autobiography, Peig, is said to have turned thousands of Irish students off the language due to its miserable and depressing storyline.

Any online discussion of the Irish language will invariably include a few references to the book and its author.

Just recently our most well known Irish-hating media bigot, Kevin Myers, compared her to the serial killer Fred West, who raped and murdered at least 12 women and young girls.

Generations of "poor blameless citizens" had their childhoods "ruined" by having to read this book in school, according to Mr Myers.

Her "geriatric babblings” were an “educational purgatory” for hundreds of thousands of children.

Ok, Kevin Myers' stock in trade is hyperbole and courting controversy (always from an anti-Irish perspective of course, never an anti-English one), but it's no exaggeration to say that people in Ireland have a unique obsession with this book.

I've never read it and don't know if it's even studied in schools these days, but the idea that having to read a book you don't like can make you hate the language it's written in, and not just the book itself, is ludicrous.

I had to study Charles Dickens' Hard Times in school, and I hated it. I was also utterly bored by French in school, I spent six years learning verbs and essays off by heart, hardly spoke the language at all, and can barely string two words together today.

Do I hate English or French because of this? No. I don't like a book in English I was forced to read or the way I was taught French, not the languages themselves.

So why the obsession with Peig?

Basically Peig has become a metaphor for all the neurotic hangups people have about the Irish language.

Peig is old, rural, poor and depressing. In the minds of people who harp on about the book, Irish has the exact same attributes. It is “associated” with poverty and backwardness.

Some people reject Irish because they genuinely don't have an interest in it, others reject the language because they're afraid people will slag them about being poor and backward in some way if they speak it.

Isn't it time for people to grow up, build a bridge, get over their fear and leave this old woman alone?

http://twitter.com/colmobroin

Forbairt Ghaeltachta do Bhaile Munna

2011-06-22T13:40:00.009+01:00

Bhí deá-scéal i nGaelscéal an tseachtain seo caite go bhfuil tithí do phobal Gaeilge nua ar tí tógáil i mBaile Munna.

Tá Comharchumann Tithíochta an tSeachtar Laoch ag beartú 38 teach a thógáil mar chuid den fhorbairt seo. Tá 34 duine ar an liosta do na tithí, agus táthar ag lorg ceathrar eile sula gcastar an fód ar an togra Gaeltachta seo, atá faoi stiúr ag Glór na nGael Bhaile Munna.

Tá tacaíocht faighte ag na ceannródaithe taobh ón Roinn Comhshaoil agus Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath agus táthar ag súil go mbeidh na tithí réidh go luath i 2012.

Is féidir éisteacht le hagallamh le duine de hurlbhraithe an togra, Dónal Breathnach, ag an nasc seo.

Is Gaeilgeoirí iad 90% dóibh siúd a bheas ag bogadh isteach sna tithí, ach cúis imní amháin áfach ná go bhfuil an plé faoin bpobal Gaeilge ar leathanach Facebook Comharchumann Titíochta an tSeachtar Laoch ar fad i mBéarla.

Tá an-ghaisce déanta ag muintir Bhaile Munna ó thaobh na Gaeilge de le dhá bhunscoil agus meánscoil lán-Ghaeilge tógtha sa cheantar.

Má fhásann pobal Gaeilge macasamhail Gaeltacht Bhóthar Seoige i mBéal Feirste ón togra seo níl aon dabht ach gur céim ollmhór chun cinn a bheas ann don teanga i mBaile Átha Cliath.

An rud a rinne Gaeltacht Bhóthar Seoige ná gur thóg sé dúshraith fíor-láidir faoi phobal na Gaeilge i mBéal Feirste.

Thug sé misneach do lucht na Gaeilge sa chathair agus sa chuid eile den tír.

Go n-éirí go geal le muintir Bhaile Munna, agus níl aon chúis nach bhféadfaí tograí dá leithéid a bhunú in áit nó dhó eile i mBaile Átha Cliath amach anseo.

http://twitter.com/colmobroin

The Presidency should not be about tokenistic gestures

2011-06-20T12:49:00.009+01:00

It was during the Presidential election in 1997 that I first began to have misgivings about the reasons we choose our head of state.

It seemed odd that we had gone from a situation in 1990 where we'd never had a female president before, to one where four out of five of the candidates were women.

Having elected Mary Robinson in 1990, we had an orgy of self-congratulation about how liberal we were, how her election was a symbol of progress and inclusiveness.

A thought briefly crossed my mind in 1997, that the Presidency might be becoming a tokenistic way of making us feel good about ourselves. However one election was not enough to prove the theory one way or another.

This idea began to surface again a number of years ago, when speculation on Mary McAleese's successor began. I started to suspect that the Presidency was becoming a way for us to feel as if we're more inclusive to groups who have been excluded from power traditionally.

Thus, before Fianna Fáil's implosion, Munster MEP Brian Crowley, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair, was the favourite to win the election.

Until the recent controversy over his interview with Helen Lucy Burke, David Norris, who is gay, was the favourite to become President. The fact that he is gay has been mentioned as a reason we should elect him, to symbolise, like we did with Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, that we are an inclusive society.

Unfortunately this is all a sham, as the Presidency is a powerless position.

Brian Crowley is a very articulate politician, but he should be aiming to become Taoiseach, not President.

David Norris may be a bit eccentric for the Dáil, but we should not vote for him purely as a symbolic gesture of solidarity with the gay community. If we want to improve the rights of the gay community we can do this in a real way without tokenistic symbolism, by giving them equality in law regarding marriage and any other areas in which they are discriminated against.

It is now over 20 years since Mary Robinson's election. For all its symbolism, that victory did almost nothing for women in politics.

We have one of the lowest percentages of women in parliament in the Western world. We have never had a women Taoiseach. We have never had a female leader of our major parties, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour. In fact, we've never even had a likely female contender for leadership of those parties.

What we have shown since 1990 is that we are prepared to elect women to a powerless, symbolic position, and nothing more.

When you compare Ireland to other countries, you can see how ludicrous our self-congratulion on electing a woman to the Presidency is.

Below is a list of some of the countries that have elected a woman prime minister or executive president. Among them are countries such as the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan (recently declared as the third worst county in the world for women).

The Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have, in fact, elected two female executive Presidents.

Argentina
Australia
Canada
Chile
Costa Rica
Dominica
France
Germany
Guyana
Jamaica
India
Iceland
Israel
Liberia
Lithuania
Mozambique
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Norway
Panama
Slovakia
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom

Compare that to Ireland and our achievement in electing two women as figurehead presidents isn't all that much to boast about.

The Government's recent announcement on gender quotas is a welcome development and should increase the number of women in the Dáil.

While Presidential elections may make us feel good about ourselves, the day we have a female, gay or disabled Taoiseach will be the day we can say we are a truly inclusive society.

http://twitter.com/colmobroin

Noonan Vs an ECB

2011-06-17T12:12:00.005+01:00

Bhí mé ag scríobh Dé Céadaoin faoin gcinnearacht lag atá in Éirinn faoi láthair.

Níos déanaí an lá sin d'fhógair an tAire Airgeadais Michael Noonan go raibh sé ag iarraidh sealbhóirí bannaí sinsearacha neamhurraithe* Anglo Irish Bank a 'dhó', rud a shabháladh €3.5 billiún orainn (b'fhéidir gur léigh sé mo phíosa, GOA*).

Tá tacaíocht faighte aige don mholadh seo ón IMF, an cheist anois ná an nglacfaidh an ECB leis. De réir tuairiscí ní bheidh an ECB sásta an polasaí atá acu ó thaobh na sealbhóirí bannaí sinsearacha ó thús na gearchéime a athrú.

Má dhiúltaíonn siad do mholadh Noonan (thuas, le hUachtarán an ECB, Jean Claude Trichet) an mbeidh rialtas na hÉireann sásta na sealbhóirí bannaí a dhó ar aon nós, nó an ngéillfidh siad arís?

Mura bhfuil siad sásta déanfar damáiste do cháil an rialtais, agus cuirfear an cheist cén fáth gur thosaigh Noonan ag bagairt ar shealbhóirí Anglo Irish mura raibh sé sásta beart a dhéanamh de réir briathar agus an rogha 'núicléach' a ghlacadh.

Gluais
*Unsecured senior bondholders.
*Gáire ós ard.

http://twitter.com/colmobroin

When did Ireland's leaders become so weak?

2011-06-15T13:54:00.007+01:00

Reading Fintan O'Toole's article on Ireland's deference to the EU and IMF got me thinking again about how far the country's leadership has fallen in recent decades.

It makes you wonder sometimes how the Republic even got independence in the first place given the lack of backbone displayed by our political leaders.

We lost some of our sovereignty last November when we took the EU-IMF bailout, sovereignty that took centuries to achieve.

People killed and died for that sovereignty, but you'd have to wonder what has happened since then, when did we change from being a people who defied the world's largest empire to one that will meekly accept the terms and conditions laid down by our EU 'partners'.

We are being expected to cover the tens of billions of losses Irish banks have made through insane lending policies – policies that were enabled by reckless loans from European banks and the blind eye turned by the ECB.

Not only that but the EU has decided that we have to pay a punitive rate of interest on the bailout – as an 'incentive' for us to reduce the deficit and get back into the markets as soon as possible – as if we needed an incentive to do that.

Ireland is in the third year of economic catastrophe - unemployment is close to 15% with the prospect that it will remain over 10% for years to come – with the inevitable emigration that will follow.

While the Minister for Health, James Reilly, has denied it will happen, the very fact that health managers are contemplating cutting immunisation schemes for children, possibly the most basic part of any country's health system, shows how far we have fallen as a country and society.

So where did it all go wrong?

It's hard to say, but the rot had certainly set in by 30th January 1972, Bloody Sunday. That night Taoiseach Jack Lynch rang British Prime Minister Ted Heath about the atrocity.

Remember that the British Army had just murdered 13 civilians in Derry, a fact that is now acknowledged by the British government.

Here is a transcript of that humiliating conversation, one in which our prime minister allowed himself treated like a buffoon.

I generally try to avoid saying I'm proud to be Irish or ashamed to be Irish, but reading the transcripts is one of the few occasions where I can say the latter.

The same type of deference was show when both Bertie Ahern and Enda Kenny asked Tony Blair an David Cameron to release files on the Dublin-Monaghan bombing, the biggest crime in the history of the state.

They told us to go and jump, and our leaders backed down. All the while they've refused to co-operate with our efforts to protect our citizens, we've been congratulating ourselves about how great we are at co-operating with Britain's security forces to protect their citizens.

What has happened here in recent decades is that our leaders have reverted to a type of Neo-Redmonism.

The closest echoes of our current deference to other powers is John Redmond's deference to Britain.

His belief was that Ireland should plead with Britain to give us something we were entitled to as a right. When they said no he backed down, or even worse, sent tens of thousands of men to their deaths in the First World War in an incredibly naive, horrific and wasted attempt to curry favour with Britain.

The expected Greek default will give our leaders one last chance to redeem themselves and to put the interests of citizens before the interests of the banking sector.

At the moment the markets won't lend to us because they don't believe we can pay the debts back. Critics of default argue that burning bondholders would shut us out of the markets for years.

The thing is we don't have a choice, we can't cover these debts, so it's going to happen one way or another.

If and when the Greeks default Ireland will have a chance to say enough is enough, that sacrificing the Irish people for the sake of banking investors is no longer acceptable, and to reclaim some of our lost dignity.

http://twitter.com/colmobroin

Logainmneacha Bhaile Átha Cliath

2011-06-14T01:06:00.016+01:00

Thug mé srachfhéachaint le déanaí ar na logainmneacha i mBaile Átha Cliath atá curtha ar logainm.ie le fáil amach an raibh tréithe canúna le brath iontu.

(Tá comhartha ceiste leis na cinn thíos nach bhfuil leagan oifigiúil Ghaeilge acu go fóill).

D'fhéach mé ar léarscáil de chuid na Suirbhéireachta Ordanáis cúpla bliain ó shin agus chonaic mé go raibh samplaí ann a thug le fios go raibh na tréithe seo a leanas sa chontae.

Dubh=Doo
Cnoc=Croc

Thug mé an méid céanna faoi dheara i gCill Mhantáin freisin, mar aon le mh='V'.

Tá ceithre logainm i mBaile Átha Cliath a léiríonn go ndúirt daoine i mBaile Átha Cliath 'Croc' seachas 'Cnoc' tráth;

Crooksling=Cnoc Sline (le feiceáil sa ghrianghraf thuas).
Crockshane=Cnoc Sheáin
Crockaunadreenagh=Cnocán na nDraighneach
Crocknabrookey=Cnoc na Brocaí

Mar aon le sin bhí dhá fhocal Gaeilge i gcaint na ndaoine sa chontae sa 20ú hAois; Cnag ('a light blow with the knuckles') agus Cniog ('to beat'), ach is 'Cregg' agus 'Crig' a dúradh.

Tá ceithre cinn a thugann le fios gur 'doo' seachas 'duv' a dúradh freisin.

Glendoo=Gleann Dubh
Skidoo=Sceach Dhubh
Trumondoo=Triomán Dubh
Lugdoo=Log Dubh? (Black Hollow i mBéarla).

Bhí 'drimmindhoo' ag daoine i mBaile Áth Cliath ar 'Droim Fhionn Dubh' ach is ainm amhráin atá anseo mar sin ní fios an fhuaimniú dhúchais atá sa sampla seo de 'dubh=doo'.

Ó thaobh 'mh' de bhí A Mhic (Avick), A Mhuirnín (Avourneen) agus dhá leagan de Lán a'mhála , 'Lawnawalla' agus 'Laun a valla,' i gcaint na ndaoine. Is ó Sheanchill a tháinig an dara leagan.

Tá áit darbh ainm Glaise an Mhulláin i mBaile Átha Cliath ach is Glassavullaun an leagan Béarlaithe atá air. Mar aon le sin tá áit darbh ainm Askavore. D'fhéadfaí sé gur 'easca' atá i gceist le 'Aska' – an t-aon fhadhb le sin ná gur focal firinscineach atá ann dá bhrí sin is Easca Mór seachas Easca Mhór a bheadh air i nGaeilge – é sin nó bhí 'easca' baininscineach sa cheantar, mar atá 'contae' i nDún na nGall mar shampla.
B'fhéidir gur Eiscir Mhór atá ann ach go dtí go dtagann Coimisiún na Logainmneacha ar leagan oifigiúil ní bheidh ann ach buaile faoi thuairim.

