8

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!83771/< "49 B#1/< *"7134"2 %.2.C#"7134/

vtroavctiov
1

In this paper, we question the apparent contradiction between
the stated desire o the Scottish and Irish goernments to promote local
minority languages and the marginalization o these languages in the
national celebrations o sel and o the diaspora taking place in Ireland in
2013 and in Scotland in 2014.
\e thus present the irst hypotheses and results o our current
sociolinguistic inestigations regarding the place o local minority
languages in Ireland and Scotland in the construction o a new discourse
about the nation in the context o an economic crisis, and the diminution
o State powers related to the inancialization o capitalism
2
.
More speciically, we ask how, i at all, language and Celticness
are tied to an image o the Nation as an independent and orward-
looking entity, in light both o the current economic crisis that
undermines the power o the Irish goernment and the independence o

1
An earlier ersion o this text was presented at the international conerence on
managing minorities in 21
st
century Lurope, Uniersity o Montpellier, January
2013.
2
lARVL\, Daid, . rief i.tor, of ^eotiberati.v, Oxord Uniersity Press,
Oxord, 2005.

88

the Republic, and o the upcoming reerendum on independence in
Scotland. 1his article will ocus on institutional texts produced in the
context o two nearly identical celebratory eents: the Gathering 2013 in
Ireland and the lomecoming 2014 in Scotland, the latter being a sequel
to the lomecoming 2009 eent. 1hese two eents are worth
inestigating in that they do not merely put orth a mundane touristic
image: they entail a strong aectie dimension and seek explicitly to
reach the diaspora. 1he term gathering` is traditionally used to reer to
Irish or Scottish Clan reunions bringing together members scattered
around the world, and homecoming` eokes the specter o emigration
in bygone times and the myth o a return to the homeland.
\e start rom the assumption that language has an important
role to play in the staging o national pride and independence or two
main reasons: irst, because language ,and minority languages do not
escape this general trend, is traditionally associated with the construction
o contemporary Nation-states as independent polities, and second,
because this link is established by the goernment themseles in both
Ireland and Scotland. In Ireland, Irish is still the only recognized national
language, and it remains the irst oicial language. In Scotland, to take
but one example, the connection between staging the nation worldwide
and language was explicitly ormulated ,albeit ambiguously, in Parliament
in 2012.
Let us turn to this last example. Consider the ollowing
interaction in the Scottish Parliament ,28 June 2012, between Jean
Urquhart, S.N.P.
3
Member o the Scottish Parliament, and liona lyslop,
Cabinet secretary or culture and external aairs in the S.N.P.
goernment:

!"#$ &'()*#'+ ,-./.0.1 234*5#$67 #$6 875#$679: low will the
Scottish Goernment showcase the Gaelic language and culture or
the year o homecoming 2014 and beyond
;3<$# 2=75<>: I reer the member to the points in my earlier answer
about this summer`s opportunities or bids. 1here will be a great
opportunity to showcase Gaelic culture during the year o
homecoming 2014, building on the momentum o some o the
actiity that we are already seeing. lor example, the 1iree music
estial, leis Canna, the Royal National Mod and the Blas estial are

3
1he Scottish National Party ,S.N.P.,, currently in power, is the main pro-
independence political party in Scotland.

89

all joining the celebration o the year o creatie Scotland. \e can
build on that going orward to 2014
4
.

1he role o language, although present, is, howeer, ambiguous.
1he connection is not a straightorward link between language and
Scottishness, but a matter o staging and displaying aspects o the
language, in order to satisy certain expectations that tourists are
assumed to hae. In line with the recent work o Duchne and leller
5
,
our hypothesis is thereore that the role o language in national
celebrations is no longer one o pride, but a more complex one, which
we propose to explore.
In this article, Scotland` and Ireland` are both products to be
sold on international markets, including but not limited to tourist ones.
As ambiguous as it may be, the question o nation remains central in
these two contexts: the Irish State attempts to surie a situation o
economic crisis, and Scotland prepares itsel or a national independence
reerendum in 2014. low do questions o minority languages balance
the need to sell a product on a competitie market and the persistence,
een the encouragement, o a certain nationalist sentiment Managing
the linguistic issues at stake in these contexts is paramount: on the one
hand, they enable the marketing o the authentic`, and on the other, the
question o minorities remains a sensitie one in the national context. In
the eyes o the State, issues o linguistic minorities must thus be cared
or, and managed.
\e adopt as our theoretical ramework a critical sociolinguistics
6

that approaches linguistic practice as social practice, and the circulation
o languages and the discourses about them in terms o social
structuration and construction o unequal power relations. \e must also
speciy that the languages studied here are those that Shandler calls
posternacular languages`

