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AA customer says employee was stopped from speaking to him in Irish

The man cancelled his membership.

A BARRISTER SAYS that insurance firm AA stopped an employee from speaking Irish to him during a phonecall.

Speaking to Cormac ag a Cúig on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta today, Dáithí Mac Cárthaigh said that it was the employee who initiated the Irish language part of the conversation.

“I was asked to confirm my address, and when the young man on the other end of the phone saw that my address was Ráth Cairn (the Co. Meath Gaeltacht) he started to speak in Irish to me. That was great, and everything was going fine until the line was suddenly cut and then he came back to me but spoke in English.

“I thought it was strange the line broke, like in Russia long ago.

“I continued in English and I asked him was he not allowed to speak Irish and he said no.

“Since I knew they were recording, then I started a big speech. I said that it was a bad state of affairs and if that was the way the AA worked that I would be ceasing my membership.”

Mac Cárthaigh said that he had emailed The AA and recommended that they look at the ability to work in Irish and English as an advantage rather than a disadvantage.

“They should see it as an advantage to have someone like that as an asset to the service, that it’s something very positive, particularly since we live in a bilingual country, and that we are part of a multilingual European Union … That it would be entirely natural that such a service would be available, and that there was no sense to banning the use of Irish.

“Most of the time we have problems with the state service trying to find an Irish speaker … in this case I found an Irish speaker by accident and then the system put a stop to the use of the language.”

In a statement to the programme, The AA said that its calls were routinely monitored and evaluated but that this was only provided in English.

They said this was for purely practical reasons, and that there would be additional costs to provide their services in Irish as well as English.

Mac Cárthaigh said he wants legislation to be considered to stop employers from banning people from using the Irish language in the workplace unless there’s a good reason for doing so.

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162 Comments
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    Mute Ryan Kelly
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:11 PM

    Is í Gaeilge ár dteanga náisiúnta. Gníomh náireach ag an AA. / Irish is our national language. Disgraceful action by the AA.

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    Mute Sam Alexander
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:19 PM

    @Ryan Kelly:
    Stupidity having it as an official language when it is only spoken by a minority. Homelessness and health are more important for the common good than satisfying a few Gaelgóirí.
    The only reason you translated your comment into English is that only a very small minority of readers can read Irish.

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    Mute Ciara Ni Mhurchu
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:27 PM

    @Sam Alexander: It the as spoken by two people on the phone. They weren’t forcing it on anyone else.

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    Mute Ryan Kelly
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:30 PM

    @Sam Alexander: Well by your logic we shouldn’t help the homeless as they constitute a minority of the population also. Cop on.

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    Mute Eric De Red
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:46 PM

    @Ciara Ni Mhurchu: They were. The company was monitoring the quality of its service as it is entitled to do so. The employee frustrated the employer’s rights.

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    Mute Siobhán Ni Mhurchú
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:53 PM

    @Eric De Red: the profession thing to do was to allow the conversation to continue in Irish and then speak to the employee afterwards.

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    Mute Aine O Connor
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:23 AM

    @Eric De Red: I thought the customer was always right.

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    Mute Mark Broderick
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:34 AM

    @Sam Alexander: Most likely from the north.. Ballymena probably
    Sad comment

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    Mute Mark Broderick
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:38 AM

    @Sam Alexander: From the north no doubt.. Ballymena..see where your going with that comment
    Sad

    33
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    Mute Fran Kembo
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    Jan 18th 2018, 2:55 AM

    @Siobhán Ni Mhurchú:
    Tha mi uile ag aontachadh leat

    21
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    Mute zippo
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    Jan 18th 2018, 5:55 AM

    @Eric De Red: what about the employees rights ? I speak I rish whenever possible, my employer finds it great and is learning from me, so much so that sineage in my workplace is now in English, Irish and Polish. We do have a heritage and we should be proud to keep it and advance it.

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    Mute Carina Clarke
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    Jan 18th 2018, 6:48 AM

    @Sam Alexander: He is right to complain. If the business could be conducted through the Irish language, it seems ludicrous that the employee was told to stop and revert to English. Bad form by the RSA.