Tá cúpla logainm eile atá spéisiúil ó thaobh foghraíochta de. An Béarla ar Abhainn an Dothra ná Owendoher, b'fhéidir go gciallaíonn sé sin gur 'owen' an bealach a dúirt muintir an chontae 'Abhainn' fadó.

Tá 'Coill' aistrithe ar bhealaí éagsúla i mBaile Átha Cliath, idir Kyle, Kil agus Colie agus tá Kelly agus Cullia do 'Coille' le fáil freisin.

Kylemore=An Choill Mhór
Kylenabrone=Coill na mBrón?
Kilmore=An Choill Mhór
Coliemore=An Choill Mhór
Ballynakelly=Baile na Coille
Barnacullia=Barr na Coille

Tá go leor de na tréithe logainmneacha céanna le fáil ó dheas i gCill Mhantáin freisin.

Crocknalugh=Cnoc na Log?
Crockanoo=Cnoc...?
Crockan Pond=Cnocán?

Bendoo=Beann Dubh?
Pollaghdoo=Pollach Dubh?
Carrigdoo=Carraig Dhubh?
Cordoo=Corr Dubh?
Knockdoo=Cnoc Dubh?

Baravore=Barra Mhór
Glenavadda=Gleann a'Mhada?
Carrigvore=Carraig Mhór?
Inchavore River=Inse Mhór?

Tá áiteanna darbh ainm 'Crockaun' (Cnocán) aimsithe agam i gCill Dara agus Longfort chomh maith a léiríonn go raibh an fuaimniú céanna sa dá chontae.

De réir eolais ón nasc seo, an Ghaeilge ar Dairy Hill i bparóiste Achadh Bhó i gContae Laoise ná "Doire a'Chrocain".

Cuireann na logainmneacha atá luaite agam leis an teoiric gur Gaeilge Chonnacht nó Uladh a bhíodh á labhairt i mBaile Átha Cliath. Chuirfinn m'airgead fhéin ar Ghaeilge Chonnacht.

http://twitter.com/colmobroin

Who will clean the toilets in the socialist utopia?

2011-06-13T16:23:00.006+01:00

Pat Kenny had an interesting discussion today on his radio show about Marxism. The SWP's Kieren Allen argued in favour of socialism and economist Jim Power spoke against it.

Both made some good points, Allen said that workers should have more input into how their workplaces are run, in fact from what I gather he would say workers should control the businesses or organisations they work for in conjunction with the state.

It's hard to argue with people having more of a say in how their workplaces are run and if it can work in practice then there is no reason it should not be encouraged.

Jim Power's main argument is that people are motivated by self-interest and that is what drives innovation and progress in society. Socialism would remove this outlet and leave everyone poor, he argued.

He mentioned medical developments as an example of this incentive at work. He could have picked better ones to prove his points however, as far as I know the people who came up with vaccines for killer diseases weren't doing it for the money, but to save lives.

The amount of money spent on cures for baldness, cosmetic surgery, obesity and other symptoms of consumerism and vanity, while a million people die of malaria every year, also suggests that pure capitalism is not the best system to rule the medical world.

Capitalists argue that people are motivated by self-interest while socialists argue that people are motivated by the common good. The truth lies somewhere in between – people are motivated by both self-interest and improving the lot of humankind.

The whole point of socialism is to create a society of equals, but if not all roles in society are equal, how can this be?

One question I would have of socialists is who would do the nasty jobs if their preferred system was in place? Who, for example, would clean the toilets in a socialist utopia?

Hollywood may have led us to believe that things will work out fine if people follow their dreams, but in reality this does not happen for everyone. There are winners and losers in capitalism, but in socialism everyone is meant to be a winner.

Let's say, under socialism, you had a large state-run enterprise with thousands of employees. The workers control the company, but who gets the dirty but vital jobs needed to keep the business working?

If no one wants to clean the toilets for example, how do you incentivise people to do this job apart from appealing to their better natures. Pay them extra, give them less hours?

This issue may seem like a minor one in the grand scheme of political economy and human development, but if socialism can't ensure equality in all aspects of life then it won't be able to do what it is meant to.

http://twitter.com/colmobroin

Damhsa ar an teic-nós?

2011-06-10T12:39:00.007+01:00

Cúpla bliain ó shin bhí fógra ar TG4 do chomórtas damhsa ar an sean nós de chuid an Oireachtais. Níor bhain siad úsáid as ceol traidisiúnta san fhógra áfach, ach ceol damhsa. I Like The Way You Move a bhí ann fad is cuimhin liom.

An rud spéisiúl faoi ná gur snaí an ceol agus an damhsa le chéile – sé sin, damhsa ar an sean nós le ceol damhsa.

Ní saineolaí ceoil nó damhsa mé ach chuir sé mé ag smaoineamh an bhféadfaí rud nua a chruthú anseo a bheadh dílis don chultúr ach go hiomlán nua-aoiseach ag an am céanna.

Níl a fhios agam an oibreodh sé ar chor ar bith, ach mholfainn d'éinne le spéis sa damhsa é a thrial - d'fhéadfaí 'damhsa ar an teic-nós' a ghlaoch air.

Bain trial as seo, seinnt an dá fhíséan seo thíos ach múch an fhuaim ar an dara cheann – sílimse go dtéann siad le chéile - céard a cheapann sibh?

http://twitter.com/colmobroin

Leaving aside Ulster Scots for the moment, is Scots a language?

2011-06-08T22:09:00.016+01:00

The debate over Ulster Scots is often mired in controversy. Opinions vary on what it is; a language, a dialect, or someone speaking in a Ballymena accent. More times than not opinions are divided along political lines, with most support for Ulster Scots coming from Unionists and most opposition and derision coming from Nationalists.

Because of this a rational debate on the nature of Ulster Scots is almost impossible to have as it usually ends up as yet another chapter in the never-ending one-upmanship debate between the two communities in the North.

One way of taking the local politics out of debate on what exactly Ulster Scots is to look at its parent, Scots.

You may not realise it but you know a bit of Scots already – and have probably uttered a few words of it shortly after midnight on New Years Eve, when Auld Lang Syne is sung. The term Auld Lang Syne is known worldwide, but it's clearly not standard English. Even if it's 'translated' into English – Old Long Since, its meaning (roughly, 'a long time ago') still isn't clear.

When reading something written in Scots what at first looks like phonetic spelling of English turns out to have a long history. Scots has a literary tradition going back hundreds of years and can argue that its spelling is just as legitimate as that of standard English, which itself was only codified a few centuries ago.

There is no simple answer to whether Scots is a language, as its interaction with English means there is no clear dividing line between the two. If one takes the view that languages diverge along mutual intelligibility, then Scots is not a language from what I can tell. Have a listen to the examples on this website set up by the Scottish Government, I can understand all of the speakers, apart from one from Caithness, so overall Scots would fail the intelligibility test.

Indeed, while 85% of Scottish people say they can speak Scots, most of them do not believe it is a language, although whether this is a fact-based opinion or the result of centuries of being told it's 'bad English' is unknown.

Not all languages are divided on intelligibility, however. My brother who lives in Gothenburg informs me that the differences between Swedish, Norwegian and Danish are about the same as the differences between Ulster, Connacht and Munster Irish, while Slavic and Romance languages are mutually intelligible to varying degrees by all accounts.

Some 'languages' are purely political constructs with no basis in linguistics, such as Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin, which were all known as Serbo-Croat twenty years ago. (There should be some craic in the EU Parliament's translation booths if all four countries become part of the EU).

Others, such as Arabic, have dialects which are not mutually intelligible.

If Scotland had remained independent Scots would probably have resisted assimilation by standard English and be recognized today as a language. Having hitched their wagon to England's star, however, Scotland's native languages were always going to come under pressure from its much larger partner in the Union. While Scots and English may have developed independently from Anglo-Saxon, what is now known as Scots was in fact called Inglis (ie English) until the late Middle Ages. In more recent times their similarity has led to Scots being gobbled up by its southern cousin.

Scots was brought to Ireland in the 16th and 17th centuries and later developed into Ulster Scots. If Scots' claim to be a language are not that strong, then Ulster Scots' is even less so. Despite numerous searches online I have never come across a recordings of Ulster Scots that would suggest it is anything other than a dialect of English.

Ulster Scots is certainly not just a Ballymena accent or a made up “DIY language for Orangemen.” It is a valuable part of Ireland's heritage and should be supported by the state in both parts of the island. It should not be used, however, merely as a means to stymie the progress of the Irish language. This has been attempted by the DUP's Nelson McCausland among others, whose argument as NI Minister for Culture was that Irish and Ulster Scots should be treated equally. However, if it's ok to treat Irish and English differently, there is no reason Irish and Ulster Scots can't be treated differently too.

The classification of Norwegian and Croatian (for example) as languages, is political, to boost those countries' claims to self-determination. The same thing may be happening with Scots.

In recent decades Scottish, Welsh and English identities have become more pronounced in the UK compared to the wider British identity. The rise of Ulster Scots may be the result of a desire to emphasise a regional identity in Northern Ireland which is not 'Irish'. This might explain the odd promotion of Scottish dancing, music, games and dress from the Gaelic-speaking Highlands as Ulster Scots culture, when the Ulster Scots people originated in Lowland Scotland.

It could also be that the Anglocentric forces suppressing Scots and Ulster Scots are simply getting weaker and that Scottish and Ulster Scots people have more confidence in their identity.

We should also remember that politicisation of languages is not a one way process used by marginalised groups to aid their cases for self-determination – languages are also politicised when they are suppressed by powerful groups who wish to deny subject peoples that same right, something seen in Tibet and Kurdistan at present.

Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Irish were all suppressed or discouraged for political reasons, to make is easier to argue that as the nations in the UK shared the same language, English, and the attendant culture that comes with it, they should be part of the same political unit. It is no coincidence that Scots started to go into decline the moment Scotland united with England.

We might all be better off, whichever language or dialect we speak or cherish, to leave the politics out of it altogether.

An bhfuil tú 'fionnuar' nó an bhfuil tú 'cúláilte'?

2011-06-03T15:32:00.004+01:00

Go minic cloistear daoine ag rá go gcaithfear an Ghaeilge a dhéanamh 'cool' chun daoine a mhealladh chun na teanga.

Dar ndoígh má táthar ag iarraidh an Ghaeilge a dhéanamh 'cool' ciallaíonn sé sin go bhfuil sé intuigthe é i measc muintir na hÉireann go bhfuil sé 'uncool', go bhfuil rud éigin cearr nó olc leis an teanga.

Nílim ag plé na ceiste sin inniú áfach, ach an cheist faoin nGaeilge ar an bhfocal é féin.

Roinnt blianta ó shin bhí comhrá agam le dhá fhear Ghaeltachta faoin ábhar seo. Bhí 'cúláilte' cloiste agam le blianta fada agus thacaigh an bheirt leis.

Níor thaithinn sé liom ar chor ar bith, áfach, dá mba rud é go raibh mé chun an stró a chur orm féin an dara teanga atá agam a dhéanamh im' chéad theanga, ní theastaíonn uaim foclaí atá díreach tógtha ón mBéarla ar nós 'cúláilte' a úsáid, go háirithe nuair atá leagan níos dúchasaí ar fáil.

Bhreathnaigh mé san fhoclóir le féachaint cén Ghaeilge a bhí ag de Bhaldraithe agus eile ar 'cool' – fionnuar a bhí aige.

Tar éis don teacht ar an bhfocal seo chuala mé é á úsáid ag duine nó beirt i mBéal Feirste chomh maith.

Ní raibh an dá fhear Ghaeltachta ar aon intinn liom faoi 'fionnuar' áfach. Níor theastaigh uathu é a úsáid sa chomhthéacs sin ar chor ar bith.

De réir an léimh a bhí acu ar an bhfocal, rud fuar, neamhtaithneamhach a bhí i 'bhfionnuar' agus bhí 'cúláilte' sa chaint le blianta fada.

Má fhéachann tú i bhFoclóir Uí Dhónaill an sainmhíniú atá ar 'fionnuar' ná : Cool. (of air) cool, refreshing. (of temperature) cool, moderate. (of disposition) calm, serene.

Tráth dá raibh bhí dhá bhunbhrí le 'cool' sa Bhéarla, ceann a bhain le teocht agus ceann le mothúcháin (a cool response, reaction srl). An chéad seo caite tháinig brí nua chun cinn áfach, an ceann atá faoi chaibidil agam anseo.

Is féidir le brí nua teacht chun cinn i dtaobh 'fionnuar' chomh maith, agus dar ndóigh, má úsáideann go leor daoine an focal beidh an brí sin aige sar i bhfad.

Dubs can win if they believe

2011-06-01T16:41:00.005+01:00

The Dublin footballers have their first outing of the Championship against Laois on Sunday and hopefully they can repeat the hurlers' successful start to the summer.

Pat Gilroy's men were unbeaten in the league until the final and only lost by a point to Cork so they are hot favourites to win.

If Diarmuid Connolly can rediscover the form that saw him score a hat-trick against Mayo in the league then we could have the makings of a 'dream' full forward line with Alan and Bernard Brogan.

Barry Cahill is a great attacking half-back but I'm yet to be convinced about him being at midfield – the area we got cleaned out by Cork in the league final.

Mossy Quinn is on the bench so it looks like Stephen Cluxton will be taking care of long range frees, it's a bit unorthodox to get the keeper to do this but if he puts them over the bar like he did last year then who cares?

Regarding the championship as a whole, Cork won't have the same hunger as last year, and Kerry and Tyrone are still in transition, so the Dubs mightn't get as good a chance to go all the way for a while. Anything less than an final appearance would be a disappointment.

Dublin's main problem in recent decades hasn't been a lack of footballing talent, it's a lack of mental strength.

I've lost track at this stage of the amount of big games we've lost by a point in the last few years, some of them games where we were well on top.

This isn't just a feature of the last decade however, the 1990s were as bad. Dublin were ahead in most of the four clashes against Meath in 1991, including being up by five in the second half of the last game, yet still managed to throw the leads away.

They lost against underdogs Donegal in 92, should have beaten Derry in 93 and Down in 94, and jut about scraped over the line in 95.

Last year's campaign offered some hope that Dublin may have conquered whatever mental demons that were holding them back.

After the shambolic and shameful collapses against Tyrone and Kerry in 2008 and 2009, finally beating one the 'big' teams, Tyrone, was a welcome relief.

I have to admit I wasn't a fan of Pat Gilroy at all before the win against Mickey Harte's men, due to the absolutely terrible performances against Wexford, Meath and Tipperary which followed on from the drubbing from Kerry in 2009.

