Tag: irish

Pegasus (Part 108)

As we left the ship, we stepped onto a platform that led to elevators on the wall. Chrissie walked ahead of us and pressed the button. Nothing seemed to happen at first. Then we heard a whizzing sound coming from below; it grew gradually larger. Then someone saw the elevator just before it arrived,

An artificial voiceover speaking in Irish told us to take a ticket, to remember where our ship was parked and that it would bring us to ground level. Hearing that the ancient language once more made me feel warm inside. I took the piece of pink paper and put it in my wallet.

Much to my surprise, I felt nothing on the way down. The opaque doors stopped you from seeing any movement also. The doors opened and we walked out to a packed street and a cacophony of sounds. People brushed up against our shoulders as they tried to get past. Large buildings looked almost magical as they stretched upwards. I realised I was feeling queasy, and took a moment to get my bearings. We needed to go towards the centre of the city, and see if we could do some sort of deal to get to the Emperor’s habitat.

In one direction, there was definitely an increased density of buildings.

“This way,”

Pagasus (Part 107)

A large electronic sign pulsed FAILTE as they drew closer.

“What does that mean?” asked with a frown.

“Welcome,” I replied.

“It’s Irish. The main language here,” Tabitha added. Her eyes were wide open.

“We need to find a set down area. Somewhere close to the centre, I reckon,” I continued.

The bustling city surrounded us as the ship sailed between the tall buildings. People thronged the choked city streets below us. Even the air tunnels that connected some of the taller buildings looked at their capacity.

I saw a “Parcail” sign in blue down the side of a building in the distance.

“Go there,” I said pointing at the building in question. It’s a dull monochrome grey without any windows.

As we approach, we get a message in Irish suggesting we allow the autopilot to take us in. Once I translated, Tabitha pressed the button to accept.

The ship then went into an ascent, before hovering over the top of the building, where we could see the stars again.

Then the ship descended. Ships of varying sizes were docked up against the wall. Then an empty space appeared, and the ship moved forward before it jerked slightly as it was clamped into place.

“Right, we’ve docked and the thrusters have all been switched off. Time to go,” Tabitha commanded.

The Irish language thriving? (comedy)

Ever since I was young, there was one thing you could be certain of. Well apart from death and taxes, that is. And that was that was the Irish language was on its death bed and soon would be no more.

It’s still dying according to the average person, even though I’ve never heard so much of it. Whether it be on the television, radio or when the Feile came to town.

They claim it’s Definitely Endangered. That young people no longer speak the language. This is despite the fact that 8 percent of students are now in all-Irish medium education.

Yes, things are so dire that I got a scam email sent to me in perfect Irish during the week. Does the Government have some secret deal with criminals, that a certain percentage of fraud must be conducted through Irish or they can’t claim some fraud grant. I wouldn’t put it past them!

Writing in Irish kind of worked too. I actually read the whole email rather than just deleting it. But the usual sob story wouldn’t work on me even if it was genuine, which it wasn’t.

I decided to do my own Irish exam yesterday. I know, the things I do for kicks. Even my parents looked at me funny when I told them about it. I got a D1 in ordinary level you see, something that my Dad loves to bring up. He got an honours in his, and it’s the only score of mine he remembers.

Anyways, I digress. After many years of watching and listening to Irish, mostly on TG4, I scored a B1 Lower Intermediate Irish. If things were really that bad for the language, I’d be heralded as part of the linguistic community. But I’m not.

Oiche mhaithe agat.