BrianH
At the Start
Irish town to vote on re-adoption of English name
Owen Bowcott, Ireland correspondent
Wednesday October 18, 2006
The Guardian
Dingle harbour – the town has become a battleground for the preservation of the Irish language as it prepares to vote on re-adopting its English name. Photograph: Richard Klune/Corbis
A referendum to decide whether a remote fishing port formerly known as Dingle can readopt its anglicised name has become a battleground for the future of the Irish language. The row comes as preparations are made for Irish to become an official language of the European Union next year, despite the fact that no qualified interpreters have yet been recruited.
The result of what is technically a plebiscite among 1,222 County Kerry voters is due tomorrow and is expected to reveal strong popular resentment towards the government's requirement that it should be known by the Irish place name, An Daingean.
The county council has begun removing road signs bearing the word Dingle and replacing them with the new name. The town is within a Gaeltacht, one of the country's few designated Irish-speaking areas.
Ireland's Official Languages Act gives the minister for rural, Gaeltacht and community affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, the power to order that only Irish place names be used in those areas. Mr Ó Cuív has warned that his department "cannot act on" the ballot, administered by Kerry county council, because it is not legally possible to have an English or bilingual name in a Gaeltacht area. He has said that the ballot has no legal basis.
But locals argue that if they win 612 votes - more than 50% of votes available - it will be a moral victory and should persuade the government to rethink its policy.
On a wind-buffeted peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic, An Daingean, as it is currently known, is the largest town within any of the Gaeltachts. Most of its income is derived from tourism. The decision by Mr Ó Cuív was highly unpopular with residents and the proposal in the referendum is to rebrand the port with a bilingual name - Dingle An Daingean Uí Chúis.
At Barr na Sráide, a pub on the town's Main Street, the owner, David Geaney, was confident of bringing back the old name. "People feel they are being bullied," he said. "They have lived with 'Dingle' all their lives.
"The fishing industry is nearly dead and farming is struggling. So 70-80% of the town's business is in tourism. If you are a tourist and trying to find the area, it will be a bit of joke if you can't find the name you recognise. We are all proud of our heritage but we want to be able to speak both [languages] and the minister is denying us the opportunity for that. Some traditionalists are slow to change."
It will not be a secret ballot and some fear it could prove socially divisive. Each postal vote has to be witnessed and individuals' names are on their papers.
The largest tourist attraction in the town for years has been Fungie the Dingle dolphin, a permanent resident in the bay who escorts the fishing fleet home. Trips out on a boat to see the playful creature are the highlight of many tourists' visits.
Those behind the plebiscite have warned that there is already another town in Ireland called simply Daingean, more than 100 miles away in County Offaly, and the name change could confuse foreign sightseers.
The chairwoman of Dingle Peninsula Tourism, Sile Gorman, has endorsed the bilingual solution. "Twenty years ago our children had to emigrate because there was no employment in the area," she said. "Now, because of tourism, our children have a real choice and can remain on the peninsula ... the government have spent millions promoting the Dingle peninsula brand and now they want to throw it away".
A vote by An Daingean to adopt the bilingual version would be an embarrassment for the government's promotion of Irish. On January 1 next year, following years of lobbying at Brussels, Irish will formally become an official language of the EU.
An advertising campaign has been launched seeking those qualified to meet the exacting standards of simultaneous translation required by the European parliament. Six potential recruits are undergoing further training. Only two MEPs - one Sinn Féin's Bairbre de Brún, from Northern Ireland - regularly use Irish in debates.
The one area where there has been a phenomenal growth in the use of the language is in cities where many families, particularly among the middle classes, have begun sending their children to schools where the whole curriculum is taught in Irish.
A spokeswoman for the department of rural, Gaeltacht and community affairs said: "The town name has always been An Daingean. The only thing that has changed is that the Irish form now has official status. If people want to put up tourist signs pointing to Dingle, that's fine."
Around 100,000 people are believed to use Irish as their main language on daily basis. At the last census nearly 43% of the population claimed to have some ability to speak the language.