The team began to turn things around against Armagh and then hit full stride against Tyrone.

Ok, we lost by a point against Cork, but at least the team went down fighting unlike the two previous years.

The jury is still out on Gilroy, but if my first impressions of his management turn out to be wrong I'll be delighted to say so!

Caithfidh Tuaisceart Éireann glacadh le rogha na n-imreoirí

2011-05-30T17:49:00.006+01:00

Le linn an Carling Nations Cup a chríochnaigh ar an Domhnaich bhí go leor gearáin ó bhainistíocht agus lucht tacaíochta Thuaisceart Éireann faoin “póitseáil” atá ar bun ag foireann na Poblachta ar imreoirí.

Le blianta beaga anuas tá imreoirí sacair ó na sé chontae, (mar shampla Darren Gibson, thuas) ag roghnú na Poblachta thar fhoireann an Tuaiscirt.

Glacann FIFA leis an gceart atá acu, faoi Chomhaontú Aoine an Chéasta, an rogha seo a dhéanamh.

Níl an Tuaiscirt cosúil le háiteanna eile ar domhan, mar sin níl na rialacha bunreachtúla, polaitiúla nó sportúla céanna i bhfeidhm ann is atá in áiteanna eile.

Dá mbeadh foireann an Tuaiscirt ag déanamh gach iarrachta imreoirí ón bpobal náisiúnach a mhealladh agus nach raibh siad ag déanamh “póitseáil” ar imreoirí ó Shasana iad fhéin, bheadh údar gearáin áirithe acu.

Ach níl siad ag déanamh fíor-iarrachta. Seinntear Go Sabhála Dia an Banríon ag cluichí de chuid an Tuaiscirt, amhráin náisiúnta na Ríochta Aontaithe. Mura bhfuil an Ríocht Aontaithe ag imirt níor cheart an t-amhrán seo a sheinnt.

Baintear úsáid as brat Stormont chomh maith.

Ní hé nach bhfuil amhrán ar leith á húsáid ag lucht spóirt an Tuaiscirt cheanna féin – seinneann siad Danny Boy le linn Cluichí an Chomhlathais.

Ó mo thaithí féin sna sé chontae is beag duine ón bpobal náisiúnach a thacaíonn le Tuaisceart Éireann. Chas mé ar go leor daoine nach dtacaíonn leo ar chor ar bith agus roinnt eile a bhí chomh nimhneach sin in éadan an Tuaiscirt go dtacódh siad le Sasana dá mbeadh an dá fhoireann ag imirt in aghaidh a chéile.

Má leanann an sileadh imreoirí go dtí an Poblacht ní athróidh mórán ó thaobh tacaíocht tras-phobal na foirne – toisc nach bhfuil an tacaíocht tras-phobal sin ann sa chéad dul síos

Is faoin IFA atá sé daoine ón bpobal náisiúnach a mhealladh, sa chaoi céanna gur faoi náisiúntóirí atá sé daoine ón bpobal aontachtach a mhealladh le tacaíocht a thabhairt d'Éire Aontaithe.

Agus is fíor freisin go mbeidh daoine sna sé chontae nach dtacóidh le Tuaisceart Éireann riamh cuma cén athrú a dhéanann siad.

Caithfidh an IFA glacadh le sin, sa chaoi chéanna go bhfuil ar náisiúntóirí glacadh leis go bhfuil Tuaisceart Éireann é féin ann.

B'fhearr liom dá mbeadh foireann amháin don oileáin, ach is léir nach nglacfaidh lucht leanúna an Tuaiscirt leis an moladh sa ghearrthéarma agus ní mór meas a thabhairt don tuairim sin.

Fiú dá mbeadh Éire Aontaithe ann b'fhéidir gur cheart an dá fhoireann a fhágáil mar atá ar feadh tréimhse ina dhiaidh sin.

Tá roinnt conspóide ag baint leis na hamhráin a sheinntear ag cluichí rugbaí chomh maith – ach tá leigheas an-simplí ar sin. D'fhéadfaí Amhrán na bhFiann agus Danny Boy a sheinnt i mBóthar Lansdún, Cnoc an Fhéich agus as baile freisin.

Sílim go mbeadh beagnach gach éinne aontaithe faoi cheist amháin - gur cheart fáil réidh le Ireland's Call go hiomlán.

End apartheid for women in Saudi Arabia

2011-05-27T18:01:00.004+01:00

I was watching an episode of the West Wing lately in which women's rights in the Muslim world were discussed.

CJ Craig (Allison Janey) made the point that discrimination against women in the fictional Gulf Arab state of Qumar was no different to discrimination against black people under apartheid in South Africa.

She also compared the way South Africa was viewed by the rest of the world with the blasé way in which appalling discrimination against women is tolerated.

I hadn't thought of the similarity before but I think it's a correct one.

Examples such as the arrest of Manal al-Sharif highlight the shocking treatment of women in Saudi Arabia, the most regressive country the Middle East.

The 32 year old computer security consultant was arrested for driving on Sunday 22 May. Al-Sharif is the organizer of an online campaign (#women2drive) encouraging Saudi women to drive en masse on 17 June.

According the the Saudi Arabian interpretation of Sharia 'law', women should not drive. This makes driving a de facto illegal activity for women.

Women also suffer in the state's public transport system, which is segregated along gender lines. Women are made to sit at the back of buses, like African-Americans were made to in the southern USA.

(You'll notice how the people demanding segregation never place themselves at the back of buses or anywhere else, something that in theory could happen if segregation was not intended to imply that one group was superior to the other – which of course it does in both cases).

South Africa enforced similar policies against black people under apartheid, and became an international pariah because of it. Campaigns, protests and sit-ins were organised, songs were written, films were made and sanctions were enforced over these policies.

Yet we blithely accept similar oppression of women in Saudi Arabia, no doubt because of the amount of oil their royal family controls.

Not being able to drive is just one of the many ways in which women are discriminated against in Saudi Arabia. According to Amnesty International women are denied the right to vote, and must obtain the permission of a male guardian before they can travel, take paid work or higher education, or marry.

Saudi Arabia is not the only country in which women are treated as second class citizens. Overt legal discrimination against women is found in many parts of the Muslim world, and in general the more influence Sharia law has on a country the worse off women are.

I started to read the Koran recently, to get an insight into the holy book of Islam. I have to say it's a bit of struggle, as it doesn't seem to have much of a structure or chronology.

One thing I have noticed so far however is the clear message that women are inferior to men. For example, men receive twice the inheritance of women while the word of a male witness is equal to that of two females.

If that's what God says, and you believe God should be obeyed, then it doesn't leave much room for interpretation.

Manal al-Sharif is a very brave women, she is the Rosa Parks of Saudi Arabia, and deserves the praise and support of all those who value equality.

Best of luck to her and her campaign.

Ratko Mladic, Osama Bin Laden agus Ariel Sharon

2011-05-26T16:20:00.006+01:00

Deá-sceál dóibh siúd atá ag iarraidh cearta daonna a chur chun cinn é gabháil Ratko Mladic inniu. Tá coireanna cogaidh curtha i leith iarcheannaire Arm na Seirbeach Boisniach le linn na coimhlinte brúidiúil i mBoisnia sna luath 1990í.

Ina measc tá léigear Sairjéavó agus ár Srebrenica, inar cuireadh 8,000 fir agus ógánach chun báis.

I rith an chogaidh rinne fórsaí Mladic iliomad coir, mharaigh siad sibhialaigh, d'éignigh siad mná agus cailíní agus ruaig siad na mílte Boisniach agus Crótach óna gceantar dúchais. Is ón gcoir dheireanach seo a tháinig an téarma 'glanadh eitneach'.

Mar sin is maith an rud é go bhfuil Mladic le cur faoi thriail. Tá moladh tuilte ag rialtas agus muintir na Seirbia go bhfuil siad sásta glacadh leis an méid a rinne iar-rialtais sa tír, murab ionann go leor tíortha eile timpeall na cruinne, agus an dlí a chur ar dhaoine a bhí ina 'laochra náisiúnacha' tráth dá raibh.

Cuirtear ár Srebrenicia i leith Mladic, ár a chuirfhinn i gcomparáid le hionsaithe 9/11. Is cosúil go raibh Osama Bin Laden ciontach as an uafás sin inar maraíodh 3,000 sibhialach. Is trua nár cuireadh an dlí ar Bin Laden, ach nílim ró-bhuartha go bhfuil sé imithe ar shlí na fírinne.

Tá sé spéisiúl coireanna Mladic agus Bin Laden a chur i gcompar le coireanna iar-phríomhaire na hIosraela, Ariel Sharon. Dúirt fiosrú Iosraelach go raibh Sharon 'freagrach go hindíreach' as ár Sabra agus Shatila i mBéiriút in 1982 agus é i gceannas ar arm na hIosraela.

Mharaigh comhghuallaithe na nIosraelach, an Phalange, 2,000 bean agus páiste Pailistíneach thar trí lá, agus chiorraigh siad roinnt de na coirp.

Tá Sharon freagrach as coireanna atá ar chomhchéim le coireanna Mladic agus Bin Laden, ach ní chaitear leo ar an mbealach céanna.

Má tá sé de cheart ag rialtas Mheiriceá Osama Bin Laden a mharú, le cúnamh, de réir roinnt foinsí, fianaise a fuaireadh trí céasadh a dhéanamh ar chimí i gCuan Guantanamo, a bhfuil sé ceart go leor má dhéanann an t-údarás Pailistíneach a mhacasamhail le Sharon?

An bhfuil sé de cheart acu saighdiúrí Iosraelacha a fhuadach, iad a chéasadh go dtí go n-insíonn siad dóibh cén áit atá Sharon ina chónaí, agus ansin drong armtha a chur ann chun é a mharú?

Má tá rialtas Mheiriceá in ann an dlí ar chur ar leataobh níl aon chúis gearáin acu más amhlaidh a dhéanann tíortha eile.

B'fhearr is bhfad dar ndóigh go gcuirfí Ratko Mladic, Osama Bin Laden, Ariel Sharon agus búistéirí eile ós comhar na Cúirte Coiriúil Idirnáisiúnta.

Kevin Myers on crack

2011-05-25T13:09:00.009+01:00

A while ago I read an article by commentator Kevin Myers on crack. He has actually been writing articles on crack for years now, as these links show (Link, Link).

It's obvious Mr Myers has a great interest in crack and he probably likes to have some crack now and then.

Lots of people think that crack rocks, but I would warn him that there is such a thing as too much crack, as the buzz people get from having crack can be quite addictive.

As far as I know Kevin Myers works from home and probably has so much crack there that his humble abode might even in future be referred to as a 'crack-house'.

Mr Myers has such a love for crack that if he was to work in an office he would surely end up breaking some Health and Safety rules.

Although as a man who doesn't suffer political correctness gladly, I've no doubt he would tell Health an Safety officers that he doesn't give a damn about their nanny-state regulations, and that they can put that in their pipe and smoke it!

Ok, I'll admit it, the above paragraphs are a tongue in cheek comment on Kevin Myers' bizarre obsession with the word 'craic'.

You may have been confused by the title, 'Kevin Myers on crack'. What I mean by this, of course, is Kevin Myers writing about crack, not the other meanings of 'on crack' – that someone is high on crack cocaine or has deranged opinions.

The fact that 'crack' has had two meanings since the advent of crack cocaine may just be a clue to the reason the alternative spelling 'craic' has become more popular.

Kevin Myers complains that 'craic' is an Irish version of the English word 'crack' (which is found in terms such as to 'crack a joke').

He also believes for some odd reason that Irish speakers will be shocked and horrified by this 'unpalatable' revelation.

Let me assure you Mr Myers, we're not.

As a long-time opponent of the Irish language ('Erse in a hearse' is how he put it once) I've no doubt his obsession with 'craic' (seriously, three articles?) is just the latest of his ridiculous attacks on the language.

Although to take this particular attack seriously you would indeed have to be on crack.

Deireadh le ré uafáis an R&B?

2011-05-23T22:05:00.012+01:00

Scríobh Úna Mullaly le déanaí gur droch rud é go bhfuil níos mó tionchair ag ceol damhsa ar cheol pop na laethanta seo.

Ní aontaím le seo, is maith an rud é go bhfuil a leithéid de na Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Kelly Rowland agus Kesha ráthúil le pop-damhsa.

Níl mórán spéise agam i gceol pop ach tá sé deacair éalú uaidh go hiomlán nuair a bhíonn sé ar siúl ar an raidió in oifigí, busanna, tacsaithe, siopaí srl.

B'fhearr liom fhéin ceol damhsa ar nós na Chemical Brothers, Leftfield, Daft Punk srl ach is maith an rud é go bhfuil níos mó tóra ar phop-damhsa sna cairteanna toisc go bhfuil an seans ann go gcuirfidh sé deireadh le ré uafáis an R&B agus hip-hop.

Le 10 mbliana anuas bhí an lámh in uachtar ag R&B agus hip-hop sna cairteanna. Is maith liom roinnt ceol hip-hop, (féach thíos, ach seachain tú fhéin má chuireann droch-fhoclaí isteach ort) ach is truflais é 95% den hip-hop atá sna cairteanna.

Níor chuir mé aon amhrán R&B maith thíos toisc nach bhfuil a leithéid ann.

Ní hamháin go raibh ceol R&B agus hip-hop i réim le 10 mbliana anuas, bhí damhsa hip-hop freisin. Muna bhfuil sé feicthe agat riamh samhlaigh duine le 10 foiche faoina éadaí agus iarraidh fáil réidh leo.

Is rud aisteach é ceol pop agus níl a fhios agam cén fáth go bhfuil ceol damhsa ag fáil an lámh in uachtar ar R&B agus hip-hop, ach d'fhéadadh baint a bheith aige le cúrsaí geilleagrach.

Tá cúrsaí eacnamaíochta go dona i láthair na huaire, tá daoine in ísle brí agus tá siad ag lorg rud éigin chun a gcroíthe a thógáil. An fhadhb le R&B agus hip-hop ná nach bhfuil mórán craice ag baint leo. Tá formhór na n-amhrán hip-hop, ach go háirithe, feargach, sotalach agus féin-mholtach, agus níl aon spraoi ag baint leo.

'People must be amused' a dúirt fear an ciorcais i Hard Times, ach tá i bhfad níos mó craice a baint le ceol damhsa ná R&B agus hip-hop.

An chéad uair eile atá tú i gclub oíche déan comparáid idir líon na ndaoine a bhíonn ag damhsa go hamhráin R&B/hip-hop agus an méid a bhíonn ag damhsa go hamhráin ar nós an ceann thíos agus feicfidh tú céard atá i gceist agam.