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    Mute Cathal Murphy
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    Jan 18th 2018, 7:30 AM

    @Siobhán Ni Mhurchú: the professional thing to do was to hire managers to monitor the recorded phone calls who can speak Irish. Any other response is embarrassing.

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    Mute Alan Murphy
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    Jan 18th 2018, 7:36 AM

    @Sam Alexander: it’s our language. Calling it stupidity to protect our heritage is in its self … stupidity.

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    Mute WinSomeLoseSome
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    Jan 18th 2018, 8:58 AM

    @Sam Alexander: Have Irish speakers taken all the houses and hospital beds?

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    Mute Al Coholic
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:25 PM

    @Ryan Kelly: it isn’t. They simply can’t monitor calls in Irish. I don’t want to pay a higher fee anywhere just to satisfy a few idealogues, to shield them.from the reality that Irish is in “palliative care”.

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    Mute Al Coholic
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:27 PM

    @Aine O Connor: in the same way as the wife is always right…humour them to prevent a fuss and alot of vitriolic gossip

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    Mute David Dickson
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    Jan 18th 2018, 1:04 PM

    @Al Coholic: have you tried the AA?

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    Mute Al Coholic
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    Jan 18th 2018, 2:33 PM

    @David Dickson: bunch of quitters.

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    Mute Julian Dowling
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    Jan 18th 2018, 9:17 PM

    @Sam Alexander: Irish will always be an official language of Ireland. Why is it that a minority speak the language Sam?

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    Mute Gearóid Ó Mórdha
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    Jan 19th 2018, 1:09 PM

    @Sam Alexander: I think it’s ridiculous that we are all forced to speak English just because we were invaded. I think if people want to speak English they should go back to England. It’s also a waste of money, we should learn another European language instead now that England is leaving the EU. #NilSeCgl

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    Mute Kevin Farrell
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    Feb 23rd 2018, 12:46 PM

    @Eric De Red: Poor excuse from the AA. I think the they just found the person to promote to the position to monitor calls in Irish!!!

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    Mute Paddy Murray
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:10 PM

    Is í Gaeilge ar teanga náisiúnta. Is neamh ceart é nuair a deireann comhlacht mór nach bhfuil Gaeilge á usáid ag obraithe ar an telefón. Níl ach beagán agam, ach déanaim iarracht.

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    Mute Siobhán Ni Mhurchú
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:25 PM

    @Eric De Red: you’re embarrassing yourself now …

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    Mute Pat O'Brien
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:54 PM

    @Siobhán Ni Mhurchú: he’s just a tróill!!

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    Mute Eric De Red
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:54 PM

    @Siobhán Ni Mhurchú: Only a little bit!

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    Mute Mark Broderick
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:48 AM

    @Eric De Red: You really have made a plonk of yourself, your embarrassing and a sad troll

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    Mute Thosj Carroll
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:53 AM

    @Paddy Murray: English please…..I can’t read your Irish language

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    Mute Cicero
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:55 AM

    @Paddy Murray: I guess your comment was only useful for the 73,000

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    Mute Tony Stanley
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    Jan 18th 2018, 6:29 AM

    @Eric De Red: certainly seems like you only have a “little” bit!

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    Mute Alan Murphy
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    Jan 18th 2018, 7:37 AM

    @Eric De Red: you’re a

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    Mute Dave barrett
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    Jan 18th 2018, 7:53 AM

    @Paddy Murray: what did you say?

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    Mute Pat Lonergan
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    Jan 18th 2018, 8:12 AM

    @Siobhán Ni Mhurchú: no he’s not he , his view is shared by the majority of Irish people

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    Mute Liam M
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    Jan 18th 2018, 8:16 AM

    @Paddy Murray: ” Irish is our native language. It’s not right when a big company says you can’t use Irish when working on the phone. I only have a little, but I try. ” Bhuel, bailíonn brobh beart. Iarracht mhaith, cé go bhfuil roinnt mbotún ann, dhéarfainnse.

