The Irish Language and the Media

Abstract

Newcomers to Ireland flicking through the channels on their television or radio could be excused for believing that Irish would be commonly heard on the street, but they are likely to walk the highways and byways of Ireland for a long time in search of the spoken language. Unbeknownst to them, however, among all the conversations going on around them, there is usually an Irish speaker within a stone’s throw. Perhaps one in six people in the Republic of Ireland can converse in Irish. This is more than half a million people of varying levels of fluency — a reasonable audience for Irish language media. The audience, of course, need not be limited to the linguistic group, but can incorporate the whole nation. Examining the connection between the Irish language and nation gives insights into why one in six people can converse in Irish, why there are Irish language media and why it is of more than niche interest.