Fair play to the Queen and Vincent Browne

2011-05-19T12:44:00.008+01:00

Fair play to the British Queen for saying a few words in Irish at the State Banquet on Wednesday, it was good to see her speak a language her predecessors on the throne spent centuries trying to wipe out.

As well as that, fair play to her for laying a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance on Tuesday. In doing so she acknowledged the struggle for Irish freedom from 1798-1921, a struggle against the crown she wears on her head. It would be churlish not to acknowledge the importance of this gesture, in a way she was saying that this struggle was legitimate.

Another word of praise must go to broadcaster Vincent Browne for discussing the Dublin-Monaghan bombing on its 37th anniversary on his TV3 show on Tuesday. The families of the 34 people killed and the hundreds of injured have been shamefully treated by the Irish and British governments since the atrocity occurred. The bombing was barely investigated by the Gardaí and the British authorities are still unwilling to cooperate with efforts to find the truth.

The theme of the week has been the 'normalization' of relations between the Republic of Ireland and the UK, however, there is nothing normal about the UK's refusal to release all it knows about the greatest crime in the history of the Irish state.

Deacair 'normálú' a dhéanamh nuair a leanann ceilt Bhaile Átha Cliath-Muineacháin ar aghaidh

2011-05-17T09:51:00.005+01:00

Lá stairiúl atá ann inniu, beidh Banríon Shasana, Éilis II, sa Phoblacht, an chéad chuairt ag ceannaire stáit na Breataine ar na 26 contae.
Ócáid shuntasach atá ann, níl aon amhras faoi sin, ní raibh Banríon nó Rí Shasana sa Phoblacht go dtí seo.
Táthar ag déanamh cur síos ar an gcuairt seo mar an chéim dheireanach den 'normálú' idir Poblacht na hÉireann agus an Ríocht Aontaithe. Deirtear chomh maith gur comhartha atá ann go bhfuil daoine in Éirinn “in inmhe” anois le glacadh leis an gcuairt seo.
Tá suntas ag baint leis an lá seo ar chúis eile áfach, agus tá dlúthbhaint idir an dá chúis. Ar an lá seo 37 bliain ó shin tharla buamáil Bhaile Átha Cliath-Muineacháin, an choir is mó is stair an Stáit.
Maraíodh 34 duine ar 17 Bealtaine 1974, an lá is fuiltí le linn na dTrioblóidí. Tá amhras ar go leor daoine go raibh baint ag fórsaí slándála na Breataine, sé sin, fórsaí slándála na Banríona, leis an uafás seo.
Ó shin i leith, tá diúltaithe ag an mBreatain eolas atá acu maidir leis an gcoir seo a scaoileadh, ainneoin iliomad iarratas ó theaghlaigh na marbh, gníomhaithe, an tOireachtas agus Taoisigh.
Mar sin, cén chaoi gur féidir 'normálú' a dhéanamh ar an gcaidreamh idir dhá thír nuair a amhras ann go ndearna ceann amhán acu buamáil sceimhlitheoireachta ar an gceann eile agus go ndiúltaíonn siad eolas atá acu faoin mbuamáil sin a eisiúnt?
Cuimhnigh chomh maith an drochmheas breise a léiríonn sé do mhuintir na hÉireann – le 40 bliain anuas tá go leor leor cainte déanta faoin gcomhoibriú slándála idir na Gardaí agus an RUC agus an PSNI.
Deirtear linn go rialta go bhfuil an comhoibriú seo níos fearr ná mar a bhí riamh agus go bhfuil go leor daoine beo inniu de bharr an chomhoibrithe seo.
Le blianta fada tá cabhair tugtha ag an bPoblacht chuig an mBreatain le stop a chur le iarrachtaí an tír sin a bhuamáil.
Ach nuair a iarrann muidne ar an mBreatain le haghaidh eolais faoin mbuamáil is measa is stair na hÉireann, diúltiú glan a fhaigheann muid.
Níl aon rud 'normálta' faoin staid seo.

Dublin 1916 and Dublin 4

2011-05-02T21:23:00.016+01:00

John Waters wrote in the Irish Times last week about how Dublin “never quite seceded from the British Empire, but seems to gaze forlornly across the Irish Sea.”

A familiar charge was repeated in the piece – that Dubliners didn't support the Easter Rising in 1916.

Other accounts tell of how the rebels were abused and spat on and that some Dubliners even engaged in a bit of opportunistic looting during the Rising.

Not the most flattering of portraits to say the least.

Waters also claims that the Dublin media is Anglocentric and is guilty of “promoting British provincialism as the reality of Irish culture.”

This article touches on some truths regarding Dublin, which in ways is more Anglocentric than other parts of the country, but its main premise does not add up.

Let me deal with some minor points made in the article. First of all, there is no Dublin government. The majority of TDs in the Dáil are from outside Dublin and many TDs elected in Dublin aren't even from the county. The Irish government is located in Dublin, that doesn't mean it's run by Dublin.

Secondly, Dublin lacks “any significant presence of an indigenous populace or self-generated culture,” according to the article. Never heard of Croke Park?

Regarding 1916, it's true that the ordinary citizens of Dublin did not respond to the call from the rebels to rise up, but then again, neither did the ordinary citizens of any other part of the country.

Waters points out that only two of the Proclamation signatories were from Dublin as part of his argument – but fails to tell us how many of the Volunteers or Citizen Army fighters were from Dublin. I don't know the figure, but would be surprised if it was not the majority.

The popularity of the rebellion in Dublin and the rest of the country is an important issue – one that has relevance today. The entirely implausible revisionist/anti-Dublin depiction is that Dubliners in 1916 were contented subjects of the Crown who were furious with the rebels but then did a remarkable volte face and became committed republicans when the leaders of the armed uprising they supposedly hated were executed.

They then went on to vote overwhelmingly for Sinn Féin at the 1918 election and the county, along with Cork, became the crucible of the War of Independence.

In this respect Dublin can claim to be less tied to the British Empire than most other non-Unionist parts of the country, John Waters' Roscommon included.

Go back to the 19th Century and you'll see that the vast majority of Dubliners, once given the vote, voted for nationalist parties.

Sinn Féin didn't achieve a clean sweep in Dublin in 1918 however, something that may give us a clue to the public hostility shown to the Rising and the Anglocentric tendencies still found in the county.

A man by the name of Maurice Dockrell was elected in the Dublin Rathmines constituency for the Irish Unionist Alliance in 1918. (His son, Henry, was elected to the Dáil for Dublin County in 1932 for Cumann na nGaedhael and later for Fine Gael).

Another notable politician is Bryan Cooper, a British Army officer who was elected to Westminster as a Unionist MP in 1910 for Dublin South and subsequently won a seat in the Dáil as an independent TD for Dublin County in 1923 and for Cumann na nGaedhael in 1927.

What many don't realise today is that Dublin had a Unionist community before independence, no different to Unionist communities in the North today, with members ranging from the liberal to the sectarian, remnants of which survive to this day.

As I mentioned earlier Dublin, in some ways, is more Anglocentric than other parts of the country.

The most obvious manifestation of this is the 'Dublin 4' accent – which started out as an attempt by people to sound more English and later added some American influences.

Another are the Hibernophobic Ross O'Carroll Kelly types found in Dublin.

Hostility to indigenous Irish culture is probably stronger in Dublin than other parts of the Republic, but this is a case of degrees, not absolutes - witness the success of the Dublin hurlers on Sunday and the narrow loss by the footballers the previous week, to give one example.

Regarding Dublin's working class, I've lived in republican west Belfast and can say that the Sun-reading, Premiership-following, Coronation Street-watching culture is as prevalent there as it is in the capital.

Where Waters is accurate is the Anglocentric nature of our media. To get an idea of this just compare the number of pro-Unionist commentators in the newspapers to the number of pro-Nationalist ones.

Where he is wrong however is claiming that commentary in the media is representative of Dubliners.

Osama Bin Laden marbh

2011-05-02T18:25:00.004+01:00

Tá Osama Bin Laden marbh de réir Barack Obama, beagnach deich mbliana tar éis 9/11.
Is cuma cad a shíleann daoine faoi pholasaithe eachtrannacha na Stáit Aontaithe Meiriceá – níl aon leithscéal don mhéid a rinne Al Qaeda an lá sin. Séard a bhí ann ná ár inar maraíodh 3,000 sibhialach.
Ba é an t-ár is measa ar domhain ó Srebrenica i 1995, am ar maraíodh 8,000 sibhialach sa bhaile sin i mBoisnia.
Ní hé 9/11 an t-aon shampla atá ann d'ionsaithe ar shibhialigh ar rinne grúpa Bin Laden – tá Bali, Londain, Maidrid agus an t-uafás ionsaithe a rinne siad ar an bpobal Shia san Iaráic (thuas), ionsaithe a spreag nach mór cogadh cathartha sa tír sin.
Tá Coinbhinsiún na Ginéive soiléir ar an bpointe seo – tá sé mídleathach ionsaithe a dhéanamh ar shibhialaigh.
Is sceimhlitheoir aon duine a dhéanann ionsaithe d'aon ghnó ar shibhialaigh agus mar sin is sceimhlitheoir fuilteach brúidiúl a bhí in Osama Bin Laden.

If the Irish language is to be 'snipped' then nothing should be sacred

2009-08-20T20:13:00.009+01:00

The recent Bord Snip Nua report calls for an end to virtually all support for Irish in the parts of the country where it is a community language. Their rationale is that in these current economic times financial support for the Gaeltacht is not justified.

The Commission on Taxation has gotten in on the act and wants to save a pitance by stopping tax relief for people who provide accomodation for students in the Gaeltacht.

There are some who would agree, but probably not the 93% of people in the Republic who want the language to survive. www.pobail.ie/ie/Preaseisiuinti/file,9801,ie.pdf

If however Colm McCarthy's council is to prevail, if the economic difficulties we face are so dire that we have to totally turn our backs on the Irish language, then nothing is sacred, and all options must be looked at the rectify the public finances.

One thing we could do is to look for a corporate sponsor for our flag, eg McDonalds, as the image above shows. This would net us billions and enable us to dig ourselves out of the financial hole the banks have gotten us into.

Another suggestion is to look for a corporate sponsor for our national anthem, something along the lines of "Sinne Fianna Fyffes atá faoi gheall ag torthaí blasta" or "Sinne Fianna Federal Express atá faoi gheall ag seachadadh poist in am" etc.

Again this could raise millions or billions for the exchequer.

Now you're probably thinking, "he can't be serious with these suggestions can he?"

If so I would ask you this, why wouldn't we get corporate sponsorship for our flag or anthem? Can you think of a logical or practical reason we shouldn't. We supposedly gave up Irish for purely practical and rational reasons, so why not? It would be good for the economy, and think of all the schools and hospitals we could build with the cash we would receive.

You've probably never heard of such a suggestion before so haven't had to think of a reason why we wouldn't. You might then think that the idea is ridiculous, preposterous, ludicrous and that we'd be the laughing stock of the world if we did get corporate sponsors for our flag and anthem.

So what's the connection with the Irish language? You see the only reason we are not a laughing stock in the eyes of the world over our attitude to Irish is that virtually no one knows the language exists.

If people around the globe knew that many Irish people think their language is inferior (or 'uncool' as it is put) to most (or possibly all) other languages, if they knew that our papers are full of biased and bigoted attacks on the language, that some say they 'hate' the language, that some Irish people mock the language and dearly hope it will die, then we would be the laughing stock of the world.

Personally speaking I would have as much loyalty to an Ireland without the Irish language as I would to a tricolour with the McDonalds arch on it.

Cothrom na féinne don Ghaeilge...ó Sainsburys

2009-07-26T17:18:00.003+01:00

D'oscail Sainsburys garáiste nua ar Bhóthar Bhaile Andarsan i mBéal Feirste le déanaí agus bail ó Dhia orthu tá cothrom na féinne tugtha don Ghaeilge acu ar an gcomharthaíocht. Ní amháin go bhfuil an comhartha dátheangach ach tá an Ghaeilge ar chomhchéim leis an mBéarla, ní i gcló beag iodálach.
Eiseamláir atá ann don chuid eile den earnáil ghnó ó thuaidh agus ó dheas.

The worst proposals for the Irish language since the Statutes of Kilkenny

2009-07-16T20:26:00.020+01:00

If 'An Bord Snip Nua,' or the New Snip Board as it should be known, deliberately set out to undermine the Irish language then I doubt they would have come up with worse proposals regarding it than the ones in their report today.

Those proposals are:

1. Abolishing the Department of Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
2. Effectively abolishing Údarás na Gaeltachta.
3. Abolishing Comhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG), the body which produces text books for Irish language schools.
4. Transferring the Irish language responsibilities of the Gaeltacht Department to the Department of Education, a proposal that will send a shiver down the spine of anyone who values the language and has experience of the department's attitude to it.
5. Cutting TG4's budget by €10 million.
6. Scrapping most (all?) Gaeltacht grants.
7. Reducing the number of state documents in Irish.

I'm not all that bothered about scrapping grants for infrastructure and houses in the Gaeltacht, or the amount of government documents produced in Irish, but the cut in support for households who host Gaeltacht College students in the summer could have a serious effect on the language and the economy in areas of the official Gaeltacht where Irish is actually spoken.

1-5 are an absolute disgrace however and are a serious attack on Irish.

The Gaeltacht Department, the Údarás, COGG and TG4 were all set up because English speaking Ireland can't be trusted to look after Irish speakers.

The industrial development duties of Údarás na Gaeltachta will be transferred to Enterprise Ireland and with it any attempt to attract industry that won't undermine the Irish language.

For some reason the report says €10 million should be cut from TG4's budget, but no proposals are made to cut state English language broadcasting.

Some may argue that the spend on TG4 and many other cultural initiatives are not justifiable at present, but no such argument can be made regarding the worst proposal of all, the decision to scrap Comhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG) in order to save the grand total of €1.2 million of the €5.3 billion in cutbacks proposed.

This body was set up due to the utter failure of successive Irish governments to ensure that Irish people have the basic right, in Ireland, of getting an Irish language education for their children.

COGG was charged with producing Irish language text books and study aids for Gaelscoileanna because the Department of Education has refused to do so.

Now the New Snip Board wants to scrap COGG and let the Department of Education look after Gaelscoileanna, the same department that has recently banned immersion education in Ireland under the false belief that it damages the English skills of pupils (when all the research shows that it actually improves them), and a department that won't recognise new Gaelscoileanna.