, a type o language distinguished rom

ernacular languages by its semiotic hierarchy. Unlike ernacular
languages, the secondary, symbolic leel o signiication o a

4
Oral questions on Scottish culture, Scottish Parliament, quoted by
http:,,www.scotslanguage.com,books,iew,,3130.
5
DUClLNL, Alexandre and lLLLLR, Monica ,ed.,, avgvage iv ate Capitati.v:
Priae ava Profit, Routledge, New \ork, 2012.
6
lLLLLR, Monica, tevevt. a`vve .ociotivgvi.tiqve critiqve, Didier, Paris, 2002.

SlANDLLR, Jerey, .arevtvre. iv Yiaai.btava: Po.trervacvtar avgvage c Cvttvre,

Uniersity o Caliornia Press, Berkeley, 2006.

90

posternacular language is always just as important, i not more so, than
its primary leel - that is, its communicatie alue. In other words, the
act that something is said or written in one o these languages is as
meaningul, or een more meaningul, than the meaning o the words
used, so that een though ew might use Irish and Gaelic on an eeryday
basis, both languages can still carry strong symbolic meaning.
\ithin this theoretical ramework, James Costa has conducted
ethnographic ieldwork on Scots in Scotland since 200, and Sara
Brennan began ethnographic work in Ireland on Irish, a language that is
seemingly more debated than it is spoken. ler doctoral research seeks to
inestigate how Irish is used not only as a patriotic resource or
redeining a national identity, but also as a commodiied good and more
generally as a resource proiding a strategic position on highly
competitie economic markets.

cottava, retava ava reverea vatiovat tegitivac,
Beore analyzing seeral examples o the institutional texts
mentioned aboe, we will briely explain the releance o a comparison
o these two sites.
Ireland and Scotland are at least supericially comparable spaces
in many respects, including population, demographics, and history.
loweer, there is one especially salient dierence: while Ireland gained
its independence rom the United Kingdom in 1921, Scotland is still part
o it. It has, howeer, independent systems o legislation and education
since the Union with Lngland in 10 and acquired a signiicant statute
o autonomy in 1999 that entailed the restoration o a Parliament and a
national goernment. In both cases, the question o national
independence in a globalized world is currently a pressing matter. In
Ireland, doubt has been cast on the state o this independence ater the
recession made eident the power o the markets to destabilize the entire
national economy to the point o generating a new wae o emigration.
In Scotland, the question o the nation is posed by a center-let,
nationalist goernment campaigning or a reerendum on national
independence in 2014, a year also commemorating the 00
th
anniersary
o a historic ictory oer Lngland at Bannockburn in 1314.

91

Linguistically, Lnglish may now dominate in both Scotland and
Ireland, but Irish has remained the oicial language o Ireland since
national independence and Gaelic gained this status in Scotland in 2005.
Scots, a Germanic language closely related to Lnglish, is recognized by
the United Kingdom under the Luropean Charter or Regional and
Minority Languages. According to Ireland`s national census o 2011, the
Irish language is spoken by almost 1.8 million people, but only used daily
by ,000 o them. In Scotland, the 2011 census reported 50,000
speakers o Gaelic, while a goernment surey rom 2010 reeals that
Scots is used by almost 80 o the population
8
. It is necessary to point
out that speakers o Scots do not beneit rom any speciic legislation,
and that the Scottish goernment assumes that eery citizen has perect
mastery o Standard Lnglish.
It is also important to know that, to the extent that the Celtic
languages are recognized in these two countries, they are recognized at
the national leel as pertaining to the entire population. Linguistic
minorities`, deined as groups distinguished by their language, thus do
not theoretically exist. loweer, local legislation in Ireland attributes
speciic linguistic rights to the Caettacbta
9
, while in Scotland the
lighlands and islands are granted their own linguistic proisions. In this
sense, there is indeed a dierentiated administratie management o the
linguistic question.
lor the purpose o this paper, we will examine the Scottish case
irst beore looking into Ireland.

