To my surprise, my thread of following theatre and show business in Ireland in relation to this election has almost always led me back to education. Many people I’ve talked to who work in “The ‘Biz” today were not introduced to it in school. A huge majority feels that art should not be extracurricular but a necessary subject like math or history. Since Enda Kenny has kicked up plenty of dirt with the idea of taking Irish off the leaving certificate exam, I thought I would have a closer look at the other national language and it’s use in the arts.

Will the Irish language suffer further if it is not dealt with more fairly in the arts? I spoke with Darach Ó Tuairisg, a TV and Theatre producer who works in Irish.

Darach told me that actors performing in Irish are paid less than those who perform in English. That goes for theatre, film, television and voice over. Irish language theatre companies also receive less funding than English-speaking theatre companies. With everyone getting so upset about Enda Kenny’s feelings that Irish should not be mandatory for the leaving certificate, will there even be an audience for Irish theatre/film/TV in the future?

Obviously, I cannot comment myself; having no experience working in Irish, or speaking it, I don’t feel fully able to take sides in the debate. However, it seems to me that if Irish is a national language, as is English, the two should have equal footing in arts funding, no matter how big a difference in numbers they may or may not attract.

Ó Tuairisg told me that when he tours Irish language stage shows he gets wonderful responses and has to extend tour dates, often without the support of the Arts Council.

So this discussion also leads me back to education in Ireland. If Irish is no longer mandatory for students, surely we could support Irish language theatre companies and poets and writers to go into schools and engage children with the language in that way? Wouldn’t it be more valuable to have artists working and speaking with children in a creative fashion; encouraging use of Irish in a way that could make the language come alive for them more? If we pushed Irish as a creative addition to curriculum and not as another necessity, wouldn’t more children be willing to engage with the language and even continue studying it, as they got older?

I am well aware that I may be out of my depth in this discussion, as I am American and can only take an outsiders perspective. I fully respect that the Irish language is an important part of Irish national identity and I look forward to all the comments this post may engender.