Should Irish be a compulsory subject?
467934
No and I say this as an active member of Fianna Fáil.\n\nIrish as a compulsory subject achieves nothing for the language, one either leaves secondary school with a great distaste for the language and an intention to never speak it again or, even if one did perhaps enjoy it, a fairly low level of competence, as has been demonstrated by a marked decline in Leaving Certificate grades for Irish. \n\nOverall the entire subject needs to be reinvigorated, the removal of the compulsory aspect would ensure that students who have a genuine interest in the language would study it and perhaps assist in promoting it, for the rest of the student body it simply is not right to force something upon them which they have no willingness to learn. Also a radical overhaul of the syllabus at both primary and secondary level is required to try and make the language both more relevant and learn-able, the current situation simply cannot continue any longer.
1178149
I suggest the I.R.A. donate all their arms evenly between the Yobs and the OAP! Enough of you poor dumb...individuals kill yourselves maybe you will leave Ireland to it's rightful owners...The Irish!\nI do believe the reason the crown dis-armed the citizens was because the lot of you are to damned stupid to be trusted with a gun.
451229
There are two kinds of people in this world, the Irish and those who want to be Irish.
924687
When the majority of the Northern Ireland population no longer want to be part of the UK.\n\nAnd frankly, most of us Brits would much prefer to see a united Ireland, leaving the Irish to sort out their own problems.
750907
Swift was famous for his biting satire. This essay proposes that the Irish eat their children so they wont be a burden. He's making a drastic point about the Irish needing real help. It might help you understand if you look into some of the history between England and Ireland, particularly during Swift's time.
461705
Yes the same as the Irish who were valued for far less than other races in the 1800's in the US. Enough already.....\n\nIf you don't believe this, look it up.
881290
I don't think that voting should be compulsory.  There are a lot of people that know nothing about the issues, and they shouldn't be voting.
268494
I agree with you- it's sad that most people only associate the Irish with one of 4 things: drunkenness, brogues, the color green and possibly the Blarney Stone. \nIf we were to celebrate it as a national holiday here in the U.S., perhaps more people would be aware of the long suffering plight of the Irish people. It's indeed a sad thing that a lot of folks who dress up in green once a year, don some green beaded necklaces and drink 'til they puke- all without really understanding who and what the Irish culture and people have gone through and continue to experience daily.
777535
Leave it ALONE; please.  The Irish Republican Army needs to be assigned to an embarrassing part in the back of a history book.\n\nAmericans have no truck with that unfortunate problem in Ireland and need to quit stirring the pot and donating resources to the rebels.  \n\nToo many people died in Ireland and the UK over these issues.  Mind you own business.\n\nDo you want people from Ireland to come over here and start a rebellion against our government?  No!\n\nWe have enough wars to worry about.  If you want to go to war then  volunteer for Iraq or Afghanistan.
1156082
Is breá liom Gaeilge agus tá mé ag foghlaim Gaelige le seacht mbliana anuas ach ní Éireannach mé, is Meiriceánnach mise!\n\nI love Irish and I have been learning Irish for 7 years now, but I'm not Irish, I am American.\n\nAgus, tá sé "Irish" níl sé "celt" nó "Gaelic"
293968
I honestly thought of the Irish as warm, kind,funny,open,and up for the crack.But I have to say you arent represented very well on Yahoo answers,I have read questions and answers from Irish people on this site and they are coming across as ignorant and narrow minded,i apologise if this doesnt apply to you .And my mum was from Ireland originally incase you are thiunking i am anti Irish
846304
By British I hope you are referring to England and Wales. Northern Ireland has some of the highest academic standards and results in Europe and the highest in the UK. It's simply because in the 50/60's academic selection in all regions bar Northern Ireland was abolished and state comprehensives introduced which did not allow for extra teaching of those less able as well as not allowing more intelligent children to flourish. \nThere also seems to be a tendency in British schools to 'dumb down' lessons and material. I agree with you, homework, examinations and essays are some of the most important ways of improving academic ability for the 'real world' and of course univeristy. Other factors are important also of course such as time to do artistic things and sport. Something again which English comprehensives fail to notice.\n\nIt's simply history mixed with the belief the children should not be worked too hard at school as they may get depressed, they fail to see that if the child falls through the education system as a failure in exams and coursework they will very likely get poorly paid jobs, be unemployed and become depressed as a result. As you suggest they will become marginalised in a society that moves on without them and many may resort to crime and addiction.\n\nThe education system in England is a shambles at the minute, hence why grammar and excellent state schools are in massive demand.
