Sinn Féin’s Irish and Gaeltacht spokesperson, TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh, says
that the HSE has shown a “scandalous and narrow-minded” attitude
towards Irish language advertising.
It was reported on this site this week that heads Health Service Executive
not to broadcast announcements about the pandemic in Irish because they
think that the Irish language is more verbal than the English language
and that the announcements would be 35% more expensive as a result.
The
HSE said this after a Sinn Féin Irish language spokesperson inquired
about the lack of Irish language content issued by health authorities
since the start of the pandemic.
Speaking about the situation, Ó Snodaigh said that the
response he received from the Health Service Executive was “ass shit”
regarding the Irish language being more verbal and Irish language
advertisements being more expensive as a result.
Deputy
Ó Snodaigh said that the HSE’s approach to advertising in Irish was
unfounded and that the rights of Irish speakers were being “trampled”.
He
said that the answer he received to the questions he asked the HSE
about Irish language advertising showed that the language was “always
rethinking”. The HSE has decided not to broadcast pandemic announcements in Irish
because they believe that Irish is more verbal than English and that the
announcements would be 35% more expensive as a result. The HSE spent only 1.5% of its advertising budget on Irish language television and radio advertisements during the pandemic