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    Mute Thomas Maher
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    Jan 18th 2018, 10:23 AM

    @Paddy Murray:
    Hey, looks like 15 years of Irish in school worked! I understood almost most of that, I think.

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Jan 17th 2018, 10:59 PM

    What are the AA thinking , how can they ban one of the official languages of Ireland from being spoken on a call .
    Stupidity in beauracracy .

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    Mute Eric De Red
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:02 PM

    @Ken Hayden: It’s a language of the state but next to nobody in the country speaks it. A failed nationalistic ethnic diktat.

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:04 PM

    @Eric De Red: ”A failed nationalistic diktat ” what are you on about ?

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    Mute Ryan Kelly
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:06 PM

    @Eric De Red: labhraím an teanga, tá tú mícheart/I speak the language, you’re wrong

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    Mute Siobhán Ni Mhurchú
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:07 PM

    @Eric De Red: still shouldn’t have been stopped though ..

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    Mute Sam Alexander
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:11 PM

    @Ken Hayden:
    Stupidity having it as an official language when it is only spoken by a minority. Homelessness and health are more important for the common good than satisfying a few Gaelgóirí.

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    Mute Paul Devlin
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:16 PM

    @Sam Alexander: fukkkkk yoooo

    139
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    Mute Eric De Red
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:17 PM

    @Ryan Kelly: I believe you constitute “next to nobody”.

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    Mute Siobhán Ni Mhurchú
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:18 PM

    @Sam Alexander: it doesn’t matter how you feel about the language it’s still our official language..

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:18 PM

    @Sam Alexander: The reason the English banned us from speaking it was because they knew it was associated with our culture and national identity .
    They tried the same with the Welsh and Scottish language .
    How many people in Ireland are wheelchair users , I bet it’s less than people who speak Irish , yet every public building has to cater for their access and provide facilities , should we also stop that , ”for the common good ” .
    Just typing those last words reminds me of Orwells 1984 .

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    Mute Dj
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:20 PM

    @Sam Alexander: What does homelessness have to do with the Irish language? By your logic I could say that homeless people are a minority so why waste time satisfying them.

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    Mute Ryan Kelly
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:28 PM

    @Eric De Red: Bhuel, labhraíonn 73,000+ duine an teanga i bhur tí gach lá! Mise freisin! Oh agus níl na milliúin duine atá in ann an Ghaeilge a labhairt san áireamh sin! / Well, 73,000+ speak the language in their houses every day! Me too! Oh and that doesn’t include the millions of other people who are able to speak Irish!

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    Mute Bart
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:35 PM

    @Ken Hayden: I think you’re on to something there, have all Irish speakers declared disabled.

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    Mute Eric De Red
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:36 PM

    @Ryan Kelly: 73,000 or millions? Are you in the Guards?

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:40 PM

    @Bart: The funny thing that not a lot of people may realise , that when Britain leaves the E.U , English will no longer be an official language , as ours is Gaelic .

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    Mute Ryan Kelly
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:40 PM

    @Eric De Red: You really couldn’t comprehend my comment could you? Comical.

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    Mute Ryan Kelly
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:40 PM

    @Bart: Aren’t you mature.

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    Mute DB
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:43 PM

    @Sam Alexander: that comment is sad on so many levels..

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    Mute Siobhán Ni Mhurchú
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:47 PM

    @Eric De Red: are you not Russian ? so why you bothered about our language?

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    Mute Noirin Kavanagh
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:50 PM

    @Ryan Kelly: labhraím Gaeilge gach lá freisin!

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    Mute John Doe
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:55 PM

    @Eric De Red: who are you to decide how important our national language is? If you don’t speak it then fck off and mind your own business.

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    Mute Ryan Kelly
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:59 PM

    @Noirin Kavanagh: b’fhéidir, ba cheart dúinn an Ghaeilge a labhairt gach lá ar na meáin cumarsáide. Tá an cleachtadh ag teastáil uaim lol (mar a fheiceann tú ag mo thuairim seo)!