1be cotti.b ovecovivg: Cettic beritage be,ova tavgvage.
Scotland has experience with such celebrations, haing already
organized a irst lomecoming in 2009 centered on the poet Robert
Burns, whose work was principally written in Scots. loweer, it would
be unwise to beliee that any particular attention was paid at the time to
linguistic matters, beyond the language o the poems themseles.

8
1.N.S.-B.M.R.B., Pvbtic .ttitvae. 1orara. tbe cot. avgvage, Scottish Goernment
Social Research, Ldinburgh, 2010.
9
1he Caettacbta are the State-delimited zones, situated principally in western
Ireland, in which Irish is still a community language ,Note: Caettacbt is the
nominatie singular, Caettacbta is the nominatie plural,.

92

lor Scotland, 2014 is the opportunity to recreate a success that
was aboe all inancial. As Mike Cantlay, Chairman o VisitScotland, the
National 1ourist Board, put it:

In world tourism terms, lomecoming has been seen as a unique
marketing tool by competing tourist destinations who would loe the
Diaspora that Scotland enjoys. 1he success o last year's
lomecoming sparked huge interest in people all oer the world, not
only those with ancestral links to Scotland, but those who simply
loe this country
10
.


On the Scottish goernment`s website, the inancial aspect is once again
highlighted:

Research by economic and social deelopment consultancy LKOS
shows lomecoming Scotland 2009:
! generated _53. million in additional tourism reenue or
Scotland, exceeding the _44 million target by 22 percent,
! attracted 95,000 additional isitors to Scotland,
! generated _154 million o positie global media coerage
11
.


linally, the oicial aims o the lomecoming 2014 make the
celebration`s priorities quite clear:

1he strategic aims o lomecoming Scotland 2014 are:
1. Generate additional tourism reenue as a direct result o
lomecoming Scotland 2014 actiities.
2. Deelop Scotland`s eent portolio and build capacity in the
industry.
3. Lngage, inspire and mobilise communities across Scotland.
4. Lngage and mobilise Scottish business.
5. Lnhance Scotland`s proile on the International Stage
12
.


10
Cited by the Scottish goernment website: http:,,www.scotland.go.uk,
News,Releases,2010,05,25113855.
11
bia..
12
ovecovivg 2011, vvaea revt. Progravve, .ppticatiov Cviaetive., 6, Aailable
online: http:,,www.eentscotland.org,assets,296.

93

\hile the undertaking appears to be aboe all economic, the
eent is howeer oicially presented as a celebration. \ith 2014 being a
piotal date or the construction o the Scottish nation, it would be
simplistic to reduce the lomecoming a purely economic dimension.
In this article, we shall put orth the hypothesis that in the
current politico-economic contexts o late capitalism, this celebration`
is playing a role similar to that which the inention o museums did at
the time o Nation-state building during the 19
th
century. lor Benedict
Anderson
13
, the museum, an institution that emerged at the same time as
the map and the census, is an instrument o State control and a way o
managing the population by reconstructing its past. Cultural heritage is
thus today what the archaeological museum was in the 19
th
century, but
the current celebration also allows a transormation o this cultural
endeaor into a commercial one, with an added dimension o distinction
on a global tourist market
14
. As an instrument o management, the
celebration is urthermore a moment o deinition o Sel and Other, and
consequently an attempt to create boundaries. In this case, and this is
our main argument, the boundary must deine who belongs to the group
,the Scots, and distinguish them rom those who do not - all while
remaining porous enough to allow the client` targeted by the promotion
o this celebration ,the diaspora, tourists at large, to see themseles
taking part in, and possibly identiying with, the group.
Let us then return to points 3 and 4 o the sales pitch mentioned
aboe. 1he entirety o the text`s ocabulary is oriented towards action
,deelop`, promote`, etc.,, and in both points, the businesses and the
communities are described in almost exactly the same way. \hat, then, is
the text telling us 1he aim o the lomecoming is not only to generate
something positie, as seen in the irst point ,i.e., reenue,, but also to
create a regime o action or both these entities, entrepreneurial or
otherwise. In these instances, it is the ocabulary o business that is
applied to the local communities in the context o a mobilization, or o a
submission to the demands o the touristic proitability o the eent. 1he
communities are thus represented as the employers o businesses who

13
ANDLRSON, Benedict, vagivea Covvvvitie.: Reftectiov. ov tbe Origiv ava preaa of
^atiovati.v, Verso, London, 1983.
14
See KIRSlLNBLA11-GIMBLL11, Barbara, De.tivatiov Cvttvre: 1ovri.v, Mv.evv.,
ava eritage, Uniersity o Caliornia Press, Berkeley, 1998.


