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I'd support that Stephen Send a noteboard - 23/01/2011 11:26:20 PM
There is no reason for an English-speaking country no to just say "Prime Minister" and "Parliament" like all the others (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and even India). Think of how much money could be saved by not having to make unnecessary translations in favor of a language that has virtually no chance of survival.

The problem is that now the EU have it as an official language so there's next to no chance that they'd remove it.
I like languages and studying them, but I'm also a realist and think that the massive waste of money on "keeping Irish alive" when there are virtually no speakers who use it as their first language or even in their everyday conversations is clinging to a corpse that needs to go into the ground.

Yes, I believe there are more people who speak Polish and Chinese as an everyday language than Irish. We also have the situation where everyone must take and pass Irish in school to get into university here. It creates an atmosphere where most people have very minimal understanding of the language and also a loathing of it, so that they never use it once the finish thier school exams.
In a political and economic sense, this was expected. The long-term issues that it raises regarding the eurozone are probably going to generate some of the biggest economic news this year (absent crazy unexpected events).

Yes, the Green's had been threatening to pull out since November, while popular support for both parties plummeted ages ago. The EU-IMF deal could very well wreck the country and catalyse more instability in Europe and potentialy the world.
"I mean, if everyone had a soul, there would be no contrast by which we could appreciate it. For giving us this perspective, we thank you." - Nate
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So the Irish government has basically imploded. Stephen - 23/01/2011 04:47:10 PM 1695 Views
I am now confused Camilla - 23/01/2011 05:34:31 PM 1052 Views
You won't be the only person Stephen - 23/01/2011 06:21:23 PM 964 Views
You do realize Britain is pretty much the envy of the Western world at the moment? Legolas - 23/01/2011 06:27:05 PM 1085 Views
Re: You do realize Britain is pretty much the envy of the Western world at the moment? Camilla - 23/01/2011 06:34:47 PM 1017 Views
I did. There was more violence than in ours, that's true (ours have none so far, knock on wood). Legolas - 23/01/2011 06:41:34 PM 994 Views
Re: I did. There was more violence than in ours, that's true (ours have none so far, knock on wood). Camilla - 23/01/2011 06:43:41 PM 936 Views
Those protests were only violent by British standards. Tim - 23/01/2011 11:54:15 PM 1076 Views
Really? Camilla - 24/01/2011 12:03:38 AM 913 Views
But... Wibble - 24/01/2011 07:28:17 PM 977 Views
Re: But... Camilla - 24/01/2011 07:30:39 PM 1225 Views
What protests? Wibble - 24/01/2011 07:26:49 PM 1062 Views
Re: What protests? Camilla - 24/01/2011 07:28:40 PM 909 Views
Re: What protests? Nebhead - 25/01/2011 09:23:17 AM 1054 Views
There's a new objection Camilla - 25/01/2011 11:38:25 AM 974 Views
I didn't object... Nebhead - 25/01/2011 11:47:11 AM 864 Views
Re: I didn't object... Camilla - 25/01/2011 11:49:36 AM 828 Views
If you look at the bottom of that list... Nebhead - 25/01/2011 11:58:24 AM 909 Views
And Britain had to live with the Conservative Wilderness for 15 years before it could get there *NM* Roland00 - 24/01/2011 02:43:16 AM 499 Views
Should I start chiming in on Norwegian politics now that I'm here...? Joel - 24/01/2011 12:42:03 AM 948 Views
Why not? Camilla - 24/01/2011 08:49:07 AM 1015 Views
'Cos I doubt you'll like what I have to say, for one thing. Joel - 26/01/2011 01:55:13 AM 1037 Views
Re: 'Cos I doubt you'll like what I have to say, for one thing. Camilla - 26/01/2011 08:42:04 AM 1056 Views
I misconstrued your sarcasm, sorry. Joel - 26/01/2011 10:23:40 AM 1210 Views
That's been a while coming, hasn't it? Cowen seems to be losing it. Legolas - 23/01/2011 05:48:30 PM 991 Views
Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Stephen - 23/01/2011 06:27:27 PM 1052 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Legolas - 23/01/2011 06:33:26 PM 1005 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Stephen - 23/01/2011 07:19:03 PM 1100 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Legolas - 23/01/2011 07:57:05 PM 950 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Stephen - 23/01/2011 09:29:03 PM 1055 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Legolas - 23/01/2011 09:46:20 PM 1014 Views
I think Adams is an Irish citizen, and not a British one. Tim - 23/01/2011 11:45:34 PM 978 Views
Re: I think Adams is an Irish citizen, and not a British one. Stephen - 23/01/2011 11:53:12 PM 972 Views
The part that I find strange is... Tim - 23/01/2011 11:58:27 PM 950 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Stephen - 23/01/2011 11:45:39 PM 847 Views