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    Mute Ryan Kelly
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:01 AM

    @Noirin Kavanagh: Maybe, we should speak Irish on social media every day! I need the practise (as you can see by my comment) lol! *I translated this comment out of respect to those on here who don’t speak Irish.

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    Mute Kieran
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:25 AM

    @Sam Alexander: so we’ll scrap everything else until homelessness and health are sorted will we? Good luck with that…….clown!!

    46
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    Mute Aine O Connor
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:26 AM

    @Ken Hayden:
    Simple because whoever is monitoring the calls probably doesn’t speak Irish and since they record most calls they need to understand what was said.

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    Mute Cicero
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:48 AM

    @Ryan Kelly: would you support it being made optional in schools?

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    Mute Ryan Kelly
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:50 AM

    @Cicero: In secondary school yes but I believe children should be exposed to the language in primary school and then be allowed decide whether to continue with it through secondary school.

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    Mute Mairtín
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    Jan 18th 2018, 7:52 AM

    @Ken Hayden: Leo spoke Irish at E.U. Council yesterday as our ‘First Language ‘.!!

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    Mute marg fitzgerald
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    Jan 18th 2018, 11:15 AM

    @Aine O Connor: They could ask the staff member, And he was obviously filling in a form as he spoke.

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    Mute John Loftus
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    Jan 18th 2018, 3:56 PM

    @Eric De Red: It is my first language Eric and the First Language of Ireland. If the AA want to do business they should provide the service in the Irish language

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    Mute Anthony newey
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:10 AM

    Interesting.I am English now living here and am learning Irish which I find ,perhaps not surprisingly , to be a very lyrical language.The fact that it is not the main language of the country does not make it any less valid .Switzerland ,after all , has four official languages and they seem to get along fine.I am dismayed by the comments here which dismiss Irish as irrelevant.Variety is the spice of life.

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    Mute Cicero
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    Jan 18th 2018, 1:00 AM

    @Anthony newey: are all 4 not in use by millions and millions of other people every day, therefore actually being useful to know?
    Surely there are not only 80k able to speak any of them?

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    Mute Anthony newey
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    Jan 18th 2018, 1:42 AM

    @Cicero: Romansh is estimated to be spoken daily by 36,000 people and regularly by 60,000 and is the main language in the canton of Grisons,which in terms of size might be equivalent to the Donegal Gaeltacht .A friend of mine from Zurich (German- Swiss speaking ) worked in Ticino (Italian-Swiss speaking) and obviously had to use the local language.The Swiss are ,basically , multi-lingual .The problem with Irish goes back to the foundation of the Free State when it was thought that you just teach it in school to Leaving Certificate level and it would just remain in daily use as a matter of course.That was naive ,to say the least,since all daily life ( e.g. Proceedings of the Dail) continued to be conducted in English.

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    Mute Anthony newey
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    Jan 18th 2018, 2:28 AM

    @Anthony newey: just checked .Grisons is actually about one and a half times the size of Donegal itself.

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    Mute Mairtín
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    Jan 18th 2018, 7:55 AM

    @Anthony newey: Catholic Church, was no friend of the ‘Irish’ language.

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    Mute Orla van der Noll
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    Jan 18th 2018, 9:30 AM

    @Cicero: imagine the whole world spoke the same language. How boring would that be! It’s the same as everyone having to wear the same type of clothes, or eat the same kind of food, or like the same kind of music. I could go on and on. Variety is what makes human cultures and the world would be super boring if it wasn’t for variety. So stop degrading the Irish language just because it’s not spoken by the majority.

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    Mute Cicero
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    Jan 18th 2018, 11:47 AM

    @Orla van der Noll: I have repeatedly said I am fine with people choosing to speak Irish, Orla – have not denigrated it at all. I am just in favour of people being given a choice to learn it or not.
    Your point about variety is a fine one, although a bit of an extreme misrepresentation that what I am suggesting means we all wear the same clothes or like the same music.

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    Mute Eric De Red
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:00 PM

    The company provides its services in English, the language everyone in the country speaks. The company is well within its rights to monitor the quality of its services and it is unreasonable to be required to do so in a minority language.

