Gaeilge

The recent Londonderry DPP meeting held in Gaelic sparked the usual response from reactionary unionist politicians, however personally I'm not threatened by the Irish language, those Protestants who react with complete animosity to the Irish language are helping militant republicans to politicize a legitimate part of the UKs collective cultural heritage.

Unfortunately Gaelic nationalists use Irish to define it as a sole part of Irish nationalist indentity, but why should it be so? Ulster Unionist member Sir Ian Adamson speaks fluent Gaelic, indeed my grandmother (who was a Southerner) spoke Irish yet was a proud unionist and a monarchist. In the 1970s there was an Orange Lodge in Belfast that promoted Gaelic and Irish Protestant culture.

Gaelic as a language is dwindling as numbers of native speakers decrease, also there is a lack of interest amongst Southern youth in learning it, beyond what they're force fed at school - I know for me being made to learn French at school was a put off - also English is the de facto national language of Ireland.

Personally I believe outside of a cultural context Gaelic is limited, aswell as being constrained by a narrowly defined political identity, interest in reviving the language might be better suited on a voluntary cross-cultural basis.