2
Apr
2009
Stealing from the newspapers
Two amusing articles brought to my attention today. The first is from the Irish Times‘ supplement celebrating its 150 years. It focuses on the role of the Irish language in newspapers over the years, from their early opposition to the introduction of compulsory Irish in schools, until today, when the sight of the Irish language is becoming rarer and rarer by the day. One paragraph in particular, quoting the late Brian O’Nolan, writing for the Times under one of his pseudonyms, Myles na gCopaleen, made me laugh:
The humour was often surreal. During the days of rationing in the “Emergency”, as the second World War was officially known in this State, Myles suggested that the dative case or “tuiseal tabharthach” in Irish be sacrificed as an unnecessary luxury.
The second article, printed in the Independent, is a short, humourous, satirical piece, lampooning the current Taoiseach and RTÉ‘s handling of the “picturegate” affair, when it seemed as if the Taoiseach’s office was dictating to the national broadcaster what it could and could not cover on the news.