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    Mute Jane
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:04 PM

    @Eric De Red: its a national language

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:06 PM

    @Eric De Red: It’s an official language of this country , what part of that do you not understand ?

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    Mute Steve Austin
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:11 PM

    @Eric De Red: I saw nowhere when I signed up with the AA that Irish was forbidden.

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    Mute Eric De Red
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:19 PM

    @Ken Hayden: It an official language of the state. The language of the country is the one spoken in the country. English.

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:26 PM

    @Eric De Red: Except the parts of the country where Gaelic is spoken on a daily basis .
    .

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    Mute Eric De Red
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:39 PM

    @Ken Hayden: So? A tiny minority must be appeased no matter what the cost?

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:39 PM

    @Eric De Red: Well, if it isn’t Eric de Red. The man that’s completely ignorant on issues related to languages and the accompanying social and psychological issues, and who likes to try make pronouncements on how people should or should not live with a fervour bordering on the fanatical. He’s just like a religious fundamentalist, except religion is replaced by language in his case.

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    Mute Eric De Red
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:41 PM

    @Brian Ó Dálaigh: Brian, how are you? Have you an argument to make?

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:44 PM

    @Eric De Red: I think you have the wrong end of the stick here , the two people were speaking Gaelic freely , they were FORCED to stop speaking it .

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    Mute Eric De Red
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:53 PM

    @Ken Hayden: See my earlier comment. There were three parties to the call: the two active participants and the company itself. The company is entitled to monitor the quality of its service. The employee is not entitled to prevent this. Neither is the employee, nor is the state, entitled to force the use of a minority language and its associated costs on the company. What if the employee bound the company legally without its knowledge? What if the employee missold a contract? The company has acted completely properly in this case.

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    Mute Brian Ó Dálaigh
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:56 PM

    @Eric De Red: Why do I need to have an argument to speak to you? Do I also need your permission for that too, as I also seem to need one to speak my first language? Your opinions regarding Irish are not based on any facts. Your hot air and bluster may keep you giddy at the idea of insulting and denying others their rights, but the question which you should ask yourself is what has gone wrong in your own life to make you project, through the lens of a question of language, your hatred, bile and lies onto innocent people?

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    Mute Eric De Red
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:04 AM

    @Brian Ó Dálaigh: If you have an argument, make it.

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:09 AM

    @Eric De Red: I would say that as company policy in a country where Gaelic is an official language , it is bad company policy to prevent an official language which is spoken on a daily basis by not providing Gaelic speakers to monitor calls .
    And like I said in another comment , when Britain leaves the E.U , English will no longer be one of the official languages of the E.U .

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 18th 2018, 1:04 AM

    @Ken Hayden:
    Isn’t English the official language of Malta?

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    Mute Jason
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    Jan 18th 2018, 1:36 AM

    @Ken Hayden: It being an official language means that the government are required to provide for it not anyone else. A private company is under absolutely no obligation to provide for Irish speakers. Hell they’re not even under an obligation to provide services in English..if they want they can communicate solely in Aramaic not that they’ll have many customers…

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    Mute Mr Phil Officer
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    Jan 18th 2018, 3:42 AM

    @Eric De Red: The Irish language didn’t die out, an attempt was made to wipe it out, millions lost their lives and homes just because they spoke it. The plan was “the total annihilation of Celtic and Pictish bloodlines and the eradication in its entirety of their culture and language”, it must have been hell on earth for the natives living under the ascendency rule but a resolute few at great risk ensured the language survived. The language is actually making a comeback which is nice to see.

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    Mute Críostóir Ó Faoláin
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:06 PM

    @Eric De Red: Unreasonable? No, it not unreasonable for Irish people to be allowed to speak in irish in Ireland. The mind boggels at the mentality of someone who would think that it is.