192790
Yes.  Not because of any political controversy, but because Patrick turned the Irish away from their Pagan roots and had them accept Christianity.  Now I know he saved western civilization through the monasteries, that they were the only literate people around, but still, could this not have been done anyway?  to lose the Pagan rituals, rites, stories, makes for a less rich heritage.  Sad.
381942
It should be mandatory.
906665
it is a quite simple yes mate, I am an ex Guardsman who served along side guys from the Republic who joined the Irish Guards.\n\nThey will carry out all the same standard checks as if you lived in the UK. I wish you all the best in the future.
180800
Some courses need to be required...everyone needs to learn basic math, history and science. But not everyone wants to learn art, music or drafting. These classes should be optional or non required. It should be required to take some form of fine arts but not everyone high school student should be required to take something like choir.
218979
Irish (Gaeilge), a Goidelic language spoken in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, is constitutionally recognized as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland. On 13 June, 2005, EU foreign ministers unanimously decided to make Irish an official working language of the European Union. The new arrangements will come into effect on January 1, 2007.\n\nAccording to statistics released by the Government of Ireland in 2004, there are approximately 1.6 million speakers of Irish in the Republic. Of these, 350,000 use Irish every day, 155,000 weekly, 585,000 less often, 460,000 never, and 30,000 didn't state how often. However, these statistics are often disputed by Irish language activists and their opponents. 80,000 people has been quoted as the number of people in the Gaeltacht who use the language as their first, daily language1. Other data state that 165,000 can speak Irish in Northern Ireland and 25,000 in the United States.\n\nThe number of native Irish-speakers in the Republic of Ireland today is a tiny fraction of what it was at independence. The Official Languages Act of 2003 gave people the right to interact with state bodies in Irish. It is too early to assess how well this is working in practice. Other factors were outward migration of Irish speakers from the Gaeltacht and inward migration of English-speakers. The Planning and Development Act (2000) attempted to address the latter issue, but the response is almost certainly inadequate. Planning controls now require new housing in Gaeltacht areas to be allocated to English-speakers and Irish-speakers in the same ratio as the existing population of the area. This will not prevent houses allocated to Irish-speakers subsequently being sold on to English-speakers. Outward migration of Irish-speakers could be reduced if the state, which is the main employer in the Republic of Ireland, were to exercise its right to have certain jobs performed in Irish and relocated to the Gaeltacht. On 3rd December 2003 the Minister for Finance announced a new Decentralisation programme, moving over 10,000 civil and public service jobs to 53 locations in 25 other counties outside Dublin. The government explicitly said this was being done to boost the economy of outlying areas. None of these jobs were used to provide employment for native Irish-speakers in the Gaeltacht.\n\nAccording to data compiled by the Irish Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, only one quarter of households in Gaeltacht areas possess a fluency in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe, described the Irish language policy followed by Irish governments a 'complete and absolute disaster.' The Irish Times (January 6, 2002), referring to his analysis, which was initially published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse, quoted him as follows: 'It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but the number now is between 20,000 and 30,000.'\n\nAccording to the language survey, levels of fluency among families is 'very low', from 1% in Galway suburbs to a maximum of 8% parts of west Donegal. With such sharp decline, particularly among the young, the real danger exists that Irish will largely become extinct within two generations, possibly even one. While the language will continue to exist among English speakers who have learned fluency and are bilingual (though mainly English-speaking in their everyday lives) Gaeltachtaí embody more than just a language, but the cultural context in which it is spoken, through song, stories, social traditions, folklore and dance. The death of the Gaeltachtaí would make a break forever between Ireland's cultural past and identity, and its future. All sides, irrespective of their view on the methodology used by