94

need to be mobilized in pursuit o a common goal. 1he only dierence
between businesses and communities is that the latter need to be
collectiely inspired`.
It is precisely here that language enters the picture ,through song
in particular, one may surmise rom liona lyslop`s answer in Parliament
- see aboe,. Not as an element o old-ashioned pride in a collectie
identity, but as an element o added alue that contributes to the
maximization o economic proits and client satisaction.
In Scotland, as mentioned beore, minority language adocates
usually claim that there are two natie languages, Scots and Gaelic. \et
since the 19
th
century, it is the Gaelic heritage ,and the Celticness` it
indexes, that has been used to abricate a national myth. loweer, the
language could only begin to play this role once the Gaelic society o the
lighlands had been destroyed in 146 ater the Battle o Culloden
15
.
Once the Gaelic society destroyed, its symbols - songs, musical
instruments, clans, traditional dress, etc. - became aailable or
consensual appropriation by the burgeoning Romanticism.
And what do we ind in the case o the lomecoming Just that.
1aking a look at the our images displayed on the site o the eent
16
, one
inds the landscape, the traditional dress, the music, the whisky and, een
more interestingly, the stele o a clan on the grounds o Culloden. All are
elements o Gaelic Scotland. 1he stele, howeer, shows only an Lnglish
ersion o the name o a Gaelic clan ,Clan MacKintosh`,.
1hese steles commemorate that deeat, and the one pictures is
uniquely in Lnglish een though all the allen were speakers o Gaelic
and mostly knew little or no Lnglish. 1he Scotland that is being
inspired` into being by the lomecoming is thus, in a modernized orm,
the one ound on shortbread boxes: the popular image o a Scotland irst
imagined by \alter Scott, and adopted by the Victorians - and later by
the Scots themseles as badges o identity. But unlike what happens in
Scott`s !arerte,, the Gaelic language is no longer necessary to the
construction o the romanticized lighlands. It can be reduced to the

15
1his battle, oten presented as the result o a war o independence, was aboe
all the outcome o a dynastic conlict seeking to re-establish a Catholic
monarchy.
16
1his was especially salient on the pre-launch website, aailable until mid-2013.
1he images are still used, howeer, on the eent website:
http:,,www.isitscotland.com,see-do,homecoming-scotland-2014,.

95

mere perormance o song and poetry, to steles and romantic
battleields.
Language is thus no more but a second-rate onlooker. But it is
precisely here that we hae something o an illusionist`s act: what are we
meant to see, and what should be let concealed 1wo things. lirst o all,
the depiction o a linguistically de-Gaelicized Gaelic Scotland allows,
now as beore, or the so-called Celtic cultural heritage to be applied to
the entire country. Scotland is one o the Celtic nations, and the
existence o any particularities hinting at a history in which the Scots
were not one and united in their battle against the Lnglish can thus be
ignored - but Nation building is ater all traditionally a site o obliion,
that is a well-known act
1
. In this case, or the sake o the Scottish
national myth, linguistic asperities must disappear so that all may
celebrate the nation. 1he diaspora play an important role in this process,
it would seem, as it is they who wield their economic orce to ratiy these
choices and the ultimate museumiication o a united nation ree o
social tensions.
Secondly, and more importantly perhaps, the ocus on this
simpliied Gaelic Scotland then permits the question o Scots to be
concealed, i not erased. Depending on one`s deinition o this language,
it can be regarded as a collection o dialects o Lnglish, or as the
language spoken by ,almost, the entire population
18
. Arguably howeer,
Scotland, independent or not ,and perhaps especially i independent,
needs to present itsel as a principally Anglophone nation. On the one
hand, the romanticized Gaelic identity guarantees the country a
priileged place on the tourist market. On the other, its Anglophone
reputation ensures that the country presents an image o calm, controlled
linguistic diersity, making it attractie to tourists and inestors alike
19
.
One need only think o \ales, or example, where language policy is
oten presented in the press as an obstacle to business.