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    Mute Clíodhna Ztoical
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:32 PM

    @Eric De Red: Lets ignore the fact that it’s an offical language of the country – I know plenty of Belgians who can’t speak french – do you not think it’s just good customer service to allow an employee to speak in a customers chosen language if it makes the customer happy? All this rubbish about monitoring calls etc what happened to just good customer service? I speak ok french but certainly not fluent and I’ve rung french companies and have been on occasion switched to english speaking employees when they see it will just make it easier. If someone rang up AA whose english was ok but not their first language and the employee speaking with them also spoke their first language why shouldn’t they try and make the whole situation just easier? We are talking about a one on one phone conversation FFS

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    Mute John Loftus
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    Jan 18th 2018, 3:58 PM

    @Ken Hayden: Its the First Language. What part of that do you not understand.

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Jan 18th 2018, 5:25 PM

    @John Loftus: Did I say it was the second language by any chance ?

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    Mute Sean Higgins
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:10 PM

    I hear it’s because management fear that employees are using this ‘foreign’ language to tell people to shop around because they are getting ripped off……

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    Mute Tim O'Brien
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    Jan 17th 2018, 10:59 PM

    Meanwhile, back in the real world… but then, barristers wouldn’t know about that would they?

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    Mute john Appleseed
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    Jan 17th 2018, 10:59 PM

    Dick move by the AA

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    Mute Richard Keogh
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    Jan 18th 2018, 6:20 AM

    @john Appleseed: Correct move by the AA, the employee could’ve said anything and bound them to something which is not company policy. They need to have a record which they can understand and which will stand up in court.

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    Mute Gearóid Ó Fallamháin
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    Jan 18th 2018, 8:14 AM

    @Richard Keogh: Irish is recognized in court?

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    Mute David Grey
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    Jan 18th 2018, 1:30 AM

    Absolutely crazy!
    I’m English- living in Ireland for 37 years, is love to be able to speak Irish and wish everything in a shop, supermarket and everywhere else was in Irish first, my country literally beat the Irish out of you, be like the Welsh and make it a living language- most learning is subliminal- be proud of your language and encourage it’s use!!

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    Mute Ronan McKeon
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    Jan 18th 2018, 7:55 AM

    @David Grey: Unfortunately Irish was taught extremely poorly here giving most people negative associations with it. My memories are of teachers chastising whole class rooms for not speaking it, when you did speak it for not doing it properly and for your parents not speaking it at home.
    You couldn’t win.
    Can you blame people for not caring about?

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    Mute marg fitzgerald
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    Jan 18th 2018, 11:19 AM

    @Ronan McKeon: Speak for yourself

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    Mute Jason
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:10 AM

    I think it’s safe to say that at this stage next to nobody in Ireland is fluent only in Irish yet there’s a certain group of Irish speakers who’ll go out of their way to make it difficult to communicate with them. What’s infuriating is everyone knows they’re perfectly capable of speaking English yet they demand that hundreds of thousands of euro that could be spent elsewhere are funnelled into placating them being awkward. The bottom line here is that they basically want an entire separate department set up to process their communications with them inevitably passing the costs to every one else.In a safety critical environment such as making sure your car is road worthy it is legally necessary that there’s a record of what’s been communicated and it’s important that everyone understands.

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:23 AM

    @Jason: So hire a bi-lingual monitor , it’s simple . No one is asking an Irish company to hire a native Xhosa speaker .
    Of course there maybe people who want to see Gaelic spoken more often , and may push the issue , but a bit of legislation could solve the problem .
    For example , companies with over 10,000 customers/members should provide a designated Gaelic speaker .

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    Mute Jason
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:42 AM

    @Ken Hayden: Why .. when everyone of those Irish speakers is perfectly capable of speaking English should a company be required to spend money on a redundant service… and more importantly why should all of their customers be expected to pay for a few people deliberately being awkward ? And do you honestly think that one person is going to be able to translate the thousands of pages of information that the AA sends to it’s customers every week into Irish? Everything from policies to email templates to billing is going to need to be translated because let’s face it you just know that the same people refusing to communicate in English are going to demand that too.

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    Mute Críostóir Ó Faoláin
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:09 PM

    @Jason: Since when is it more expencive to answer a phone in Irish than in English? I used to work in a call center providing a service in Irish, claims that it is more expencive is bullshit.

