Eolas agus Aineolas

'˜Níl aon namhaid ach aineolas.'
CALENDAR LAUNCH. . . .The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council pictured at Brooke Park in December for the launch of the 2017 Diversity Calendar Spice of Life. The Mayor is pictured with representatives from Polish Abroad, Sai Pak, Apprentice Boys, Interfaith Northwest, Stroke Association and Derry City and Strabane District Councils Good Relations Team.CALENDAR LAUNCH. . . .The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council pictured at Brooke Park in December for the launch of the 2017 Diversity Calendar Spice of Life. The Mayor is pictured with representatives from Polish Abroad, Sai Pak, Apprentice Boys, Interfaith Northwest, Stroke Association and Derry City and Strabane District Councils Good Relations Team.
CALENDAR LAUNCH. . . .The Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council pictured at Brooke Park in December for the launch of the 2017 Diversity Calendar Spice of Life. The Mayor is pictured with representatives from Polish Abroad, Sai Pak, Apprentice Boys, Interfaith Northwest, Stroke Association and Derry City and Strabane District Councils Good Relations Team.

Níl teanga ghlan ann. Creideannn daoine áirithe gur teanga ghlan í an Ghaeilge, gur labhraíodh í i nGairdín Éidin. I mo bharúil féin, ní raibh duine ar bith ag caint ansin i ndiaidh na trioblóide sin leis an úll. Ach ar leibhéal níos tromchúisí, creideann daoine go bhfuil cogadh teangacha ar siúl in Éirinn: an Ghaeilge in aghaidh an Bhéarla agus an Albainis Uladh. Bhí comhairleoirí ag plé na trí theanga go fíochmhar i gcoiste de chuid Chomhairle Dhoire agus an tStratha Bháin an tseachtain seo caite. Tacaíonn páirtithe polaitiúla áirithe leis an dearcadh go bhfuil coimhlint ann agus iad ag súil go mbeidh siad ábalta leas a bhaint aisti.

Mar sin de, bhí áthas orm nuair a phioc mé suas duilleog bheag sa leabharlann, ’The Languages of Ulster’, urraithe ag eagraíochtaí éagsúla - An Chomhairle Chaidreamh Pobail, Foras na Gaeilge, Turas (tionscnamh pobail in oirthear Bhéal Feirste), Colmcille (eagraíocht a chuireann chun cinn an nasc idir Gaeilge na hÉireann agus Gaeilge na hAlban), agus National Museums Scotland. Saothar trasphobail céad faoin chéad atá ann.

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Léiríonn an leabhrán cuid de na focail atá sna trí theanga (Gaeilge na hÉireann, Gaeilge na hAlban, Albainis Uladh), mar shampla brochán, céilí, spág. Tugann sé samplaí d’fhocail a tháinig isteach i nGaeilge na hÉireann ó Albainis Uladh, cuir i gcás glár, stúr. Bhí tionchar ar Ghaeilge na hÉireannn ag an Lochlainnis, ag an Fhraincis, agus ag an Bhéarla ar ndóigh. Tá léaráid ann a léiríonn stair theangeolaíoch na hÉireann agus na hAlban. Chuir Comhairle Dhoire agus an tStratha Bháin féilire galánta amach don bhliain seo ar a bhfuil teanga dhifriúil do gach mí. Tá sochaí na hÉireann athraithe ar fad. Ceiliúrann an féilire an éagsúlacht cineacha agus an éagsúlacht teangacha atá sa tír anois. Tá Éire níos saibhre dá bharr. Ach admhaím go gcruthaíonn seo fadhbanna do dhaoine nach bhfuil sásta cur suas le níos mó ná teanga amháin, nó le níos mó ná reiligiún amháin.

Translation

Knowledge and ignorance

‘Ignorance is the only enemy.’(Proverb).There is no such thing as a pure language. Some people think that Irish is a pure language, that it was spoken in the Garden of Eden. In my own opinion, nobody was speaking there after the trouble with the apple. On a more serious level, some people think that a language war is being waged in Ireland with Irish up against English and Ulster Scots. Councillors were engaged in a fierce debate over the three languages in a committee meeting of Derry and Strabane Council last week. Some political parties support the of the idea that there is a conflict and hope to get some advantage from it.

I was therefore delighted when I picked up a little leaflet in the library ‘The Languages of Ulster’, sponsored by various organisations – The Community Relations Council, Foras na Gaeilge, Turas (a community project in east Belfast), Colmcille (an organisation that seeks to strengthen the connection between Irish and Scots Gaelic), and National Museums Scotland. This is a one hundred per cent cross community project.

The booklet gives some words that appear in the three languages, Irish, Scots Gaelic, Ulster Scots, for example brochán, céilí, spág. It gives examples of words that came into Irish from Ulster Scots, for instance glar, stúr. Irish has been influenced by Old Norse, by French and of course, by English. There is a diagram which traces the linguistic history of Ireland and Scotland.

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Derry and Strabane Council have produced a beautiful calendar for this year in which there is a different language for each month. Irish society has changed completely. The calendar celebrates the variety of peoples and the variety of languages which we have in this country now. Ireland is richer because of this, although I admit that this creates problems for people who will only tolerate one language or one religion.

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