I agree completely with Owen about not changing the Gaelic language. I do not agree however, with the way that he handled the situation. His country is being invaded! His hometown being torn apart by people who cannot even speak to him! How then , is he so calm about everything that is happening. The "visitors" cannot even pronounce his name and he is trusting them with his country's history and traditions? Lt. George had no other foundation for forcing the language change other than his own frustration with what he could not understand, couldn't we then just call him lazy for not learning the language himself rather than forcing an entire country to change for him. to this day only about 120,000 people in ireland still speak Gaeilge. It is now simply a lost treasure of the Irish community. it is not taught in schools as a primary language as it once was nor has it been truly passed down from family to family. Some Irishmen can't even understand it in it's full context.
I believe that what the United States is doing right now is right. Our government has not officially, but somewhat underhandedly, said that if an immigrant is to live in this country he/she must also speak the language. This is proper because we are not taking anything away from them. It is obviously their outright choice. However, the idea that Owen is allowing to be presented is preposterous because it is trapping them in a country they once thought of as home and not letting them live in it. Imagine how many lives had to have suffered because of the linguistic change instead of the one that could have made the decision freely an ask yourself if you would have accepted it as well.
Slan a fhagail ag duine
p.s. here's a funny little skit from translations in a school classroom that made me laugh
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