1
RLNAN, Lrnest, Qv`e.tce qvvve vatiov., Le mot et le reste, Marseille, 200
|1882[.
18
See COS1A, James, Language listory as Charter Myth Scots and the
,Re,inention o Scotland`, in cotti.b avgvage, 28, 2009, 1-25.
19
Unger also notes that when it comes to Scots language policy, inaction seems
to be the general rule. In that respect, Scots in Scotland can be seen as the
elephant in the room. UNGLR, Johann, Legitimating inaction: Diering identity
constructions o the Scots language`, in vropeav ]ovrvat of Cvttvrat tvaie., 13,1,,
2010, 99-11.

96


1be ri.b Catberivg: rbat i. ri.b for, ava rbo.e tavgvage i. it.
1urning now to 1he Gathering 2013 in Ireland, we will attempt to
show that the same illusionist mechanism is at work in this national
celebration o Sel. 1he eects o this mechanism are twoold: irst, the
Irish language is incorporated into the representation o an ancient,
quirky, and welcoming Ireland that is promoted by the coordinators o
1he Gathering. 1his integration o Irish into the projected image o the
nation then renders the language potentially aailable to eeryone
through the construction o a sense o uniersal ownership. It is no
longer the language o a certain named and delimited community, rather,
Irish, as the language o all Irishmen and Irishwomen, can be shared
along with the other traditional cultural elements on display ,dance, song,
sports, etc., with each and eery tourist - and especially those o Irish
descent.
According to the About 1he Gathering Ireland 2013` page o the
website
20
, the Gathering Ireland 2013 is a national celebration o Sel, a
spectacular, your-long celebration o all things Irish.` As the
coordinators continue on to write,

throughout 2013, Ireland is opening its arms to hundreds o
thousands o riends and amily rom all oer the world, calling them
home to gatherings in illages, towns and cities.


Ireland, howeer, is not the one doing the calling: as we saw
happening in Scotland, there are recurring representations o the Irish
people and communities as employees o Ireland Inc. who need to be
mobilized in pursuit o the common goals o giing the Irish economy a
boost and reinigorating the Irish tourism industry. 1he coordinators o
1he Gathering indeed take the notion o mobilization a step urther and
appeal directly and repeatedly to the people o Ireland to do their part in
attracting oerseas isitors or the good o Ireland as a whole. 1hus
while 1he Gathering is ostensibly a celebration of the Irish, it is not a
celebration for them - the beneiciaries are the isitors who enjoy the

20
See http:,,www.thegatheringireland.com,About.aspx4.UZtGZJ\ZkVs.

9

spectacle ,and o course spend money whilst doing so, and the State o
Ireland who enjoys a t10 million boost in reenue.
In a booklet entitled Orgavi.ivg Yovr Catberivg
21
, the coordinators o
1he Gathering proide a step-by-step guide to indiiduals looking to
plan their own eents. 1he irst lines o the booklet describe the creatie
reedom that gathering organizers enjoy in the planning o their eents:
1here are so many ways you can showcase your community, business,
club or association. No idea is too big, too small, or too quirky.` 1his
liberty accorded to the Irish in celebrating their own culture is tempered,
howeer, by a passage oset in large, bold, green ont on the same page:

\hether you`re planning a school or amily reunion, genealogy eent
or business gathering, remember the oerall objectie: encouraging
oerseas isitors to spend time here in 2013.


1he indiidual gatherings are thus integrated into a larger collectie
undertaking, o which the oerall objectie` is not the joyous
celebration o Sel but the persuasion o international tourists to spend
time in Ireland. As such, the Irish must keep an eye to attracting people
rom abroad whilst planning their eents.
1his sense o nationwide mobilization is then heightened by the list
o 1hings to consider` discussed on the next page o the booklet. In
addressing the issue o indiiduals` gatherings haing what it takes to
attract isitors rom oerseas`, the coordinators o the Gathering remind
the Irish o the ollowing: Make sure though that your eent isn`t
conlicting with or oershadowing another: we`re all on the same team.`
1hus 1eam Ireland, o which each and eery Irishman and Irishwoman
is a member, is asked to contribute to the ,ultimately inancial, success o
1he Gathering by not only planning eents and conincing their
international riends and amily to take part, but also to do so in a
strategic manner that maximizes the proitability o the oerall initiatie.
1he coordinators o 1he Gathering must o course proide
motiation or all the members o 1eam Ireland ,or, to put it otherwise,
all the employees o Ireland Inc., to organize strategically planned,
externally oriented gatherings. In a lrequently Asked Questions` packet

21
Aailable in digital orm on the ollowing website: https:,,s3-eu-west-
1.amazonaws.com,downloads.thegatheringireland.com,Pds,low-toOrganise-
a-Gathering.pd.