The message from the report couldn't be more clear: Let them read English textbooks in Irish language schools.

What kind of a country are we that doesn't allow all parents to send their children to Irish language schools and then forces* the ones who do make it in to use English language textbooks while learning through Irish?

It was bad enough that Irish language education was suppressed in Ireland for centuries, without us, still one of the richest counties on Earth, now doing it ourselves, on a spurious economic basis.

The government has to cut spending, so I suggest merging the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht affairs with the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism to form a new slimmed down Department of Culture and the Irish Language, I never agreed with having a Gaeltacht department, the language belongs to the entire country.

(*In case anyone was wondering I think Irish should be optional in English medium schools).

Logainmneacha Chill Mhantáin

2009-05-31T20:48:00.015+01:00

Tháinig mé ar na logainmneacha suimiúla seo i Sraith Eolais na Suirbhéireachta Ordanáís do Chill Mhantáin le déanaí. Níl leagan Gaeilge oifigiúil ar fáil do roinnt dóibh ach sin ráite tá go leor suntas ag baint leo ó thaobh na foghraíochta de.

Tá buile faoi thuairim tugtha agam le roinnt acu ach tá na tréithe seo a leanas le brath iontu;

Dubh=Doo seachas Duv

Cnoc=Cruc seachas Cnoc

Mh='V' seachas 'W'

Logainmneacha

Bendoo=Beann Dubh?

Pollaghdoo=Pollach Dubh?

Carrigdoo=Carraig Dhubh?

Cordoo=Corr Dubh?

Crocknalugh=Cnoc na Log?

Crockanoo=Cnoc...?

Crockan Pond=Cnocán?

Glenavadda=Gleann a'Mhada?

Carrigvore=Carraig Mhór?

Inchavore River=Inse Mhór?

Seans go bhfuil an fhuaim chéana le fáil sna logainmneacha seo ach gan an leagan Gaeilge ní fios;

Glasavullaun

Loughnavreen

Mullinaveige

Toberaviller

Spéisiúil go leor ach tá dhá leagan Gaeilge de 'dog' sa chontae, Mada (Glenavadda/Gleann a'Mhada) agus Madra (Coolamaddra/Cúl a'Mhadra).

Ó thuaidh i mBaile Átha Cliath tá samplaí de dubh=doo agus cnoc=croc;

Glendoo=Gleann Dubh

Skidoo=Sceach Dubh

Crooksling=Cnoc Sline

Crockshane=Cnoc Sheáin

Crockaundreenagh=Cnocán Draigheanach

Mar aon le sin bhí dhá fhocal Gaeilge i gcaint na ndaoine sa chontae sa 20ú hAois; Cnag (A light blow with the knuckles) agus Cniog (To beat), ach is 'Cregg' agus 'Crig' a dúradh.

Bhí 'drimmindhoo' ag daoine i mBaile Áth Cliath ar 'Droim Fhionn Dubh' ach is ainm amhráin atá anseo mar sin ní fios an fhuaimniú dhúchais atá sa sampla seo de 'dubh=doo'

Ó thaobh 'mh' de tá A Mhic (Avick), A Mhuirnín (Avourneen) agus dhá leagan de 'Lán a mhála' sa chontae, 'Lawnawalla' agus 'Laun a valla.' Is ó Sheanchill a tháinig an dara leagan.

Coddle and Dublin Lawyer

2009-02-04T09:05:00.004Z

I got myself two cookbooks before Christmas, one with 1000 basic dishes for beginners, (I've 995 to go), the other a small Irish cookbook which included the quintessential Dublin dish, coddle.
It's a fairly basic meal, the book tried to complicate things a bit but basically its potatoes, sausages and rashers boiled together.
I did it the other day and it was tasty too, but I threw a bit of parsley in with it to add some flavour as spuds, sausages and rashers can only do so much.
I also did a meal from the book called Dublin Lawyer. I got a frozen lobster for £6.50 in Tescos in Belfast, cooked it in butter for a few minutes, poured some whiskey on it, lit the whiskey and poured cream over it all when the uisce beatha had burned itself out. And that's Dublin Lawyer.
I don't know where it got the name but presumably it was from a time when only lawyers in Dublin could afford it, or maybe it's because of the physical resemblance between lobsters and your average lawyers in the Four Courts, or even because many people in Ireland wouldn't mind seeing some lawyers thrown alive into boiling water : )?
As far as Dublin cuisine in the book goes there's also Dublin Bay Prawns and 'Dublin-Style' ham with apples, that's it and I don't know of any other dishes myself. Not that us Dubs should feel so bad, Ireland as a whole doesn't really have a cuisine of its own.
We do have a few unique dishes but a cuisine they do not make, there are probably villages in Spain and Italy that have more culinary variety in them than all of Ireland put together.
If you are what you eat that would make us mainly Anglo-American, I have to laugh everytime I see a sign in a chipper for 'Traditional Fish and Chips,' fish and chips being about as traditionally Irish as the Big Mac is.
Anyway I say if we don't have a cuisine there's no point complaining about it, we should create one.
Maybe cuisines should grow organically from the people, but we could always give it a boost, we could have a competition of some sort for our chefs and cooks and come up with dishes that for the most part use ingredients found in Ireland.
It wouldn't be ideal but sure there's no law against it.

Tráth dá raibh bhí drogall ormsa Lá a cheannach

2008-12-19T15:59:00.003Z

Bhuel, a chairde, tá an ‘Lá’ tagtha, an lá deireanach a mbeidh an t-aon nuachtán laethúil Gaeilge agus Ceilteach san Réaltra i gcló.
Lá brónach é seo, cinnte, ní féidir é sin a shéanadh nó ligean orainn nach buile don Ghaeilge atá ann.
Tá neart fáthanna gur theip ar Lá, ach níor cheart dúinn ligean don díomá agus don fhearg muid a chur ar seachrán maidir leis an bpríomhchúis, sé sin, nár cheannaigh go leor daoine é.
Bhí cúpla locht ag daoine ar Lá, an ceann is mó ná go raibh sé róbheag.
Nuair a bhíonn daoine in Éirinn ag smaoineamh ar cad is nuachtán ann, ní foilseachán 12 nó 16 leathanach a bhíonn ar intinn acu.
Más ag lorg eolas cuimsitheach faoin saol atá, ní bhfaighfidh i Lá é.
Níor thuig daoine nárbh fhéidir nuachtán mór a tháirgeadh ar bheagán acmhainní ach i ndeireadh na dála, is cuma sa tsioc ar thuig nó nár thuig, ní féidir argóint a dhéanamh leis an margadh, ní féidir leis an margadh a bheith ‘mícheart’.
Ní féidir impí ar dhaoine nuachtán 12 leathanach a cheannach le geallúint go bhfeabhsóidh sé amach anseo, am éigin.
Dá mbeadh margadh ann do nuachtán laethúil Gaeilge, is do nuachtán cuimsitheach 32-leathanach ar laghad a bheadh sé.
Sula mbreathnaím ar chúrsaí deontais, ba mhaith liom cúpla figiúr a chur os bhur gcomhar.
Díoltar 650,000 nuachtán Béarla sa Phoblacht, gach lá, sin thart ar nuachtán amháin in aghaidh gach seisear cainteoirí Béarla líofa.
Deir 1,600,000 duine go bhfuil Gaeilge acu agus measaim go bhfuil thart ar 200,000 acu líofa.
Ní raibh Lá Nua ach ag díol 1,500 cóip in aghaidh an lae, sin cóip amháin i gcomhair gach 133 cainteoir Gaeilge líofa.
Mar aon leis sin, as an 8,800 duine a shínigh achainí idirlín ar son an nuachtáin i mbliana, is ó Thír na mBascach a tháinig thart ar 7,500 acu. Mar sin, is cosúil go bhfuil lucht na Bascaise níos buartha faoi bhás nuachtán laethúil na Gaeilge ná pobal na Gaeilge, na daoine a bhí an nuachtán in ainm is a bheith ag déanamh freastail orthu.
Is léir uaidh sin nach raibh suim ag formhór na gcainteoirí Gaeilge in Éirinn sa nuachtán, agus go bhfuil líon na ndaoine atá sásta nuachtán a cheannach ‘ar son na cúise,’ daoine a bhfuil suim acu i nuacht faoin nGaeilge seachas i nuacht trí Ghaeilge, go bhfuil an líon sin fíorbheag ar fad.
Bhí daoine ann a mhol an nuachtán go hard agus a bhí dílis don nuachtán, agus táim féin an-bhuíoch díobh, ach ní raibh go leor acu ann, i ndeireadh na dála.
Figiúr eile ba cheart a chur san áireamh ná nár líonadh ach 8,000 foirm le haghaidh Dhaonáireamh 2006 amach i nGaeilge.
Léiríonn sé sin go bhfuil lúb ar lár, áit éigin, go bhfuil bearna idir an méid daoine atá in ann an teanga a léamh agus an méid a léann an teanga.
Bhí cúiseanna eile ag baint leis na figiúirí ísle díolacháin.
I gcomparáid le páipéir i mionteangacha eile san Eoraip, roinnt acu atá chomh beag le Lá, ní rabhthas in ann cóipeanna a sheachadadh chuig tithe síntiúsóirí ar bhonn laethúil.
Mar shampla, is iad na nuachtáin Shualainnise san Fhionlainn na nuachtáin mhionteangacha is rathúla san Eoraip agus is trí shíntiús a dhíolann siad 99% dá n-eagráin.
Nuair is cúrsaí teanga atá faoi chaibidil, ní féidir neamhaird a thabhairt ar an tsíceolaíocht chomh maith, rud a bhaineann le teideal an ailt seo.
Níos lú ná sé mhí sular thosaigh mé ag obair le Lá, tharla sé cúpla uair go raibh drogall nó faitíos fiú, ormsa, an nuachtán a cheannach.
Sular thosaigh mé ag déanamh cúrsa cumarsáide Gaeilge in OÉG i mí Mheán an Fhómhair 2005, ní raibh mórán cur amach agam ar an nuachtán.
Cainteoir Gaeilge a bhí ionam, bhí spéis agam sa teanga agus thaitin sé liom í a labhairt le pé duine a bhí sásta í a labhairt liom.
Ag an am, ní raibh mé sásta, áfach, stró a chur orm féin ar son na teanga, nó rud a dhéanamh díreach ar son na cúise.
Nuair a thosaigh mé ag ceannach Lá, is ar mhaithe leis an teanga a bhí sé, ní chun faisnéis faoi chúrsaí móra an tsaoil a fháil - is ón Irish Times a fuair mé é sin.
Baineann an drogall a bhí orm in amanna leis an drogall nó eagla atá ar dhaoine in Éirinn roimh an nGaeilge.
Agus mé i siopaí, ba léir nach raibh mé ag ceannach Lá ar mhaithe le gnáthnuacht, agus mhothaigh mé in amanna go raibh comhartha mór ar mo cheann a dúirt ‘Is Gaeilgeoir mé.’
In Éirinn, is ionann a bheith i do chainteoir Gaeilge uaireanta agus duine a bheith ag tiomáint suas bóthar aontreo an bealach mícheart.
Tá an eagla sin a bhí orm ó thaobh na Gaeilge de imithe anois, ach tá an lámh in uachtar aige go fóill ar fhormhór na ndaoine in Éirinn, agus níl dabht ar bith agam ach go raibh roinnt den drogall céanna ar dhaoine maidir le Lá a cheannach.
Deirtear go mbíonn lagmhisneach ar lucht na Gaeilge, ach is mún dreoilín san fharraige an lagmhisneach sin i gcomparáid leis an lagmhisneach atá ar an chuid eile den phobal faoinár dteanga dhúchais. Sin an fáth gur dhiúltaigh siad dó sa chéad áit agus an fáth go ndiúltaíonn go fóill.
Dá mbeadh lagmhisneach ar lucht na Gaeilge, ní bheimis ann in aon chor óir bheadh droim láimhe iomlán tugtha againn don teanga.
An cáineadh is minice - seachas téagar an nuachtáin - ná go raibh an iomarca scéalta faoin nGaeilge ann.
Bhí sé seo fíor, ach bhí cúis leis, as siocair nach raibh éinne eile sa tír sásta nó ábalta scéalta faoin teanga a fhoilsiú.
Níl an spás ag Foinse na scéalta ar fad a bhaineann leis an teanga a chlúdach agus ní bhíonn na nuachtáin Bhéarla sásta iad a fhoilsiú. Breathnaigh, mar shampla, ar an iarracht choinsiasach atá ar bun acu neamhaird a thabhairt ar na hionsaithe ciníocha atá á ndéanamh ag an DUP, UUP agus an TUV ar an nGaeilge faoi láthair.
Maidir leis an deontas a fuair an nuachtán, dúirt Foras na Gaeilge go raibh deireadh á chur acu leis de bharr nach raibh margadh ann don nuachtán.
Ní hé sin iomlán na fírinne, áfach.
Más ag brath ar an margadh amháin a bhí na meáin in Éirinn, ní bheadh Foinse, Raidió na Gaeltachta agus TG4 ann óir tá siad uilig beo ar dheontais (mar atá Lyric FM agus RTÉ é féin).
An difríocht idir na seirbhísí sin agus Lá ná go bhfuil siad nach mór inchurtha le táirgí a chuireann na meáin Bhéarla ar fáil. Tá cuma nuachtáin ar Foinse agus bhí ar leagan seachtainiúl Lá, ach ní raibh ar an leagan laethúil.
An fhadhb leis an gcinneadh atá déanta ag an bhForas ná go bhfuil sé ráite go soiléir anois nach seirbhís phoiblí atá i dteideal deontais é nuachtán laethúil Gaeilge (agus níor chuir pobal na Gaeilge an cás seo chun cinn go láidir, i ndáiríre), rud a chiallaíonn go bhfuil gach seans ann nach mbeidh nuachtán dá leithéid ann go ceann gúine nó níos mó.
Ní bheidh éinne sásta nuachtán clóite a chur ar fáil sa ghearrthréimhse, go háirithe leis na hathruithe atá ag teacht ar an earnáil nuachtáin le fás an idirlín.
I ndeireadh na dála, má tá deontas le fáil ag nuachtán laethúil Gaeilge, caithfidh tóir réasúnta bheith ag an bpobal air, agus níl ar Lá i láthair na huaire.
Dá mbeadh cainteoirí Gaeilge ag ceannach nuachtán laethúil ina dteanga mar a cheannaíonn cainteoirí Béarla, bheadh 33,000 cóip á gceannach in aghaidh an lae.
Ábhar machnaimh atá ansin dóibh siúd a bhfuil spéis acu in earnáil nuachta na Gaeilge.
Mar fhocal scoir, caithfidh mé a rá gur bhain mé an-sult go deo as a bheith ag obair le Lá agus le Lá Nua, gur pribhléid a bhí ann dom agus ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis na daoine a chuir a gcroí isteach sa togra uaillmhianach, aislingeach seo agus leis na léitheoirí ar fad.
Tá díomá orainn inniu, ach murab ionann is ár dteanga, ní mhairfidh an díomá.
Beidh lá eile ann.

