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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 1738 Views
I am now confused Camilla - 23/01/2011 05:34:31 PM 1100 Views
You won't be the only person Stephen - 23/01/2011 06:21:23 PM 1001 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 1125 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 1061 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 1035 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 978 Views
Those protests were only violent by British standards. Tim - 23/01/2011 11:54:15 PM 1132 Views
Really? Camilla - 24/01/2011 12:03:38 AM 961 Views
But... Wibble - 24/01/2011 07:28:17 PM 1025 Views
Re: But... Camilla - 24/01/2011 07:30:39 PM 1274 Views
What protests? Wibble - 24/01/2011 07:26:49 PM 1106 Views
Re: What protests? Camilla - 24/01/2011 07:28:40 PM 961 Views
Re: What protests? Nebhead - 25/01/2011 09:23:17 AM 1098 Views
There's a new objection Camilla - 25/01/2011 11:38:25 AM 1017 Views
I didn't object... Nebhead - 25/01/2011 11:47:11 AM 908 Views
Re: I didn't object... Camilla - 25/01/2011 11:49:36 AM 875 Views
If you look at the bottom of that list... Nebhead - 25/01/2011 11:58:24 AM 958 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 520 Views
Should I start chiming in on Norwegian politics now that I'm here...? Joel - 24/01/2011 12:42:03 AM 997 Views
Why not? Camilla - 24/01/2011 08:49:07 AM 1057 Views
'Cos I doubt you'll like what I have to say, for one thing. Joel - 26/01/2011 01:55:13 AM 1082 Views
Re: 'Cos I doubt you'll like what I have to say, for one thing. Camilla - 26/01/2011 08:42:04 AM 1101 Views
I misconstrued your sarcasm, sorry. Joel - 26/01/2011 10:23:40 AM 1253 Views
That's been a while coming, hasn't it? Cowen seems to be losing it. Legolas - 23/01/2011 05:48:30 PM 1029 Views
Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Stephen - 23/01/2011 06:27:27 PM 1102 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Legolas - 23/01/2011 06:33:26 PM 1043 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Stephen - 23/01/2011 07:19:03 PM 1146 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Legolas - 23/01/2011 07:57:05 PM 989 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Stephen - 23/01/2011 09:29:03 PM 1107 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Legolas - 23/01/2011 09:46:20 PM 1064 Views
I think Adams is an Irish citizen, and not a British one. Tim - 23/01/2011 11:45:34 PM 1022 Views
Re: I think Adams is an Irish citizen, and not a British one. Stephen - 23/01/2011 11:53:12 PM 1013 Views
The part that I find strange is... Tim - 23/01/2011 11:58:27 PM 995 Views
Re: Certainly. he's been on dodgy ground for a couple months. Stephen - 23/01/2011 11:45:39 PM 899 Views
I found out something else today which makes it even better. Tim - 24/01/2011 10:37:45 PM 1199 Views
I was reading your post and going "what about the Chiltern Hundreds"? Legolas - 24/01/2011 10:44:32 PM 1006 Views
Today's news: it got better again! Tim - 26/01/2011 07:51:51 PM 1073 Views
Oh, alternatively we could elevate him to the House of Lords. Tim - 26/01/2011 11:08:44 PM 1035 Views
Awesome idea. Something like "Baron Adams of Londonderry", I'm thinking. *NM* Legolas - 27/01/2011 07:54:26 PM 502 Views
We made his arch-rival a Lord, after all, so it would only be fair. Tim - 28/01/2011 08:26:15 AM 976 Views
"This is the voice of a life peer" Michael - 28/01/2011 02:18:04 PM 1108 Views
Here you go Elaine - 25/01/2011 12:55:33 PM 1127 Views
That's the site I found too. Tim - 25/01/2011 01:25:56 PM 961 Views
Right. Elaine - 25/01/2011 01:42:49 PM 1196 Views
well, the only interesting thing in swedish politics is a wikileaks document and the reactions... jh - 23/01/2011 06:21:00 PM 1079 Views
That's interesting Stephen - 23/01/2011 06:32:05 PM 1042 Views
What is inappropriate about trying to keep out barbaric unskilled people? Tom - 23/01/2011 10:59:53 PM 1056 Views
The inappropriateness is the generalisation in the claim Camilla - 23/01/2011 11:16:52 PM 1037 Views
Generalizations are inappropriate when they are disproven by statistics, and appropriate when proven Tom - 24/01/2011 07:33:14 PM 981 Views
I've looked into the statistics a bit more. Tom - 24/01/2011 09:11:52 PM 996 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 1027 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 913 Views
Schweden schafft sich ab, eh? Tom - 24/01/2011 07:31:33 PM 1187 Views
Not to mention... ßelals Girl - 26/01/2011 07:55:26 PM 903 Views
ßelals Girl - 26/01/2011 07:46:19 PM 1031 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 981 Views
I'd support that Stephen - 23/01/2011 11:26:20 PM 1052 Views
Ironically, if you de-officialised Irish you could get EU money to help preserve it. Tim - 23/01/2011 11:48:14 PM 955 Views
I never realised that Stephen - 23/01/2011 11:54:43 PM 977 Views
But why, why? Tom - 24/01/2011 08:35:43 PM 938 Views
Because it's the only thing justifying their insistence they're not British? Legolas - 24/01/2011 10:03:54 PM 1000 Views
But all language learning should be purely voluntary (after what parents teach their children). Tom - 25/01/2011 03:05:28 AM 966 Views
What, so you don't think students in high school should be taught foreign languages? Legolas - 25/01/2011 06:34:21 PM 998 Views
Irish is the mother tongue of about 7,000-15,000 people at most. Tom - 26/01/2011 05:04:00 AM 1026 Views
Wikipedia says it's more like 40k-80k. Legolas - 26/01/2011 06:41:41 PM 1397 Views
And Elaine, Stephen, or any other Irish people here: do feel free to comment. *NM* Legolas - 26/01/2011 06:42:36 PM 500 Views
Inflated statistics from what I've read. Tom - 26/01/2011 09:45:51 PM 939 Views
They might be, indeed. Elaine - 27/01/2011 01:08:09 PM 1181 Views
More to the point, are YOU interested in learning Irish? Tom - 26/01/2011 05:15:18 AM 940 Views
Calling Ireland the new Sodom and Gomorrah, are you? Legolas - 26/01/2011 06:02:05 PM 1090 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 1041 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 922 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 1082 Views
So Australians and New Zealanders are really English then? Austrians are just Germans? Tom - 25/01/2011 03:01:14 AM 1038 Views
I never said I agreed . Tim - 25/01/2011 08:19:11 AM 998 Views
I would suggest that a distinct dialect does the job just as well majander - 25/01/2011 02:23:59 PM 1037 Views
That's a very good point. Tom - 26/01/2011 05:06:32 AM 1014 Views
Indeed. Legolas - 26/01/2011 06:06:00 PM 1057 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 888 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 878 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 448 Views
What the hell happened to the Celtic Tiger Country? *NM* Blaine - 24/01/2011 05:47:12 AM 575 Views
Thrown away on bling and tat, unfortunately. Elaine - 24/01/2011 01:01:27 PM 911 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 993 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 883 Views
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