Galway 2020’s distasteful treatment of native tongue

Bradley Bytes – a sort of political column with Dara Bradley

One of the few positive things Galway 2020 ever did was appoint an Irish language communications officer.

The organisation set up to deliver on Galway’s European Capital of Culture promise, didn’t seem too keen on the idea initially.

But eventually, it was persuaded, and appointed Freda Nic Giolla Chatháin to the role.

The Midlands woman proved to be one of the beleaguered company’s strongest assets.

And yet, when the sh*t hit the fan, and redundancies were announced, the role of Irish officer was deemed surplus to requirements.

In April, Freda was temporarily laid off, and was subsequently one of 17 people who were made redundant at the company, as the implications of Covid-19 hit home.

Leaving aside the personality involved, the very act of making an Irish language officer redundant in a company whose job it is to showcase Galway and Irish culture on a European and global stage, is moronic.

The position wasn’t just about translating media press releases into Irish, or giving a few sound bites on RnaG or TG4.

The role of the Irish language communications officer was about ensuring Galway 2020 was a bilingual organisation and that Gaeilge had a prominent position within the ethos of the organisation.

Making Waves, Galway 2020’s bid-book application to become 2020’s culture capital, had three themes of migration, landscape and language.

Sprinkled throughout Galway’s pitch to the EU to become Capital of Culture, are references to Galway being the “cradle of the Irish language”, and Galway City’s bilingual status.

Language was mentioned more than 100 times in the bid-book, and the Irish language and its Gaeltacht area in Connemara was one of the reasons Galway was chosen as a City of Culture by the European judges.

In fairness, the original programme of events that was cancelled by Covid-19 contained very many excellent Irish-language elements.

But isn’t there something fundamentally wrong about making an Irish language communications officer redundant in an organisation whose promises to promote the Irish language was one of the major reasons for its very existence?

It’s rank hypocrisy.

(Photo: Freda Nic Giolla Chatháin was Irish language communications officer with Galway 2020 and one of its strongest assets until she was one of 17 people made redundant this summer).

For more Bradley Bytes, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.