98

that was distributed at 1he Gathering inormation sessions in 2012, we
ind the argument that is echoed across the initiatie`s promotion
materials: bringing home the global diaspora or this unprecedented
celebration, which oers an opportunity or each and eery one o us
to play our part in Ireland`s renewal, to make a signiicant contribution
to our journey o recoery` ,1he Gathering 2012: 3,. Again, the all-
encompassing nature o 1he Gathering and the national scope o its
impact are emphasized. Lery single Irish person ,including coordinators
and indiiduals alike, as the second person plural pronouns imply the
ultimate inclusiity o inolement in this initiatie, are asked to take
adantage o this opportunity to contribute to the resuscitation o
Ireland, in which each and eery one` o the Irish is implicated by this
text.
lurthermore, the l.A.Q. packet goes on to proide another
argument or participation in 1he Gathering:

It will contribute to restoring Ireland`s image internationally as a
welcoming country where isitors will receie the 100,000 welcomes
the people o Ireland are renowned or, deliering an authentic
experience which dierentiates Ireland rom other destinations.


It is through this argument, it would seem, that the Irish language
enters the picture: 1he Gathering promotes a certain image o Ireland -
dierent, authentic, welcoming and ready or a good time - to its
potential isitors. Irish, portrayed as the language o the entire nation, is
used to enhance this representation. Relecting the enduring presence o
the Romantic interconnectedness o language and national character,
Irish becomes the embodiment o the Ireland that 1he Gathering
implores each and eery Irishman to put on the international tourist
market.
Concentrating only on texts written by the coordinators o 1he
Gathering ,and not, or example, on the pages created by indiiduals to
promote their own gatherings,, we ind a ocus on the Irish language on
three pages o 1he Gathering`s blog
22
. In an entry entitled 1he Irish
Reialists
23
` that describes British documentarian Stephen lry`s trip to

22
1he by-line or these pages reads By 1he Gathering Ireland.`
23
http:,,www.thegatheringireland.com,latest-stories,Blog,September-2012,
Stephen-lry.

99

Ireland to inestigate the current state o the language, the minority
status o Irish is in act addressed, but is then subtly undercut. 1aking up
the discourse o endangered languages` that currently circulates
worldwide, 1he Gathering cites the type o alarming igures usually
associated with this discursie paradigm and then associates Irish with
this phenomenon:

1here are currently around ,000 languages spoken on the planet and
many more dialects. But experts predict that by the end o the
century, that number will hae dwindled to 1,000.
Irish, or Gaelic as it is sometimes known, would be considered by
many to be on the endangered list. Just 80,000 people speak the
language and most o them lie in isolated regions o Ireland known
as Caettacbt..


1he delimited Irish-speaking communities which traditionally could
hae claimed authority oer the language, the Caettacbt.`
24
, are thus
made isible, which could potentially threaten the uniersalization o the
ownership o Irish that contributes to Ireland`s authentic Celtic image.
1he categorization o Irish as an endangered, minority language relegated
to a certain community, howeer, is somewhat attenuated by the
wording o the phrase: rather than declaring that Irish is endangered,
1he Gathering writes that the language would be considered by many`
to be such, without mentioning who is doing the considering. 1he
marginalization o Irish is then urther reuted as the article continues:

It`s not all doom and gloom howeer when it comes to this ancient
tongue, as Stephen lry discoered when he isited Connemara or
his 2011 documentary series abet. In act, lry ound the language
lourishing eerywhere rom gol courses and ishing boats to
classrooms and soap operas.

