The 23rd Language: Official EU Status for Irish as Portrayed in the Republic of Ireland's English-Language Press Cover Image

The 23rd Language: Official EU Status for Irish as Portrayed in the Republic of Ireland's English-Language Press
The 23rd Language: Official EU Status for Irish as Portrayed in the Republic of Ireland's English-Language Press

Author(s): Antony Hoyte-West
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Education, Foreign languages learning, Semiotics / Semiology, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Lexis, Semantics, Language acquisition, Pragmatics, Historical Linguistics, Comparative Linguistics, Psycholinguistics, Sociolinguistics, Cognitive linguistics, Computational linguistics, Descriptive linguistics, Higher Education , Philology, Translation Studies, Theory of Literature, Phraseology, Stylistics
Published by: Нов български университет
Keywords: Irish language; European Union; Republic of Ireland; print media; newspapers; media portrayal; qualitative content analysis

Summary/Abstract: Irish became the 23rd official language of the European Union ( EU) i n 2 007. Due to a lack of qualified translators and interpreters, it is currently subject to a derogation which restricts its use in the EU institutions, a situation which aims to be remedied by 2022. Yet the Irish language represents a unique case even within the Republic of Ireland itself. Under British rule, centuries of repression confined its usage to he rural fringes of society, a state of a ffairs that an independent Ireland has attempted to improve with limited success. This article analyses how recognition of official EU status for Irish has been depicted in the Republic of Ireland’s English-language print media. By performing a qualitative content analysis of the online archives of the country’s three major English-language newspapers, the aim is to illustrate how official EU status for Irish has been portrayed, paying specific attention to political, cultural and economic factors.

  • Issue Year: 6/2020
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 173-183
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: English