I found out something else today which makes it even better. Tim - 24/01/2011 10:37:45 PM 1147 Views
I was reading your post and going "what about the Chiltern Hundreds"? Legolas - 24/01/2011 10:44:32 PM 965 Views
Today's news: it got better again! Tim - 26/01/2011 07:51:51 PM 1026 Views
Oh, alternatively we could elevate him to the House of Lords. Tim - 26/01/2011 11:08:44 PM 985 Views
Awesome idea. Something like "Baron Adams of Londonderry", I'm thinking. *NM* Legolas - 27/01/2011 07:54:26 PM 482 Views
We made his arch-rival a Lord, after all, so it would only be fair. Tim - 28/01/2011 08:26:15 AM 925 Views
"This is the voice of a life peer" Michael - 28/01/2011 02:18:04 PM 1048 Views
Here you go Elaine - 25/01/2011 12:55:33 PM 1078 Views
That's the site I found too. Tim - 25/01/2011 01:25:56 PM 921 Views
Right. Elaine - 25/01/2011 01:42:49 PM 1153 Views
well, the only interesting thing in swedish politics is a wikileaks document and the reactions... jh - 23/01/2011 06:21:00 PM 1039 Views
That's interesting Stephen - 23/01/2011 06:32:05 PM 1007 Views
What is inappropriate about trying to keep out barbaric unskilled people? Tom - 23/01/2011 10:59:53 PM 1013 Views
The inappropriateness is the generalisation in the claim Camilla - 23/01/2011 11:16:52 PM 977 Views
Generalizations are inappropriate when they are disproven by statistics, and appropriate when proven Tom - 24/01/2011 07:33:14 PM 934 Views
I've looked into the statistics a bit more. Tom - 24/01/2011 09:11:52 PM 954 Views
I take it you're talking about the Middle East in its most narrow sense here. Legolas - 24/01/2011 09:56:22 PM 982 Views
... the fact that they are asylum seekers, and their skill certainly shouldn't matter in that case. jh - 24/01/2011 07:08:14 PM 874 Views
Schweden schafft sich ab, eh? Tom - 24/01/2011 07:31:33 PM 1140 Views
Not to mention... ßelals Girl - 26/01/2011 07:55:26 PM 865 Views
ßelals Girl - 26/01/2011 07:46:19 PM 984 Views
Hopefully they'll stop using Irish officially as a way to cut down on unnecessary costs. Tom - 23/01/2011 10:57:08 PM 932 Views
I'd support that Stephen - 23/01/2011 11:26:20 PM 1002 Views
Ironically, if you de-officialised Irish you could get EU money to help preserve it. Tim - 23/01/2011 11:48:14 PM 904 Views
I never realised that Stephen - 23/01/2011 11:54:43 PM 930 Views
But why, why? Tom - 24/01/2011 08:35:43 PM 892 Views
Because it's the only thing justifying their insistence they're not British? Legolas - 24/01/2011 10:03:54 PM 943 Views
But all language learning should be purely voluntary (after what parents teach their children). Tom - 25/01/2011 03:05:28 AM 920 Views
What, so you don't think students in high school should be taught foreign languages? Legolas - 25/01/2011 06:34:21 PM 950 Views
Irish is the mother tongue of about 7,000-15,000 people at most. Tom - 26/01/2011 05:04:00 AM 984 Views
Wikipedia says it's more like 40k-80k. Legolas - 26/01/2011 06:41:41 PM 1354 Views
And Elaine, Stephen, or any other Irish people here: do feel free to comment. *NM* Legolas - 26/01/2011 06:42:36 PM 480 Views
Inflated statistics from what I've read. Tom - 26/01/2011 09:45:51 PM 894 Views
They might be, indeed. Elaine - 27/01/2011 01:08:09 PM 1138 Views
More to the point, are YOU interested in learning Irish? Tom - 26/01/2011 05:15:18 AM 895 Views
Calling Ireland the new Sodom and Gomorrah, are you? Legolas - 26/01/2011 06:02:05 PM 1041 Views
I don't think it's as fun as Sodom and Gomorrah, at least not post-crisis. Tom - 26/01/2011 09:48:54 PM 992 Views
Re: I don't think it's as fun as Sodom and Gomorrah, at least not post-crisis. Legolas - 27/01/2011 08:42:21 PM 877 Views
Presumably because they agree with J.R.R. Tolkien and Tómas Sæmundsson about language's importance. Tim - 24/01/2011 10:16:05 PM 1037 Views
So Australians and New Zealanders are really English then? Austrians are just Germans? Tom - 25/01/2011 03:01:14 AM 995 Views
I never said I agreed . Tim - 25/01/2011 08:19:11 AM 957 Views
I would suggest that a distinct dialect does the job just as well majander - 25/01/2011 02:23:59 PM 991 Views
That's a very good point. Tom - 26/01/2011 05:06:32 AM 963 Views
Indeed. Legolas - 26/01/2011 06:06:00 PM 1021 Views
The thing is, people who feel really strongly about that usually insist it's a separate language. Tim - 28/01/2011 04:20:57 PM 848 Views
It's really more about having a unique silly costume to wear at Miss Universe pageants. Tom - 26/01/2011 05:09:10 AM 832 Views
You're confusing what we sell to gullible American tourists with what we actually value . *NM* Tim - 28/01/2011 04:15:01 PM 426 Views
What the hell happened to the Celtic Tiger Country? *NM* Blaine - 24/01/2011 05:47:12 AM 554 Views
Thrown away on bling and tat, unfortunately. Elaine - 24/01/2011 01:01:27 PM 860 Views
The Celtic Tiger is dead, Ireland had a GDP contraction of 14% in the last two years. Roland00 - 24/01/2011 01:47:06 PM 947 Views
It's still there, but it aimed a bit too high and got a bit scorched. Legolas - 24/01/2011 10:07:36 PM 836 Views
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