Rather than dying out with the 6,000 other languages marked or
impending doom, Irish is not only lourishing, but lourishing in a ariety
o contexts ranging rom the traditional ,ishing boats, to the modern

24
It is interesting to note that an anglicised plural o Caettacbt is used here, as the
Irish plural Caettacbta is commonly employed in Ireland. 1his decision likely
relects the international target audience o 1he Gathering`s website.

100

,soap operas, namely Ro. va Rvv,. No longer limited to the 80,000
isolated speakers, Irish is being passed on to uture generations through
Irish-language education and broadcast nationwide on teleision. 1he
language is both ancient and ibrant, anchored in an immemorial past
but caring out a liely role or itsel in the contemporary world - much
like the Ireland that 1he Gathering is selling to oerseas isitors.
Stephen lry`s obseration o the current iacity o Irish carries oer
into another o 1he Gathering`s blog entries, this one cheekily entitled
\hat the ocal`
25
- focat meaning word` or expression` in Irish. 1he
entry starts o by irmly embedding Irish within the dynamics o
contemporary lie:

1hanks to the interweb, telecommunication technologies and reality
1V, people are using words in new and innoatie ways. As Gaeilge
ans Des Bishop, Dara Briain and the unlikely Stephen lry can
testiy to, een our natie tongue, like many other dialects, is
changing.


Notable here is the description o Irish as our natie tongue`:
whereas the preious entry suggested that the language extended beyond
the traditional bastion o the Caettacbta, here it is the natie tongue o all
the Irish. Ownership o the language is implied to be uniersal, thus
minimizing the linguistic particularities o Ireland and contributing to its
image as a Celtic land dierentiated by its own natie language ,and yet
still clearly Anglophone, gien that only the lrequently Asked
Questions` page o 1he Gathering website has an Irish translation,.
lor the remainder o the entry, the language itsel seres as the
backdrop or a display o the quirky` ,to use a word ot employed by
1he Gathering, Irish sense o humor:

lor example, a picture o a monkey in a jaunty little dress could
induce a ?@A ,4B3'" C7 B'69 or a D@D E5#)4* <)+ 5<)6F as is
said in GH#'5# EI$4537*F. \our best mate taking a tumble might end
with you JK&? ,'<55#6* +3L>"#55 #$ )'5#3' #4 4B3'"9 or as the
kids would say, J@;D ,'<553$4 '<)$6 +*" M5<<' 5#)4*3$49.

25
http:,,www.thegatheringireland.com,Latest-Stories,Blog,December,
\hat-the-ocal.


101

\ere the same riend to tumble head irst into a chasm o tea-dress-
wearing monkeys only to emerge wearing a miniature lady monkey as
a hat, this undoubtedly would end with you declaring @NO ,P N<
O*3#9 E@N?F ollowed by the announcement that you`re
QAGNKA? ,A4 R'37"#6* L< +*C3$ #4 4B3'"9.S 1hat`s DN;A@
,5#)4*3$4 L= #77 <MM9 or olks not in the know |bold in the
original[.

Combined with the play on words in the title o this blog entry, Irish
is used here as a ehicle or coneying the unconentional humor that
Ireland is supposed to be amous or, and which helps dierentiate
Ireland rom other tourist destinations
26
.
Continuing in the same ein, one inal blog entry about \ords o
wisdom in Irish`
2
uses the language to oreground the unique character
o the Irish and to link people, territory, and language together in a way
that harkens back to the construction o modern Nation-states. 1his
Romantic notion o intrinsic interconnectiity imbues the irst lines o
the entry:

Some o the most culturally rich examples o Irish are ound within
the language`s proerbs. 1hese simple phrases were repeated, grew in
popularity and passed down through the generations. 1here are
hundreds o examples o these little sayings, each speaking olumes
o the little isle they originate.

1he Irish language, in the orm o proerbs old enough to hae been
passed down through the generations`, is represented as a rich
repository o Irish culture. Ancient as these proerbs are, they reeal the

26
A typically Irish` dry and irreerent sense o humour is employed throughout
1he Gathering website, the description o \hat it means to be Irish`, or
example, starts o in the ollowing manner: Somewhere between the U.K. and
the U.S. lies the 120
th
largest country in the world. 1his small nation o Ireland is
home to just under ie million o us and is the birthplace o 24 Olympic
medallists, 12 Oscar winners, seen Nobel Laureates and Jedward. It has also
bore such lie-changing innoations as the aircrat ejector seat, colour
photography, the submarine and, most importantly chocolate milk. Perhaps or
good reason, there is no other nation on this planet like the Irish.`
2
http:,,www.thegatheringireland.com,latest-stories,Blog,March2013,
\ords- o-wisdom-in-Irish.