There is no 'Dublin Government'

2008-12-02T08:50:00.001Z

Call it what you like, the Irish Government, the National Government, the Government of the Republic, the Free State Governent, the 26 County Government, but the government that resides in Dublin is not the Dublin Government, in fact, there is no ‘Dublin Government.’
The representatives in Leinster House are elected by the people of the entire Irish Republic, not by the people of Dublin, and as well as that, a large number of the TDs elected in Dublin aren't even from the capital originally.
From what I see people from outside the city only use the term ‘Dublin Government’ when they don't like a decision made by the national government, which they elect themselves.
They disagree with a decision the government makes and because that government is located in Dublin, they blame the people of Dublin, or the city itself.
The use of ‘Dublin’ in this case is meant as a term of abuse, playing to the chip on the shoulder that some people in Ireland have about the capital, the same chip people in every country in the world have about their capitals or largest cities. This is all the more ironic given that our ruling Fianna Fáil party gets more support outside Dublin than in it.
Republicans may not like to use the term ‘Irish Government’ in case it is seen to legitimize partition in some way, but whatever about the issues people have with the term, the 'Irish Government' it is still far more accurate than the ‘Dublin Government.’
I've heard people from outside the city complaining along the lines that ‘Dublin doesn't care about us.’
You would almost think that there was some sort of a conspiracy involving the one million people living in Dublin to cod the rest of the country.
I don't hear people saying that Donegal, Galway, Cork, Tipperary or any other county in Ireland 'cares' about Dublin or anywhere else, or how exactly an entire county can care about another one.
Not only is it inaccurate to compain about the 'Dublin Government', it's childish and it does people outside of Dublin more harm than good by focusing their anger on the wrong culprit for any lack of fair play from the national government, real or imagined.
If there are problems in Ireland they are not the fault of the 'Dublin Goverment,' because no such a thing exists.

Gaeilge na Mí

2008-11-17T09:31:00.011Z

Ní bhaineann an t-alt seo le Ráth Chairn nó Baile Ghibb, ach leis an nGaeilge a bhíodh á labhairt i gContae na Mí go stairiúil.

Is ón leabhar Gaelic Dialect in East and Mid-Leinster (1933) le Donn Piatt a tháinig na habairtí thíos.

Tá go leor eolais bailithe maidir le Gaeilge na Mí agus tá súil agam níos mó de a fhoilsiú amach anseo.
Dúirt Piatt gur tháinig na habairtí seo ó fhear darbh ainm P. Fagan, agus go bhfuair seisean iad óna athair Séamas 'ac Áogáin.
Scríobh Piatt an méid seo faoi;
"Séamas 'ac Aogáin, from whom these phrases were taken, died in 1929. He was born and lived at Churchtown, near Robertstown, Trim, and his birth registered at the parish church in Dunderry. His father, also a native speaker, died in 1907."

Gaeilge Ultach a bhí aige gan amhras ach an rud is spéisiúla faoi ná gur mar 'ch' scornúil a dúradh 'th' in 'maith' agus 'dóthain.'

"Bhfuil sé ag fearthainn" (Will she farann) 'e' in 'met'.
"Sin praiseach" (Shin presheh) 'e' in 'met'.
"Bhí mé ag cúl a'ráithín" (Vee meh eh cool a raheen)
"Fuair mé boltarán buí" (Foor meh boltarawn bweeyeh)
"Caidé mar a tá tú" (Go kay m'ata tuh) 'u' short.
"Tú an gasún maith" (Tú an gawson myc'h)
"Tú an ghirseach mhaith" (Tú'n gherrsheh wyc'h) Final 'th' of 'maith' pronounced as a guttural 'ch.'
"Bhí gearrán mór aige" (Vee garron more aige)
"Chuaigh sé na Bóthar Buí" (Fooie she/sha an Bawhur Bweeyeh). (Bóthar Buí=Enfield).
"Tchím madadh dubh" (Cheem mawdoo doo)
"Tá tae mo dhóthain agam" (Ta tae mo ghorc'han agam) ch guttural.
"Go raibh muid slán folláin n' am seo arís" (Go row)

Kal meh (I ate)
Praeta-Potato
Casóg (Cawsog) 'og' as in 'dog'
Ciotóg (Kithoge) acc on first syllable. 'Oge' as 'og' in 'dog.'

Tá tuilleadh eolais maidir le Gaeilge na Mí ar fáil ó na foinsí seo agus tá súil agam roinnt den ábhar a chur ar an mblag seo amach anseo.

Gaedhilg na Midhe, An tUltach 14:7 (8/1937) Lch 5, le Donn Piatt.
Giotaí de Ghaeilg dhúchasach na Midhe, An tUltach 29:6 (6/1952) Lgh 11-12, le Donn Piatt.
Gaeilge na Mí, An tUltach 44, uimh. 9, Meán Fómhair 1967, Lgh 9–10, le Donn Piatt.
An 'Ghaoluinn' i dtuaisceart Átha Cliath, An tUltach 10:4 (06/1933) Lgh 2-3 (Co na Midhe), le Donn Piatt.
Gaeilg na Midhe, Ríocht na Midhe 2, Uimhir 1, 1959, Lgh 61–62, le Maighréad Uí Chonmhidhe.
A south Meath glossary, Ríocht na Midhe 2, Uimhir 2, 1960, Lgh 69–72; 2, Uimhir 3, 1961 Lgh 57–59, le Margaret Conway.
Canúint na Mí, Studia Hibernica 31, le Nicholas Williams.
The Leinster dialect, An Claidheamh Soluis 12:40
(10/12/1910) 21; 12:43 (31/12/1910) 5-6; 12:48 (4/2/1911) 5-6, le Seosamh Laoide.

Tá liosta níos cuimsithí ag Ciarán Ó Duibhín ag www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~oduibhin/oirthear/biblio.txt agus is cinnte go bhféadfaí saothar mór a dhéanamh ar Ghaeilge na Mí dá mbailleofaí an t-ábhar uilig le chéile.

Tá liosta d’fhoinsí a bhaineann le Gaeilge Laighean ar fáil ag an nasc seo.

http://bill.celt.dias.ie/vol3/classifications.php?ClassificationID=139

“That’s just to show that I’m not a bigot” An interview about Irish with Cllr. Robin Stirling of the TUV

2008-11-16T21:40:00.022Z

Recently I had the chance to speak to Robin Stirling, a councillor with the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) on Ballymena Borough Council, about his views on the Irish language.
Councillor Stirling proposed a motion in the council at the start of the month condemning funding given by the British government to Irish language broadcasting in the North.
The motion was passed after an amendment by the DUP, the three nationalists on the council, two SDLP and one SF, voted against it and the UUP abstained.
We published the interview in Lá Nua last Friday but here is what he had to say.
Councillor Stirling has two reasons for objecting to money being spent on Irish, one he believes it’s a waste because the the revival of the language is a ‘mission impossible,’ the second is the link he sees between the Irish language and Irish identity.
He also gave some unprompted views on concerns he has about immigration to the Republic and the North at the end of the interview.

“I’m very fond of the South of Ireland but I’ve never heard Irish being spoken there, I’ve asked people in shops in Dublin if they spoke Irish and they said no and in fact one woman had very negative view of it due to her experiences in school.
“The South had over 80 years to revive the language and has failed.
“They had a clear field, there was no minority to oppose it, but it was a mission impossible, and there’s no point in wasting money on an impossible mission.
“Why should we be funding a language that will never get off the ground?
“I studied French and can understand a good bit of it but I’m not looking for public money to be spent on it.”
Some have argued that Irish should receive support in Northern Ireland, the same as Welsh and Scottish Gaelic do from the British Government, and that Unionists are in fact adopting an anti-British approach in their opposition to Irish.
Did Councillor Stirling agree Irish should be treated the same as indigenous languages in other parts of the UK?
“That would presume that I agree with funding for those languages too,” he said.
“I’ve holidayed in Wales on many occasions and I’ve never heard Welsh being spoken.
“No one would argue that English is the main language of these islands and instead of spending money on other languages we should be making certain that people have a good level of English.”
During the debate in Ballymena Council Councillor Stirling mentioned the famous “every word of Irish learned is like a bullet in the struggle for freedom” line said by someone in Sinn Féin in the early 1980s.
I asked him did he himself believe that this ‘word-bullet’ theory was true but I couldn’t get an answer out of him, nor to the question of how exactly Unionists would be forced against their will into a United Ireland even if every Nationalist in Northern Ireland spoke Irish.
(In hindsight I could have asked him about the British Army's own Royal Irish Regiment's Irish language motto but I probably wouldn't have gotten a straight answer to that either).
When I asked him did he see a link between the Irish language and Irish identity his answer was “no doubt I do” and he also agreed that the language was a badge or symbol of Irishness and that this was part of the reason for his opposition to it.
“I don’t see the Irish language in a vacuum, it’s part of an assault on the Unionist community.
“Our attitude is that the Irish language is identified with the push for a United Ireland.
“Unfortunately due to the capitulation of the DUP we will see our English, British culture supplanted by Irish culture which I find anathema.”
I suggested that he was implying that British culture and English culture were the same thing but he didn’t answer that.
I also suggested that Irish could be viewed as a part of British culture if Unionists wanted, as it was a native language of part of the UK.
Councillor Stirling’s answer to this was that he disputed the fact that Irish is a native language of Northern Ireland.
“It’s identified with those who used the bomb and bullet and with the Republic that gave refuge to those who used violence.”
When I pointed out the fact that British opposition to the Irish language predates the Troubles and goes as far back as the Middle Ages, Councillor Stirling said that “we can’t analyse the past but it’s a fact that a nation that would conquer another nation would attempt to supplant the culture that was there before.
“The thing people don’t understand is that we oppose a United Ireland because we feel we would be mistreated the same way as Protestants in the South were with draconian laws, I don’t believe the South is a democracy or has ever been a democracy, it’s been run by the people who came out of Maynooth.
“If there had been a United Ireland there would have been an attempt to supplant the culture and religion of the community here.”
He then asked me where I was from and when I told him I was from Dublin he said “if I were from Dublin I’d be tremendously worried about the influx of immigrants there.
“If you bring in a sufficient number of people you dilute the culture that’s there already.
“I’d prefer the purity of Irish nationalism or republicanism to what is coming.
“I was in Connolly station recently and saw three coloureds smoking even though there was sign saying no smoking.”
When I pointed out that many Irish people break no-smoking rules he said “I know if I was in another country I would obey the laws of that country.”
He also said that “we’ve a terrible problem (in the North) with people from far off places driving cars without tax or insurance.”
He then told me the reason he wanted to enlighten me about his views on immigration; “That’s just to show that I’m not a bigot.”

End game in Iraq

2008-11-12T21:16:00.004Z

Barack Obama will have lots of problems to deal with when he takes office in America. The biggest foreign issue is Iraq, but this will in fact be one of the simpler ones to extricate the US from.
The end game in Iraq is approaching and could be over in two years.
The reason for this relates to the most powerful group in Iraq. It's not the US, Al Queda, the insurgents or Iran, it's the Shia population who make up 60% of the population.
The politicians they've elected want the US troops out by 2011 and Obama couldn't do much about that even if he wanted to keep them in Iraq in the long term.
The insurgents in Iraq have killed and seriously injured thousands of US troops since 2003, and they only had the active support of the Sunni community, 20% of the total population.
If the Shia rose up against the occupation the US troops would be driven out in no time.
George Bush had a straightforward plan when he launched his invasion, the US was going to appoint a government (http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0122-06.htm) and they were going to rubber stamp a new constitution described as a 'capitalist's dream' by the Economist (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4417759.stm), which would allow the privatisation of all state companies, including the state oil company.
Then he was hoping that the Iraqis would vote for his yes-men, like Iyad Allawi, in elections after the constitution was enacted.
But when the Shia religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, said the plan wasn't acceptable, the US had to accept what he said.
You would have to be pretty daft to think the Iraqi people would accept this sham arrangement, especially when you recall how George Bush I stabbed the Shia population in the back after the first Gulf War when he allowed Saddam Hussein to kill thousands of them after he urged them to overthrow the dictator.
You would have to be a complete lunatic, like George Bush II, to launch an invasion on the belief that the Iraqi people would accept a US installed constitution and a permanent occupation.
With the Iraqi government wanting the US soldiers out by 2011 Obama will probably let on that he has done a deal with them to bring the boys home, but it won't be his choice, it will be the choice of the Iraqi people.

An vótálfadh muidne ar son Taoiseach Afracach-Éireannach?

2008-11-05T20:24:00.011Z

Tá ardmholadh tuilte ag muintir Mheiriceá anois go bhfuil Uachtarán Afracach-Méiriceánach tofa acu. Ceist atá agam ná an vótáladh muidne ar son Taoiseach Afracach-Éireannach*, ie, duine Éireannach le sinsir ón Afraic?
Dá n-aontóinn le polasaithe an duine agus páirtí s'acu tá's agam go gcaitheann vóta ar a son nó ar a shon, gan amhras ar bith.
Ní fheicimse fáth nach vótálfainn mar sin agus is amhlaidh a bheadh sé le ceannaire baineann nó ceannaire ó aon chúlra eile.

Sílim gurb é an t-aon leithscéal a bheadh ag daoine ciníochacha le cur in éadan duine Éireannach ó chúlra Afracach ná sa go cás go bhfuair tuistí s'acu tearmann anseo go bréagach, bheidís ag cur an milleán ar an bpáiste i leith peacaí na sinsear.

(*Níl an gineadach ar 'Taoiseach Afracach-Éireannach' ar eolas agam, 'ar son Taoisigh Afracaigh-Éireannaigh'?)

