Implications for the Galltacht

At the same time, it is important to tap the potential offered by the growing number of learners and the education system, whose benefits are boosted by widespread positive attitudes towards the language and a still strong sense of identity attached to it. Bolstering the presence of Irish in the Galltacht is not only sensible, but also essential: even if the Gaeltacht were to be supported more effectively in the near future, the presence of native speakers would still be fragile in overall terms and L2 speakers would continue to make up the vast majority of Irish speakers. Therefore they also need support so that they can increasingly contribute to the language maintenance project and complement the efforts in the Gaeltacht.

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In this context, a ‘new speakerness’ approach is suitable in that it seeks to find alternative ways for the language to survive. This is now facilitated by the establishment of Irish Language Networks, which are meant to provide a context for language use among non-native speakers. The implementation of a policy for the education system in the Galltacht is also among the priorities of the state, as explained by Ní Chorráin (2020b). These measures, combined with other factors such as the growing demand for Irish-medium education, represent a solid basis for the support of the language among learners, who it is hoped will also become more proficient and use Irish with greater frequency. In this context, the distinct role of non-native speakers as fully legitimate language maintenance actors emerges and needs to be acknowledged: not only do they participate in the formation, use, and development of the language; they also dominate it. Simply because of this, they need to be considered as complementary in modern Irish language use. There is no reason not to do so and it probably would cause more harm than good not to.

Thus, in view of the crisis in the Gaeltacht, it is reasonable to think that learners will gain in importance for the overall preservation of Irish. Against this background, it is also clear that Irish language policy today has to be set up in such a way that does not ignore the presence of English in Ireland, which is undeniably strong and is more than likely not going to diminish in any way at this point; if anything, it might even grow in influence. ‘New speakerness’ therefore provides an adequate response in a learner context, in that it embraces an idea of Irish spoken as a secondary language, while English retains the function of main vernacular in a globalised and dynamic sociolinguistic context. With this in mind, I believe the following points will require particular attention in the future:

• It would be absurd to expect Irish to replace English in the Galltacht. Thus, a symbolic or reduced use of Irish should not be stigmatised here. The promotion of positive attitudes should continue, and all levels of ability ought to be encouraged.

• Nevertheless, it will be fundamental to make sure that a sufficiently high number of learners become committed and competent new speakers: even

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in a Galltacht context, the distinction between language users and language activists will be crucial to ensure that Irish actually gains momentum as a living language amongst learners, instead of undergoing a process of what might be metaphorically called ‘linguistic taxidermy’. This will be the first step to initiate – at least to some extent – intergenerational transmission outside of the Gaeltacht, as suggested in the literature on ‘new speakerness’.

• Policy for learners should therefore now focus primarily on skill development rather than on acquisition planning. In terms of contribution to the maintenance of the language, the production of learners is not as urgent as the improvement of their capacity to use Irish.

• Efforts for the promotion of L2 Irish should be designed specifically to cater to the needs of non-native speakers, so as to obtain the best possible results (the aforementioned policy for the education system in the Galltacht is a good example for this).

• Measures for learner development should be conceived in a way that does not hamper the maintenance of the Gaeltacht, which is currently the most threatened component of the Irish-speaking community. Indeed, although both learners and native speakers are essential, the former are increasing while the latter are rapidly disappearing.

• New speakers remain a relatively unexplored category. For this reason, further research on networks of new speakers will have to be undertaken to better understand how they are formed, maintained, and expanded. This may fit into the monitoring process of Irish Language Networks as a way to improve their development.

• As in the case of native speakers, sufficient funding will have to be allocated to language planning organisations to maximise the effects of policy measures.

• Learner varieties of the language should be considered just as legitimate as native speaker varieties. Endemic conflicts in a minority language community are counterproductive.

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Again, my suggestions are not meant to serve as precise policy recommendations.

Instead, they provide a summary of the areas of intervention that I consider crucial.