How did we get the teaching of Irish so wrong?

was the title of an interesting article in the Irish Times last Wednesday (you can read the full article here). The gist of the piece is that the teaching of Irish is doing a disservice to the language and ultimately behind the ongoing decline in standards as gaeilge. Dr. Muiris O'Laoire of IT Tralee makes a very valid point about the lack of clarity surrounding the purpose of learning Irish: is it to communicate or is it for cultural reasons? If it is the former, then the current curriculum clearly falls short of that goal, whereas if it is the latter then if we continue teaching as we have been we are going to end up with the linguistic equivalent of the National Museum.
Equally interesting was the range of readers comments appended to the piece, 104 at the time of writing. Many of them criticized learning Irish from what I would term an utilitarian market perspective. The time and money spent on learning Irish was contrasted with the economical gains to be had from learning a modern foreign language instead (a famous dead French philosopher by the name of Bordeau termed this 'linguistic capital'. If you want to advance at all in the field of applied linguistics you need to invoke Bourdieu and 'linguistic capital' at every chance you get. Like this one). Certainly, from a rational, economic based, cost-performance assessment, the Irish language doesn't stand a chance. Though if you were to be rigorous in your application of such market criteria and follow through on the quashing of Irish education, you would also be compelled to advocate for the compulsory learning of Chinese instead. And if we are going to run the capitalist rule over language, then why not over all other endeavors as well? Professional team sports for instance. Why is it that so many support soccer teams where no real economic or social benefit is achieved besides the huge reallocation of financial resources from fans and media to a select few athletes who earn vastly disproportionate amounts of money for kicking a ball around a rectangle of grass for 90 minutes a week? Every day nurses save countless lives but they don't get paid 300,000 pounds a week the way Wayne Rooney does.
There are other, more subtler counter arguments to be made too against the abrogation of Irish. One is the cognitive benefits that come from learning two (or more) languages. A famous research paper published in 2010 examined the effects of language learning and use amongst Alzheimer patients. Those who were bilingual reported the delayed onset of symptoms some 5.1 years later than monolingual patients (for those so academically inclined, you can read it here). Developmental gains have also been found in cognitive awareness in young bilingual children as compared to their monolingual peers.
Ahh yes, you may reply, but why Irish? Why not French or German? Back to the economic argument: in terms of resources and access to areas where the language is actually used, Irish is the obvious choice. And really, where would you prefer to spend three weeks of summer at a language school - Sherkin Island or Berlin? Only one of these places is renowned for its sessions and lock-ins.
The final argument I would make in favor of learning Irish at school is very much colored by my emigrant's perspective. The Irish language is an integral part of what I take to be my Irish identity. As a English teacher in Japan the 14 years of compulsory Irish I had at school has had no bearing whatsoever on my current career, yet as the years go by I increasingly regret that I didn't retain more than the cúpla focal. Language contains within it the DNA of a culture; the words we use and the way we use them are more than mere transmitters of linguistic meaning. They speak of traditions, ways of thinking, approaches to the world and an understanding of our place in it. And they give voice to the inchoate memories of those who came before us but have been rendered silent by time.
Last summer I stood, as I have countless times before, to sing Amhrán na bhFiann at the start of the All Ireland Hurling semi-final between Clare and Limerick. Cian stood beside me and beside him stood his grandfather. It was Cian's first time in Croke Park and as 70,000 people around him began to sing the national anthem, he looked increasingly bewildered and more than just a little bit scared. When we reached the crescendo of faoi lámhach na bpiléar and the supporters' roars erupted, Cian's hand gripped mine fiercely.
"Daddy, what are you singing?"
I wasn't sure how to explain the concept of a national anthem to a 6 year old boy, so I simply replied, "It's an Irish song".
"And why are you singing it?"
"Because this is Ireland and we're Irish".
Seemingly content with that explanation, he let go of my hand and settled back in his seat. His Grandfather leaned across to him.
"And we support Clare".