The First Official Language? The status of the Irish language in Dublin
© Nicola Carty
This paper explores the status of Irish in Dublin, the Republic of Ireland's capital city. I argue that, despite over 100 years of revival attempts, English remains the dominant language and working bilingualism does not exist. Nevertheless, Irish retains an extremely important cultural value that must not be overlooked.
I have focused on Dublin because it is the home of the largest concentration of the state's native and L2 Irish speakers (Central Statistics Office 2007). Moreover, as Ireland is highly centralized, both politically and economically, most large institutions are based in Dublin, and citizens country-wide are often required to carry out their dealings with Dublin-based representatives.
BA dissertation on Irish in Dublin (pdf)