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    Mute Colm Ó Broin
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    Jan 18th 2018, 7:21 PM

    @Jason: As hard as it may be for you to believe there are some Irish people who prefer to speak Irish, they are not doing this to be “awkward” they are doing it because they value the Irish language same way as people in England, Holland, Poland etc value their languages and want to speak them as much as possible.

    Basically you’re arguing for compulsory English.

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    Mute Elma Phudd
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:11 PM

    The line broke, the monkey got choked and they all went to heaven in a little row boat..

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    Mute ballbreaker
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:15 PM

    @Elma Phudd: clap hands

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:15 PM

    An excellent reason to sign up to the AA.

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    Mute phil
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:59 PM

    What if the customer had a complaint with how the call was handled buy there is no Irish speaker on the SMT to translate the call.

    Why should a company spend 40K a year to take on a manager with fluent Irish for a language rarely used ?

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    Mute Jason
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:50 AM

    @phil: 40k? 180 of the translators at the EU are on over 100k per year… And the AA are going to need similarly trained translators to translate the legalese not just someone who rocks up from Connemara.Proper translators don’t come cheap… Your looking at a few million Euro per annum minimum to do it properly and we know who’s going to pick up that tab…

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    Mute Cicero
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:59 AM

    @Jason: wait until they are forced to issue the policy in Irish and we have thousands of repeats of our friend up to the north that racked up a 750k legal bill for the state because he was a thief and didn’t want to be prosecuted

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    Mute Mairtín
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    Jan 18th 2018, 7:56 AM

    @phil: Because ‘Rare’ people use it.!!!!

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    Mute Anthony newey
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:47 PM

    @Cicero: sure he was a prat but Leinster House has produced plenty of those before and who have cost the country rather more than that .

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    Mute Colm Ó Broin
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    Jan 18th 2018, 6:44 PM

    @Cicero: Compulsory Irish bad, Compulsory English good?

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    Mute Paul O'Brien
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    Jan 18th 2018, 1:13 AM

    Irish is a beautiful language and part of our heritage. It’s sad when people attack it, or foist it on others thereby making people dislike it.

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    Mute DG
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:17 AM

    I’d ban the clown that told him not to speak it

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    Mute Liam Ahern
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:13 PM

    Shooneenism is alive and well i see!

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    Mute Clíodhna Ztoical
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:39 PM

    To those saying it shouldn’t be an offical language because so few people speak it there are plenty of countries with offical languages that only small fraction of the country speaks. Belgium has 3 offical languages – Flemish, French and German but only 1% of the country speaks German as their first language. Or look at South Africa, they have 11 offical languages! No expects a company to speak all 11 languages but if an employee does and a customer does why shouldn’t they converse in that language?

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    Mute marg fitzgerald
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    Jan 18th 2018, 11:10 AM

    It a French person living here struggled with English on the phone, And a helpful staff member spoke French to them, would a supervisor stop the conversation ,?

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    Mute Daithi De Roiste
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:08 PM

    Not getting the Russia comment??

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    Mute Eric De Red
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:21 PM

    @Daithi De Roiste: Gaelgoer paranoia.

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    Mute Micheal S. O' Ceilleachair
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    Jan 18th 2018, 4:58 AM

    I doubt if it is an anti-Irish thing. The reality is that English is the international language of business. If I am in a Gaeltacht I speak Irish because I respect the language of the locals. If in France I’ll use whatever little French I know for the same reason. However I’d be far more likely to use English in a business context.

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    Mute Rónán Mi$téil
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    Jan 18th 2018, 11:09 AM

    It is insulting, derogatory and abusive to equate a language to merely a ‘hobby’ when it is spoken daily as a first language in all areas of life; social, professional, and legislative etc by many thousands of people. This level of disrespect would not be tolerated were this a discussion on Spanish or French etc.
    The hatred and lack of respect people like yourself have towards the Irish language is the biggest hurdle we have in trying to welcome new learners of the language and keeping current speakers engaged. Being constantly being abused and belittled and bullied for any other aspect of my life would not be tolerated in modern Ireland, why should speaking a language be any different. Cop onto yourself and have some respect for other people.
    No one asked for money to be spent unnecessarily in this instance, the guy on the phone just happened to speak Irish. This impacts you and other non Irish speakers in absolutely no way at all.