300 words of Dublin Irish

2008-10-29T08:42:00.002Z

If you're from Dublin and have an interest in the Irish language try to pick up a copy of Lá Nua today.
I've come across some lists of Irish words and phrases that were collected in various parts of the county during the 20th Century, there are over 300 of them in total and they're being published on a wallposter in the paper today. (The five individual lists which have more info the authors collected will be published in Lá Nua next week, and three of them are below).
The material in Lá Nua comes from several sources, 'Gaelic Dialect in East and Mid-Leinster' (1933) by Donn Piatt, the folklore journal Béaloideas, (from 1945 and 1947) 'Fair Fingall,' (written before 1949 by Peter Archer) and the article 'Irish in the Liberties' by Máirín Mooney in 'An Ghaeilge i mBaile Átha Cliath' (1985).
I was really surprised when I came across a list of 44 Irish words from Shankill in Donn Piatt's book a while back, I'd no idea that many Irish words survived into the 20th Century, but that was nothing till I came across the other 256 words from Fingal, the south-west of the county and the Liberties.
Phrases include Ná bac leis (never mind), Bun os cionn (upside down), Maith go leor (OK), Trí na chéile (mixed up), Lán a’mhála (full and plenty), Bí i do thost (be silent), A Stór mo chroí, Ochón í ó (alas), Cúl a'chinn (back of the head), Magairlín meidhreach (a love potion) and Mí-ádh (bad luck).
Among the words collected were bastún (an ignorant person), cábóg (a slovenly looking man), dreas (a spell), garsún (a boy), girseach (a girl), muise (indeed), rásaí (a gad about girl), scológ (a farmer), smacht (control) and toitín (a burning ember).
There are people, including some Irish speakers, who think that Irish was never spoken in Dublin.
If that were true then it would mean that the area now comprising Dublin county was completely uninhabited before the Vikings came and that the the Vikings, Anglo-Normans and English must have gotten Irish speakers from outside Dublin to give Irish names to towns, parishes, rivers, mountains etc in the county, which they then Anglicised.
That or Irish was spoken in Dublin!
In fact there hasn't been a time since the Irish language came to Ireland that Irish hasn't been spoken in Dublin.
According to the sources I have come across native Irish speakers were to be found in rural parts of Dublin up till the end of the 19th Century and they may even have made it into the 20th, and I'll post more details on this soon.
As far as dialect goes, based on the sources I've come across I'd say that Ulster Irish was spoken in the far north of the county and a dialect similar to Connacht Irish in the rest.
In terms of living dialects I reckon the closest one to the Irish that was spoken in most of Dublin is North Mayo Irish, which is a Connacht dialect that has some Ulster influences in it.
Due to contract agreements the material from Béaloideas can't be put on the online edition of Lá Nua (www.nuacht.com) or on this blog (Béaloideas plan to put all of their old editions on the web themselves), but the other three lists are below.
They include notes on pronunciation and meaning taken by the authors and I've also added extra notes from Ó Dónaill's and Dineen's Irish-English dictionaries to some of the words.
I've included at the bottom a list of Irish words that are still used in Dublin (and there are probably others that I haven't heard myself) as well as some placenames that are interesting in terms of how Irish was pronounced by native speakers of Irish in Dublin.
Irish has also left its mark on the way Dubs speak English, for example the phrases "I do be" and "I'm after" are direct translations from Irish and we say "I tink" and "Dis and dat" instead of "I think" and "This and that" because that 'th' sound isn't found in Irish.
Another possible translation is 'An bhfuair tú do ghiota?' a phrase in the Donegal Gaeltacht that means did you have sexual relations, as Bill Clinton would say, with someone.
Translate it directly into English and you get the quintessential Dub phrase 'Did you get your bit?' which means the exact same thing.
If you want a pdf copy of the wall poster that's in the paper today send an email to colmobroin@yahoo.ie.

.....................................................................................

Na Saoirsí (The Liberties)

An Ghaeilge i mBaile Átha Cliath (1985)
Irish in the Liberties: Máirín Mooney

Máirín Mooney started school in 1934 and said that the words below “were in use generally when I was growing up and I heard many people in Pimlico use them.”

Amadán: “He’s a right amadán.”
Banbh: “Snortin’ like a banbh.”
Bróg: “That child hasn’t a bróg on her foot.”
Bun os cionn: “Everything is bun os cionn.”
Cipín: “Throw a few cipíns on the fire.”
Cóta mór: “Put on your cóta mór.”
Dúidín: “The oul dúidín is gone out again.”
Flaithiúlach: “He’s very flaithiúlach.”
Gám: “Did you ever see such a gam?” (a fool).
Girseach: “She’s a grand girseach.”
Glic: “He’s very glic.”
Maith go leor.
Oighear: “The inside of his thighs are covered in oighear.”
Olagón: “I never heard such an ologóning.” Wailing, lamenting-Ó Dónaill.
Pus.
Ráiméis: “That’s nothing but oul ráiméis.”
Rí rá: “There was a great rí-rá altogether.”
Slíbhín: “He’s a right slíbhín.”
Smacht: “I’ll put a bit of smacht on you me bucko.”
Smidirín: “The cup is in smidiríns.”
Smut: “She has a smut (or pus) on her.”
Spailpín: “A spailpín is all he is.”
Stuacán: “She’s no stuacán anyway.” Silent, sulky person-Ó Dónaill.
Tráithnín: “I don’t give a tráithnín.” A strong stem of grass, a thing of no value-Ó Dónaill.

...............................................................................................

Seanchill (Shankill)

Gaelic Dialect in East and Mid-Leinster (1933): Donn Piatt

“The South Dublin list was sent to me on June 12th 1933 by P. Ó Murchadha, of Bray, a native of Shankill, who got the words from his mother, a Shankill woman, and his father, a North Wicklow man, very many years ago…I called on him at Parkgate Street, Dublin in June 1933 and got him to read the list, in his own pronunciation, while I marked stress and other peculiarities.”

A Mhuirnín (Avourneen): Love, stress on 'vour'.
Aindeiseoir (Angashore): A down and out.
Amadán (Amadauon): A fool.
Báirseach (Baurshach): A barge.
Bogán (Bogaun): A bad egg.
Brosna (Brasna): Firewood.
Cáibín (Caubeen): An old hat-Ó Dónaill.
Caorán (Cawrawn): “The year of the cawrawns.” A bad year for turf-About 1863 according to a Connamara friend. Fragment, small sod of turf-Ó Dónaill.
Cianóg (Keenoge): A farthing.
Ciaróg (Keerogue): A black beetle.
Ciotóg (Kithogue): Left hand.
Cipín (Kippeen/Kippin): A stick.
Clábar (Claubar): Dirt.
Cláirín (Cloreyeen/Clorezhyeen): A street stall. Clár: Table, counter-Ó Dónaill.
Diúg: A drink. Normal slender 'd,' not 'j' sound. Drop-Ó Dónaill.
Fraochán (Fraughan): Bilberry-Ó Dónaill.
Fústar (Fooster): Fumbling.
Gáibín (Gawbeen/Gawby): A fool.
Gamaille (Gomallyeh): A fool. Gamal-Ó Dónaill.
Gíog: Sign of life. “Not a gíog out of him.” Cheep, chirp-Ó Dónaill.
Gobán (Gubbawn): An awkward workman.
Gortach (Gurtach): Greedy.
Gruama (Gromagh): Gloomy, cantankerous.
Lán a’mhála (Lawn a vawla): “You’ll get lawn a vawla.”
Leipreachán (Leprechawn/Limrachawn): A fairy.
Maoil (Mweel/Meel): A hornless cow.
Moill (Moyle): “Not a moill on him.”
Ná bac leis (Nabocklish).
Óinseach (Oenshuch): A she fool.
Paltóg (Pullthogue): A blow.
Póirín (Poreyeen): A seed potato.
Praiseach (Prashock): Yellow weed in corn. Praiseach bhuí: Charlock, field mustard-Ó Dónaill.
Raiméis (Rawmawsh): Nonsense.
Ráithín (Raheen): Small rath.
Seamróg (Shamrouge/Shamarogue): A shamrock.
Síbín (Shebeen): A place where illicit spirits are sold.
Sleán (Slane): A turf spade.
Slusaíocht (Slooader): To coax. Flattery, toadyism-Ó Dónaill.
Smidirín (Smidireen): A tiny piece.
Sram (Srawm): Matter for the eyes. Gum, mucous of eyes-Ó Dónaill.
Sraoill (Streel): An untidy woman. Bedraggled person-Ó Dónaill.
Suim (Seem): Heed, “Put no seem on it” (Shortish 'ee').
Súrán (Shoorawn): Hollowed reed used by children as pea-shooter.
Uallán (Olyawn): An awkward fool.

Words and phrases that may have come from Irish.

Geck: A look, appearance.
Rawm: To grab (from gream, ‘greim’?).

...............................................................................................

Fair Fingall: Peter Archer (1866-1949)

Peter Archer was born in Oldtown in Fingal in 1866.
He had a keen interest in Gaelic games and was one of the founders of the Wild Geese club in Oldtown.
He was a leading member of Conradh na Gaeilge and the Irish Literary Society and he was appointed manager of An Claidheamh Soluis in 1898.

He described Fingal as “much of Dublin north of the River Tolka.”