Owen Bowcott, Ireland correspondent
Wednesday October 18, 2006
The Guardian
Dingle harbour – the town has become a battleground for the preservation of the Irish language as it prepares to vote on re-adopting its English name. Photograph: Richard Klune/Corbis
A referendum to decide whether a remote fishing port formerly known as Dingle can readopt its anglicised name has become a battleground for the future of the Irish language. The row comes as preparations are made for Irish to become an official language of the European Union next year, despite the fact that no qualified interpreters have yet been recruited.
The result of what is technically a plebiscite among 1,222 County Kerry voters is due tomorrow and is expected to reveal strong popular resentment towards the government's requirement that it should be known by the Irish place name, An Daingean.
The county council has begun removing road signs bearing the word Dingle and replacing them with the new name. The town is within a Gaeltacht, one of the country's few designated Irish-speaking areas.
Ireland's Official Languages Act gives the minister for rural, Gaeltacht and community affairs, Éamon Ó Cuív, the power to order that only Irish place names be used in those areas. Mr Ó Cuív has warned that his department "cannot act on" the ballot, administered by Kerry county council, because it is not legally possible to have an English or bilingual name in a Gaeltacht area. He has said that the ballot has no legal basis.
But locals argue that if they win 612 votes - more than 50% of votes available - it will be a moral victory and should persuade the government to rethink its policy.
On a wind-buffeted peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic, An Daingean, as it is currently known, is the largest town within any of the Gaeltachts. Most of its income is derived from tourism. The decision by Mr Ó Cuív was highly unpopular with residents and the proposal in the referendum is to rebrand the port with a bilingual name - Dingle An Daingean Uí Chúis.
At Barr na Sráide, a pub on the town's Main Street, the owner, David Geaney, was confident of bringing back the old name. "People feel they are being bullied," he said. "They have lived with 'Dingle' all their lives.
"The fishing industry is nearly dead and farming is struggling. So 70-80% of the town's business is in tourism. If you are a tourist and trying to find the area, it will be a bit of joke if you can't find the name you recognise. We are all proud of our heritage but we want to be able to speak both [languages] and the minister is denying us the opportunity for that. Some traditionalists are slow to change."
It will not be a secret ballot and some fear it could prove socially divisive. Each postal vote has to be witnessed and individuals' names are on their papers.
The largest tourist attraction in the town for years has been Fungie the Dingle dolphin, a permanent resident in the bay who escorts the fishing fleet home. Trips out on a boat to see the playful creature are the highlight of many tourists' visits.
Those behind the plebiscite have warned that there is already another town in Ireland called simply Daingean, more than 100 miles away in County Offaly, and the name change could confuse foreign sightseers.
The chairwoman of Dingle Peninsula Tourism, Sile Gorman, has endorsed the bilingual solution. "Twenty years ago our children had to emigrate because there was no employment in the area," she said. "Now, because of tourism, our children have a real choice and can remain on the peninsula ... the government have spent millions promoting the Dingle peninsula brand and now they want to throw it away".
A vote by An Daingean to adopt the bilingual version would be an embarrassment for the government's promotion of Irish. On January 1 next year, following years of lobbying at Brussels, Irish will formally become an official language of the EU.
An advertising campaign has been launched seeking those qualified to meet the exacting standards of simultaneous translation required by the European parliament. Six potential recruits are undergoing further training. Only two MEPs - one Sinn Féin's Bairbre de Brún, from Northern Ireland - regularly use Irish in debates.
The one area where there has been a phenomenal growth in the use of the language is in cities where many families, particularly among the middle classes, have begun sending their children to schools where the whole curriculum is taught in Irish.
A spokeswoman for the department of rural, Gaeltacht and community affairs said: "The town name has always been An Daingean. The only thing that has changed is that the Irish form now has official status. If people want to put up tourist signs pointing to Dingle, that's fine."
Around 100,000 people are believed to use Irish as their main language on daily basis. At the last census nearly 43% of the population claimed to have some ability to speak the language.
