TuarascailEarnailnaMeanGhaeilge

2. Stráitéis úr na meán Gaeilge i gcomhthéacs taighde acadúil agus polasaí stáit, mar
atá, Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge 2010-2030.
a. Comhthéacs acadúil na straitéise seo
(i) Ré nua an athshealbhaithe (Céim 2 in athbheochan na Gaeilge):
Roinneann Ó hIfearnáin polasaí teanga suas i gceithre thréimhse 1922-1948, 1948-
1973, 1970í go 1990í luatha, 1992-an lá atá inniu ann nó 2000 (dáta foilsithe an ailt),
ag rá go gcaitheann siad scáil ar éabhlóid staid shocheacnamaíoch agus pholaitíúil na
hÉireann:
It is possible to divide the Irish language policies of the State into four periods,
which reflect the evolving socioeconomic and political situation in Ireland,
and the evolving relationship of the English-speaking majority to the Irish
language. The first stage is clearly that of ‘language policy development’ from
the foundation of Saorstát Éireann, the Irish Free State, in 1922 until 1948,
during which the foundations for all subsequent periods were laid. An
important arm of this was the establishment of Radio Éireann. Economic and
political stagnation followed, and during the second period of c.1948 until
1973, when Ireland joined the European Union (then known as the Common
Market), this stagnation and withdrawal from policy, was reflected in the
report of the Committee on Irish Language Attitudes Research in 1975. It was
during this period that RTÉ was founded, and Irish television was introduced.
The third period, from the 1970s to the early 1990s, is the one of ‘benign
neglect’, in which the state neither changed nor developed policy, taking no
definable position on the language issue. Instead it referred to established
practice, moved to consult the public through opinion surveys, and generally
supported initiatives taken by private groups. The final period, begun as
Ireland embraced full European integration with the Treaty of Maastricht in
1992, is a concerted push to redefine Irish as a minority issue. The state now
seeks to define Irish as a heritage language on the model used for ancestral
immigrant languages in Europe and the US, while simultaneously moving to
ensure services and support for a living linguistic minority among its citizens.
These two positions are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but in this context
the state has definitively abandoned any national revivalist policy.
(Ó hIfearnáin 2000: 98-99)
Is léiriú é an easpa dul chun cinn seo, agus an claonadh oidhreachtúil a glacadh le
freastal ar mhionlach an phobail a bhfuil seirbhísí á n-éileamh acu do 'ancestral
immigrant languages', ar thréigean pholasaí náisiúnta athbheochan na teanga. Mar sin
féin mura bhfuil fuinneamh úr ag teacht ó phobal na teanga féin ní dhéanfar dul chun
cinn. Is féidir an chúigiú tréimhse a chur le tréimhsí Uí Ifearnáin anois, is í sin,
30