I wasn& #39;t good at Irish in school and at one point I genuinely believed, and don& #39;t bother fucking @& #39;ing me on this, that you couldn& #39;t really learn it unless you grew up in a home where it was the dominant language. So I felt like I& #39;d just missed out.. https://twitter.com/Motherfocloir/status/1286643531659055105">https://twitter.com/Motherfoc...

..a bit like wishing I was taller or better-looking or whatever. I just got dealt the non-Irish speaking handhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤷‍♂️" title="Achselzuckender Mann" aria-label="Emoji: Achselzuckender Mann"> To keep this from becoming a THREAD, I& #39;ll just say I eventually copped on. But the point is, I always liked the idea of being able to speak it.

So while it& #39;s true that most Irish people can& #39;t have a conversation in Irish, it& #39;s also true that most people "feel positively towards the language", according to the last census, putting the figure somewhere around 70% I think.

So I realised that although I can be in favour of things that should be done at a governmental level to support the language and Gaeltachtaí, probably the best thing that I can do as an individual to support it, is to just learn it..

..and to combine it with whatever skills I have (y& #39;know.. arty shit) so that, rather than being a spectator at this particular tug of war, standing there and clapping- I can actually put my hand to rope.
And I& #39;m only one wee fella, but it& #39;s like voting; +1 is better than nothing

So, I& #39;m just saying, if you& #39;re one of the many many people who "feel positively towards the language", it& #39;s not all or nothing.
You don& #39;t have to be a https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="✌️" title="Siegeshand" aria-label="Emoji: Siegeshand">fluenthttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="✌️" title="Siegeshand" aria-label="Emoji: Siegeshand"> speaker to use it. You can use whatever bits you have, in your art, twitter bio, speech, whatever..

and then just add to it bit by bit over weeks, months and years, ó ghiota go giota.
It makes me think of that bit in Labyrinth where she realises the big insurmountable wall isn& #39;t really there.