References

1. The Irish Language in a Changing Society: Shaping The Future
   Author: Advisory Planning Committee of Bord na Gaeilge
   Published by Criterion in 1986
   

   Bord na Gaeilge was set up by the Irish government to promote Irish as a living language & as an ordinary means of communication. It has since been absorbed into Foras na Gaeilge. All its members were Ministerial appointees. This report pours scorn on the the idea of reviving Irish as the spoken language of Ireland. On page xxxiv it refers to "xenophobic nationalism", "vulgarised republicanism" & the "nativistic ideology of the revivalists". It also says of its recommendations "This is by no means a plea to... favour Irish as opposed to English; indeed we are fortunate in having one of the major languages of the world". This makes its criticisms to government policies all the more potent.

2. The Death of the Irish Language
   Author: Reg Hindley, Senior lecturer in Geography at Bradford University (now retired)
   published by Routledge in 1990
   

   A large part of Hindley's book is given over to the results of his 1989 survey into the extent to which Irish was spoken. He took a sabbatical year from his University post to carry this out, and his results are regarded as authoritative by the "UNESCO Red Book of Endangered languages". Hindley is very dismissive of "Shaping The Future", saying that its recommendations are extreme & have no chance of being implemented. He also criticises those who conceal how little Irish is spoken by using misleading statistics to inflate the numbers of Irish-speakers. He accuses these people of telling "loyal lies".

3. Social Policy and Language Reproduction: Ireland 1893-1993
   Author: Pádraig Ó Riagáin
   published in 1997 by Clarendon Press
   

   Pádraig Ó Riagáin is a Research Professor in the Sociology of Language at Institiúid Teangeolaíochta Éireann

4. Plécháipéis Towards a language act
   Author: a discussion document from Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge
   published in 1998