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    Mute Thosj Carroll
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:56 AM

    Irish language is ideal for pleasure not business and that’s what AA business is for…

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    Mute cud
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    Jan 18th 2018, 7:50 AM

    An bhfuil cead again dul go dti an leathrais

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    Mute Con Connolly
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    Jan 18th 2018, 2:00 AM

    A mighty Alien fleet lands in Gentry. A hulking great Alien, with 4 arms, tusks, and horns, clad in savage looking space armour and bristling with weaponry approaches the lone elderly observer. “We claim this Planet, and all its lifeforms and resources, which we will exploit mercilessly and cruelly. Resistance is futile and will be savagely punished, unless you submit immediately. Take this message to your leaders!”

    The startled old man pauses, looks the Alien up and down and says; “Cinnte, a bhuachaill, ach aris, as Gaeilge anois”.

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    Mute Rochelle
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    Jan 18th 2018, 9:54 AM

    It’s funny how many call this a rip off republic and yet would seemingly be quite happy to force the overhead of Irish language translators on every private business to cater for the convenience of the 0.5%. That’s the reality, it isn’t feasible to expect AA to allow calls to occur where management, HR and their legal team have no idea what was being communicated. Anyone who has ever had a customer facing role with a company would understand it’s the same everywhere and reasoning why you must communicate only in the language the service is offered in.

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    Mute Donal Carey
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    Jan 18th 2018, 9:26 AM

    Fair play to you I have some policy with them and I will be finishing with them as soon it is up.

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    Mute 245hkJ01
    Favourite 245hkJ01
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    Jan 18th 2018, 6:05 AM

    Ba chóir go mbeadh an tonscadal ar lug frithbhrabach, daonlathach, freagrach, agus curtha faoi chúram an stáit.

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    Mute Martin Murphy
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:38 PM

    Gob*****s

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    Mute Missyb211
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    Jan 18th 2018, 6:29 AM

    so the people who monitor the conversations may not understand? Makes.sense but seems wrong when you consider is our first official language! This is the trouble with Irish having that status. Not that many people can speak it although 45% claimed.they could on the census.

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    Mute Dave barrett
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    Jan 18th 2018, 7:55 AM

    @Missyb211: and every body tells the truth on the census!

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    Mute Gerry Wogan
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    Jan 17th 2018, 11:55 PM

    Which AA are you referring to,
    Alcoholics Anonymous or Automobile Assosiation?

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    Mute Cicero
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:57 AM

    @Gerry Wogan: probably an equal chance of being fixed as promised by either

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    Mute Eoin Fitzpatrick
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    Jan 18th 2018, 11:51 AM

    I demand to speak with someone in Pictish

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    Mute tom McCormack
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    Jan 18th 2018, 4:03 PM

    If the customer was Polish and the employee conducted their phone conversation in Polish the manager would be correct to tell the employee to only use English.

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    Mute Colm Ó Broin
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    Jan 18th 2018, 6:42 PM

    @tom McCormack: Compulsory English eh?

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    Mute eastsmer
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    Jan 18th 2018, 9:34 AM

    Coincidentally I cancelled my AA membership yesterday as well but for the reasons that I have 2 other breakdown facilities, one from the Garage and one from the Insurance Company.
    However shortly after I noticed 3 different AA vans whilst driving – hoping it’s not a bad sign !

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    Mute Shane Cormican
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    Jan 18th 2018, 12:56 PM

    I think our pilots should speak in Irish and too hell with the rest of the world

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    Mute Colm Ó Broin
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    Jan 18th 2018, 6:40 PM

    Disgrace! Outrage! Compulsory English! English being forced on people who don’t want to speak it! English being rammed down their throats! English language Nazis at it again! etc etc etc #nilsecgl

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