A Théagair (Ahaygar): A word used in an affectionate or sympathetic sense, generally by women towards children. A théagair: Darling, beloved one.
Aird (Art): A place or part of the surrounding area not specifically defined. Used in the expression “I searched every art and part.”
Ais luachra (Ashlayer): Newt, lizard.
Aithris (Airishin): Mimicking another person’s speech.
Amadán (Awmadhan): A fool.
Bábhún (Bawn): A yard or enclosure adjoining a farmhouse into which cattle are taken from the fields in winter weather at night-time for shelter.
Bacach (Bockagh): Lame.
Báire (Bayrie): A goal in football or hurly.
Báirseach (Barge): A scold, find fault noisily. Corruption of báirseach. Scolding woman-Ó Dónaill.
Balbhán (Follabawn): A dumb person.
Balcaiseán (Bulkeshan): Ragwort. Buachalán-Ó Dónaill.
Barraise (Borrie): A domineering person, a bully, an upstart, an arrogant or aspiring person. Báirseoir-Ó Dónaill.
Bí i do thost (Buddahust): Be silent.
Bodhar (Bothered): Deaf, corruption of bodhar.
Breac (Brackery): Brindled or speckled.
Breis (Breash): Helping in the work of churning milk. Any person entering a farmhouse when churning in an old fashioned way (with a churn dash) was in progress was expected to assist for a moment or two at least. This help was supposed to be lucky and was termed “giving a breash.”
Broc (Brock): A badger.
Brosna (Brusna): Small dry sticks used for kindling a fire.
Buailtín (Boalkeen): That part of a flail which strikes the corn in thrashing.
Buarán (Boorans/Bookeraun): Dry cow-dung. Sometimes used as fuel.
Cabach (Cobbagh): Precocious. Cabach: Gabby. Babbling, loquacious-Ó Dónaill.
Cáibín (Caubeen): An old hat.
Caidhp báis (Kybosh): A decisive final destruction, action or judgment.
Caimseog (Gamhshowgin): Playful deceit or trickery. Fib-Ó Dónaill.
Camán (Common): A hurly, hurling.
Cár (Corr): A grimace or expression of sulleness or impudence, made by thrusting out the lips.
Casán (Causey): A footpath. Cosán/Casán-Ó Dónaill.
Ceangal (Langle): A rope used for fettering a cow or goat.
Ciaróg (Ceerogue): A beetle.
Ciotach (Cittah): Left. Used as an adjective to qualify the word fist only, eg “He has a cittah fist.”
Ciotóg (Cittogue): The left hand, a left handed person.
Clab (Clawb): A big mouth.
Clábar (Clauber): Mud.
Cliabh (Cleeve): A large basket.
Cliabhán (Cleevan): A cage trap (for birds) made with slender sticks.
Cnag (Cregg): A light (blow, knock) on the head with the knuckles of partly closed fingers.
Cnat (Cinnatt): Bargainer who through trickery gets an unfair advantage. A dodger. Gnat, Mean person-Ó Donaill.
Coigeal (Cighaul): Portion of the name of a reed, “The Fairies’ Cighaul.” Coigeal na mBan Sí. Reed Mace.
Crabhait (Kouth): A wizened, miserable looking person. Crabhait: An insignificant person. Puny, miserable creature-Ó Dónaill.
Crabhaitéal (Crowel): A decrepit person. Craibhtéal: an insignificant person. Variation of crabhait-Ó Dónaill.
Creabhar (Kirower): A gadfly, horsefly.
Crúb (Croob): The foot of a pig, goat or sheep.
Crúca an Mhada (Crockamaudha): The Dog’s Crook, a trick in wrestling.
Cruit (Crith): A hump on the back. A person with shoulders hunched in wintry weather is described as having a “crith of cold on him.”
Crup (Crub): To contract the body by bending. Crap/Crup-Ó Dónaill.
Cruptha (Crubbed): Contracted or bent. A person bent in the shoulders and at the knees owing to any cause is said to be crubbed up. The hedgehog when it assumes the spherical shape is also similarly referred to. Corruption of cruptha-warped, contracted, bent or crippled. Craptha/Cruptha-Ó Dónaill.
Cuiricín (Currikeen): The curled crest or top-knot on the plover’s head. Crest-Ó Dónaill.
Cúl a'chinn (Coolican): The back of the head.
Dallán (Dhullawn): A blind sieve, used as a measure for oats in feeding horses.
Darbhdaol (Dardheel): The Devil's Coachhorse, a species of beetle or chafer. Darbhdaol/Deargadaol-Ó Dónaill.
Deannach (Gannoch): Pollard, deannach-mill dust. Dust-Ó Dónaill.
Dona (Danny/Dawny): Delicate, weak in failing health.
Driog (Dhrig): The final drops in milking. Droplet-Ó Dónaill.
Dúdóg (Dudog): A box on the ear.
Éacht/Éachtaint (Hate): A thing, act or hint. Used in expressions as “I could not get a hate out of him”. Éacht-a deed or act, Éachtaint-an inkling or hint.
Filibín (Fillibeen): Plover. Filibín/Pilibín-Ó Dónaill.
Flaithiúlach (Flahoolagh): Generous.
Fógra Gaoithe (Foogragee): A garrulous person who cannot keep a secret and takes pleasure in disseminating news of every description, whether obtained in confidence or otherwise. From Fógra-a proclamation, Gaoth-the wind. A person so anxious to give news that failing listeners he would shout his tidings to the wind.
Fothain (Fonah): Shelter.
Fuinneog (Hinogues): Bits of broken window glass.
Fústar (Foosther): To fuss about a person obsequiously. A dog jumping around his master, waging his tail and acting as if he wanted something is said to be foosthering.
Gabhal (Goil): A forked stick used in setting the ‘cleevan’ or bird trap.
Gabhar Aerdha (Gowerairah): The jack snipe.
Gabhgaide (Gaubey): A person with an expression of intense curiosity rudely stares at others engaged in a game or occupation. Gabhgaide: One who looks on at cards, an idler. Gaper, onlooker (at cards), hanger on-Ó Dónaill.
Gad (Gad): The cord or strap which joins the bottom parts of the hames in horse harness is called the breast gad. Gad brollaigh: Breast strap-Ó Dónaill.
Gám (Gaum): A foolish person.
Gamaille (Gomeril): A fool. Gamal-Ó Dónaill.
Gamalacht (Gaumaction): Horse play, clownish tricks. Gamach-a clown. Loutishness, silliness-Ó Dónaill.
Gasún (Gossoon): A boy, up to the age of puberty.
Geamaí (Gammy): Weak eyed. Geamaighe-blear eyed (Meath). Geamach-Ó Dónaill.
Gearrán (Garron): An old horse (the word is used in a disparaging sense).
Girseach (Girsha): A young girl.
Glám (Claum/Glaum): To maul or handle anything to its detriment. To grope awkwardly with outstretched hands. To unsuccessfully attempt to grasp an evasive person e.g. “he began to glawm about in the dark.” Grab, clutch-Ó Dónaill.
Gleic (Gleek): A grip in wrestling.
Gliog (Glug): A gurgling sound such as liquid makes when being poured from a bottle. Gliog-to gurgle.
Gob (Gob): An uncomplimentary word for ‘mouth.’
Gob/Gobán (Gub/Guban): A captious critic, who professes knowledge he does not always possess. Gub and Guban are used ironically. Both words are contractions of the name of the master craftsman of ancient days the famous ‘gobán saor.’
Goiste (Goster): A friendly chat or gossip.
Gor (Gur): “On gur.” Keeping away from home because of some unpleasantness, or in order to avoid punishment for some fault. Gor: To hatch, incubate-Ó Dónaill.
Grá (Grah): Love, affection.
Griog (Greg): To tantalize.
Gríosach (Greisha): Live ashes.
Grog (Grug): A haunch.
Gruama (Grumah): Sourfaced, glum.
Hurais (Hurrish): A call to pigs at feeding time.
Lach (Leeic): Call to ducks. Lacha/Lach: Duck-Ó Dónaill.
Láine Dé (Lawneyday): An exclamation of surprise or regret. Láine Dé: Fullness or perfection of God.
Lán a’mhala (Launawalla): Abundance.
Leadair (Leddher): To beat with the hands, or with a strap, stick or other such article. Smite, beat-Ó Dónaill.
Liobar (Lybber): A hanging upper lip. Liobar: Anything placid, limp, hanging or untidy.
Lúb (Loob): A loop.
Lus na Laoch (Lusonalee): A medicinal herb, Orpine. Rosefoot-www.focal.ie.
Magh go brách/Maith go breá? (Mawgabraw): An expression used as a parting shot towards a person who having taken offence at some trivial matter, leaves his companions or home with the declaration that he is finished with old associations. Magh go brath-The field forever.
Maith go leor (Mawgalore): A good supply.
Maoilín (Mewlyeen): A naturally hornless cow, bullock or heifer.
Mar dhea (Mawryah): A word used in an ironical sense at the end of an assertation or statement, which implies that the preceding words have quite the opposite meaning. Thus “a gentleman mawyrah” means he poses as or pretends to be a gentleman, but lacks the necessary qualities.
Mealbhóg (Malavogue): To beat severely.
Midilín (Migilyeen): The band of leather or untanned horse-hide connecting the hand-staff and swingle of a flail. Thong of flail-Ó Dónaill.
Milleadh theip (Millye-hip): An unfortunate occurance. An injury, accidental or otherwise. A disastrous attempt, anything productive of disappointment, disastrous or affliction. Milleadh-Act of breaking or injury and Teip-failure, go to form this word. Milleadh teip: An injurious failure.
Muise (Mush): A grimace of contempt made by the lips being turned outwards.
Ná bac leis (Nabocklish): Never mind.
Paidrín (Podreen): A small potato. Bead, 'Bhí na prátaí ina bpaidríní ar na gais.'-Ó Dónaill.
Pisreog (Pishrogues): Superstitions, charms.
Plámás (Plaumish): Flattery.
Plásaí (Plossey): A flatterer.
Plobairsín (Plubisheen): A march marigold.
Poc (Puck): A blow with the fist.
Pocán (Pockaun): A male goat.
Práiscín (Praskeen): An apron.
Praiseach (Preshagh): A yellow-blossomed weed, 'wild mustard.' Praiseach bhuí: Field mustard-Ó Dónaill.
Prog (Prug): Word used in calling cows at a distance to come in for milking. The word is also used in speaking soothingly to a cow during milking. Progaí-Ó Dónaill.
Pus (Puss): A pout, also the mouth.
Racán (Ruckaun): A noisy quarrelsome group of persons. A boisterous company bent on mischief, also players in old-time football games who had no set places on the field but followed the ball in a group somewhat in the style of the present day rugby forwards.
Raiméis (Ramaush): Nonsensical talk.
Ránaí (Rawney): A tall, gaunt person or animal.
Rásaí (Rossie): A rude, robust, blustering female. Gadabout, vagrant-Ó Dónaill.
Sabhaircín (Summer): Primrose.
Saileach (Sally): The willow tree.
Sámhánaí (Sawny): A soft easy going person.
Sanachan (Sanacan): A farm labourer who was hired for a year and boarded and lodged by an employer was, if at the expiration of that period he suggested another situation, termed a Sanacan. The period of service always terminated on the Saturday proceeding the first Sunday in May which later was referred to as “Sanacan Sunday.” Sanacan: A person travelling to seek new quarters, the word is used in a old poem in reference to the recruits for the Irish Brigade in France in which one of the Wild Geese says in reference to himself and his companions crossing the seas. “atamoid ar an sanachan.”
Scabhat (Scrait): A passage or hole at the foot of a hedge through which a rabbit or other small animal can pass. Narrow, windy passage-Ó Dónaill.
Scaird (Scurt): A syringe. Squirt, jet, gush-Ó Dónaill.
Scalltán (Scoulthan): An unfledged bird.
Sceabhach (Skow): Slanting or awry. Skew, slanting, oblique-Ó Dónaill.
Scealp (Skelp): A blow, a splinter or piece knocked off anything. Scealp-a piece.
Sciodar (Skiddher): Purge. Sciodarnach: (Act of) scouring, scour-Ó Dónaill.
Scolb (Scollob): A splinter of wood pieces or briar put lengthwise used in thatching houses. Scolb: A splinter of wood or bone.
Scológ (Scullogue): A farmer. Scológ: A husbandman or farmer.
Scráib (Sgraub): A tear or rough scratch, with the nails of a person or animal. Scráib: a scrape or scratch.
Siúlóir (Shuler): A tramp. Itinerant-Ó Dónaill.
Slíbhín (Sleeveen): A sly underhand person.
Slim (Slim): Unleavened.
Slog (Slug): The quantity of liquid taken in a swallow or gulp.
Slusaire (Slootherer): A wheedler, a person who persuades with flattery in his own interest. Wheedler-Dineen.
Smeach (Smock): A kick. Used only in reference to a person suddenly rendered unconscious thus “There’s not a smock in him.”
Snagach (Snookin): Creeping, or moving stealthily in a crouching posture. Snagach: slow, creeping, snail like. Creeping-Ó Dónaill.
Soc (Sock): A ploughshare. Soc céachta: Ploughshare-Ó Dónaill.
Spág (Spawg): A flat or otherwise malformed foot. Spág-a long flat foot or club foot.
Sparra (Sparable): A small nail. Sparra: a nail, spike or bar. A spar, nail-Dineen.
Spéis (Pass): Notice, heed, attendence. Used in conjunction with the word put e.g., “I put no pass on him” which means “I did not notice him” or “I ignored him.”
Spideog (Spidhogue): A frail puny person. Robin, tiny child-Ó Dónaill.
Splanc (Splank): A spark, an atom.
Sraith (Sraith): A single layer of greensward turned up by the plough. Sraith-a layer, a row, a rack, a series.
Sraoill (Sthreel): A slattern, untidy woman. Bedraggled person-Ó Dónaill.
Sraoill (Sthreelin): Trailing or dragging or hanging loose in contact with the ground. Walking through wet grass is called “sthreelin” by women who have had the lower portion of their skirts saturated in the process. Ag sraoilleadh sa lathach: Trailing in the mud-Ó Dónaill.
Storc (Sthurk): A small pig of stunted growth. Piglet-Ó Dónaill.
Súgán (Suggaun): A rope of hay or straw.
Tálach (Thaulach): A pain or cramp in the muscles of the wrist due to heavy manual work. Cramp, swelling in wrist-Ó Dónaill.
Taoibhín (Theeveen): A patch on the side of a boot or shoe.
Taom (Teem): To bail water from a pool. Empty of water, pour off, bail-Ó Dónaill.
Taomach (Thaumach): Awkward, dangerous, applied to persons who have an unhappy knack of causing bodily harm to others by their actions even in play. Subject to fits, hysteical-Ó Dónaill.
Toch (Toch): Call to pigs.
Tuilleadh (Tilly): A small quantity of liquid sold by measure, given gratuitously in excess of exact measure. Tuilleadh: a further share.
Tulc (Thulk): A butt or blow given with the head. A strong blow, a prod or gore-Dinneen.

Words and phrases that may have come from Irish.

Bealin (Bíoga): A throbbing sensation of pain ina wound or sore. Indications of a tendency towards festering. Probably a corruption biodhaighe: Glór biodhaighe=a throbbing voice. Bíoga fuinnimh: Pulses of energy-Ó Dónaill.
Bellourin (Béal): Crying aloud without tears, from béal.
Bock (Bach): A wooden ball (sometimes a gnarled briar-root) used in playing camánaith. Bach: Knob.
Brave (Breá): Fine or good. Corruption of breagh. Applied to weather thus “A brave day,” “A brave bit of sunshine.” Also applied to satisfactory crops as “a brave field of potatoes” etc.
Cauthie: An irresponsible untrustworthy person.
Clockin (Clagach): As applied to brooding hens. It also applied to persons who complain a lot of ill-health on occasions. Clagach: Cackling. Clacking, clattering-Ó Dónaill.
Clousther (Clúdaithe): To cover head and shoulders with clothing, as protection from the weather. Probably a corruption of clúdtha=covered, hidden or protected.
Cuckle (Coicil): The burdock, Coicil: the common burdock.
Dawk (Dealg): A prickle or spine of a thorn. A Fingallian getting a prod from one of these prickles describes it as a “prod of a dawk.” This word may be Danish. 'Dalkey' is accepted as a Danish word meaning 'Thorn Island.'
Dhur (Dorn): A blow with the fist.
Dowhder: A blow with the fist on the ear.
Ferrin (Fírinneach): The first sod, scratch or mark made by the plough in a field when is it being broken. Probably from fírinneach: True, straight. Should the 'ferrin' not be straight the succeeding sods will also be 'out of truth' as the local saying is.
Gaulogah: A leech.
Gug (Guagach): A short jerky motion up and down, waddling like a duck. Guagach: unsteady, unstable, wavering-Ó Dónaill.
Loothy (Lodartha): A slovenly, uncouth person. Grovelling, abject, base, vulgar-Ó Dónaill.
Missed (Mhothaghas): Noticed, perceived. Probably a corruption of the Gaelic word Mothuigeas. Used thus, “I never missed him till he was up beside me,” “You don’t miss the time passing,” “After 12th day you can miss the days getting longer.”
Mossy diemens (An mbás an deamhain): A mild expletive used thus, “by the mossy demons.” This is probably a corruption of ‘An mbás an deamhain,’ by the demon's death.
Pastin: A beating, Péastáilim: I beat.
Racker (Réisteoir): A kind of horse boy possessed of speed, stamina and knowledge of a district in which he operates, attends a hunt and follows the riders on foot for the purpose of assisting (for due recompence) riders who may get in difficulties by being thrown from their horses. He also opens gates, removes obstacles for the benefits of a certain class of horseman. Probably a corruption réisteoir: a reliever.
Reaf (Réabadh): A considerable rent in a garment, a gagged lengthy tear, to tear a fabric in two parts with a forceful wrench of the hands is called “reafin it asunder.” Réabadh: act of tearing.
Scrabble (Scrabhadh): A confused struggle on the ground by several persons for the possession of some article (such as a coin) thrown at the feet, Scrabhadh: Scratching-Ó Dónaill.
Shan (Sean): A dwarf in a family of otherwise well grown persons. Amongst animals and poultry one of a litter or brood which is much smaller than any of its companions is called “the shan,” meaning probably the old one whose growth is finished.
Sliddher (Sliodarnach): To skip or slide. Sliodarnach: sliding.
Smaddhered (Smachtaithe): Beaten, defeated, severely punished. (from) Smachtuigthe.
Spang (Spreang): A long running stride over an obstacle. Spreang: a spring, jump-Ó Dónaill.
Sthaddlin (Stad): A foundation of stone, thorns or bushes on which ricks and stacks of hay and corn are built. Probably a corruption of stad, a stop or station.
Sthawmin (Stabhaíl): Walking awkwardly. Probably a corruption of stabhghail: limping. Stabhaíl-Ó Dónaill.
Towelt (Toghail): A resounding blow, a bang. “The towelt of the flail on the barn floor,” “The towelt of a drum.” Toghail: sack, destroy-Ó Dónaill.
Wangle (Ceangal): A small bundle of straw used in thatching corn ricks.

....................................................................................

Irish words that are still used in Dublin.

Bábóg (Babóg): Baby or young child. Doll-Ó Dónaill.
Buachaill
Flaithiúlach
Gor
Mar dhea
Meig
Plámás
Ráiméis
Rí-rá agus ruaille buaille
Slíbhín
Slog
Smig

Phrases/words that come from Irish.

He does be-Bíonn sé
I'm after-Táim tar éis
Youse/Yiz-Sibh
Yizer-Bhúr
To fall out of you standing-Titim as do sheasamh
Did you get you bit-An bhfuair tú do ghiota

...............................................................................................

Dublin Placenames

Here are some place names that are interesting in terms of pronunciation

Crockshane-Cnoc Sheáin
Crooksling-Cnoc Slinne
Crockaundreenagh-Cnocán Draigheanach
Glendoo-Gleann Dubh
Skidoo-Sceach Dubh