This posting will appeal mainly to those readers familiar with the subtleties of the politics associated with the Irish language here in Ireland... Kevin Myers is a columnist in the leading Irish daily paper 'The Independent' owned by 'Sir' Antony O'Reilly. Kevin Myers and his boss, O'Reilly, would roughly share the same politics, namely a right wing neo-liberal economic viewpoint amalgamated with a peculiar brand of right wing ideology found here in Ireland, namely an ideological antipathy to all things associated with Irish Republicanism, Irish national identity, and a sort of permanent apologia for Ireland severing the colonial link to the UK.
Kevin Myers' Downfall from Myles na gCapailÃn on Vimeo.
An interesting contradiction emerges here, since those who may in some ways regret the establishment of an Irish Republic, can not be overtly antagonistic to the state itself, since this would imply loyalty to another state. But there is nevertheless an hidden agenda in Myers columns continually attacking the teaching of the Irish language in our schools, as well as trusty old themes such as the heroic role of the Irish in the British Army, wearing a poppy on Remembrance day, welcoming a visit of the Queen of England to Ireland etc etc ad nauseam.
Despite the huge pressure placed upon it by globalisation, the Irish language stubbornly refuses to disappear,and in fact is gaining in strength and popularity as an accompaniment as well as an alternative to the hiberno-english spoken by most people here. The theme of the attached video is the likely reaction of Myers (a la Hitler) to the real news that Sir Antony O'Reilly's flagship newspaper the Irish Independent has picked up the Irish language newspaper Foinnse and incorporated it into it publishing output as a free sheet. A good deal for the readers, most of who can read Irish, a good deal for the language, but a move that somewhat undermines Kevin Myers oft stated opinion in the very same newspaper that the language is irrelevant...I know that altering the subtitles for this famousscene from the German film classic has been done before, but the humour in these ( completely erroneous) subtitles is particularly well targeted.
