Shocraigh Ruairí Quinn gan dul i ngleic le ceist na Gaeilge éigeantaí nuair a bhí sé mar Aire Oideachais toisc an drochíde a tugadh do Enda Kenny nuair a mhol sé deireadh a chur le staidéar na Gaeilge mar ábhar éigeantach don Ardteist.
Tugtar an méid sin le fios i leabhar nua leis an iaririseoir John Walshe faoin dtréimhse a thug sé ag obair mar chomhairleoir speisialta ag Quinn.
Agus é ag trácht ar an ‘massive reform agenda’ a bhí ag Quinn, deir Walshe:
“At the outset, he decided to avoid the Irish language as a battle too far, as Enda Kenny had discovered in the run-up to the general election and alienated many in the still-powerful language lobby…
“Kenny wanted to retain Irish as compulsory for Junior Certificate Level but only as an option at Leaving Certificate level. Ruairí wisely decided not to pursue it; it would have sapped time and energy he wanted to expend elsewhere.”
Ba le linn an olltoghcháin i 2011 a mhol Enda Kenny go ndéanfaí ábhar roghnach den Ghaeilge ag leibhéal na hArdteiste.
Maíonn Walsh in An Education – How an Outsider Became an Insider and Learned What Really Goes on in Irish Governmnet gur bheag Gaeilge a chuala sé á labhairt sa Roinn Oideachais le linn a thréimhse ag obair mar chomhairleoir speisialta.
“Indeed, I met more Church of Ireland clergymen than Catholic bishops during my time there. As for the Irish language, I heard little Irish spoken and saw only one fáinne.”
Deirtear sa leabhar nua chomh maith go raibh ceann de na moltaí a rinne an tIar-Aire Quinn maidir le na coinníolacha iontrála do scoileanna a athrú bunaithe ar an gcreideamh go raibh ‘polasaí’ ag roinnt Gaelscoileanna daoine a chur ó dhoras.
“The belief was that some gaelscoileanna were refusing to admit pupils whose parents were not proficient in the Irish language, including non-native Irish, and the policy was to change that,” a scríobhann John Walshe.
Ba é an moladh a bhí ag Quinn ná go gcuirfí deireadh leis an riachtanas iontrála do dhaltaí go gcaithfeadh líofacht i dteanga ar leith a bheith ag a dtuismitheoirí.
Mhol Quinn nach mbeadh le déanamh ag tuismitheoirí ach a léiriú go raibh siad tiomanta do pholasaí teanga na scoile.
Deir John Walshe gur cuireadh brú ar an Iar-Thánaiste Eamon Gilmore an moladh seo a chur ó mhaith.
“Meanwhile, the gaelscoileanna successfully put pressure on Eamon Gilmore, a fluent Irish speaker himself, to allow them to insist that parents of children enrolling in their schools had to have some proficiency in the language.”
Scríobhann Walshe ina leabhar nua nár chuala sé ach ceithre fhocal Gaeilge riamh ó Ruairí Quinn le linn a thréimhse mar Aire Oideachais.
B’iad na focail sin ná ‘Tá mé ag éisteacht’ agus ba é Walshe féin a chuir isteach in óráid leis an Aire iad.
roibeard ó conaing
Bua don taobh frithGhaelach den diospóireacht is ea an focal “éigeantach” a úsáid. Ná húsáidtear feasta é. Ní ábhar “éigeantach” í an Ghaeilge, “croí-ábhar” is ea í. Dá mbeadh sí éigeantach bheadh ar chuile dhalta sa tír í a dhéanamh, agus tá a fhios ag an saol nach amhlaidh atá. Ciallaíonn “croí-ábhar” go bhfuil an t-ábhar seadaithe i lár an churaclaim ie go gcaithfidh chuile scoil é a chur ar fáil do chuile dhalta. Agus tá sin ceart is cóir, mar tá sé de cheart ag cách a theanga náisiúnta a fhoghlaim. Ná géillimisne, Gaeil, do théarmaíocht chlaonta an namhad!
Seán Mag Leannáin (@SeanMagL)
An aon iontas é gur theip air go hiomlán mar Aire Oideachais agus an dearcadh seo aige ar an teanga? Ceann mór air gan ribe gruaige idir é agus neamh, mar a dúirt mo chomharsa bhéal dorais liom faoi uair amháin.