102

true character o the little isle` they are said to hae created. 1he island
o Ireland is here a metonym or the Irish themseles, thus inextricably
intertwining language, nation, and land.
1he Gathering then characterizes these expressions that capture the
essence o Irishness in the ollowing way:

1hough at times a little paradoxical and cryptic, they almost always
express a truth based on common sense or the practical experience
o humanity. A communal thread o agriculture, riendship, alcohol,
amily, loe, jealously and sel-preseration lows through almost all
o them.

lere we hae Ireland as 1he Gathering seeks to portray it: an
ancient nation comprised o resilient, albeit imperect, people connected
with their land and ull o loe or riends, amily, and o course
drinking. By presenting Irish as the natie language and embodiment o
all the Irish themseles, 1he Gathering is able to use these proerbs to
index the welcoming, unique and un-loing nation that potential tourists
worldwide are inited to celebrate, to identiy with, and to come isit in
Ireland in 2013.
Considered together, the promotional materials produced by 1he
Gathering reeal an initiatie o collectie mobilization and collectie
,re,branding, with the Irish language playing a delicately orchestrated role
in the latter process. 1he coordinators call upon all o Ireland ,as a
nation, as teammates, as employees, to do their part in luring oerseas
isitors to the Lmerald Isle, where their tourist dollars will proide a
much-needed boost to the long-suering Irish economy. Once
redistributed to the whole o this mobilized nation, the Irish language is
then used to apply the marketable cultural heritage o Ireland to each and
eery Irishman and Irishwoman. All o Ireland is irreerent and spirited
and welcoming, and their ancient language relects this: in deining what
it means to be Irish`, 1he Gathering notes that we are renowned or
our hospitality and loe o haing people isit. It`s no wonder that in
Irish, welcome, cad mle ailte, translates to a hundred thousand
welcomes``.
By remaining present and ital, the Irish language ensures the
continuity o the mythical Celtic past o Ireland and o the unique Irish
culture. 1hough present, howeer, Irish is clearly not dominant: all o the
material published by 1he Gathering on its website, which seres as the

103

command center o the worldwide initiatie, is almost exclusiely in
Lnglish, allowing or the exception o the bilingual lrequently Asked
Questions`. 1he Irish language is discussed and a ery ew representatie
words and phrases dot 1he Gathering`s webpages ,ceaa vte faitte and craic
un` are the only two Irish expressions to appear,, but potential isitors
do not risk being led to conuse contemporary Ireland with an Irish-
speaking country. By explicitly reairming the itality o Irish and the
culture it indexes while implicitly reassuring potential isitors o the
dominance o Lnglish, 1he Gathering is able to market an essentially
Celtic`, linguistically Anglophone Ireland. 1hus combining national
pride with a product that will appeal to the diaspora as well as to tourists
rom wider horizons - and turning the ormer into the latter.

Covctvaivg revar/.
\e now reach the end o this short comparison. \hat, then,
does it enable us to see On the one hand, the decision o Scotland to
plan a second celebration and the reenue generated by the irst eent in
2009 suggest one type o explanation or the motiations o the Irish
goernment in the context o the economic atermath o the recession.
1his economic crisis in the current period o late capitalism is
also an opportunity to renegotiate what it means to be Scottish or Irish,
and in such a context linguistic questions are always o utmost
importance - we still lie with the legacy o historical Modernity, and the
link between language and nation remains central to our thinking. One
way to handle the question o linguistic minorities is to ignore them, and
this is partially the case in Scotland. Another is to marginalize them
through olklorization. 1his latter option is the traditional choice in both
Scotland and Ireland, and this continues through both maniestations.
\hat these two examples bring to the oreront is a policy or
managing dierence. 1he undamental question is the ollowing: how to
proit rom the positie image generated by the attachment o a Gaelic
culture to the national territory without letting this link detract rom the
country`s image on dierse international markets low can one make
this dierence attractie and proitable 1he answer, we beliee, lies in
the transormation o the entire country into a business, and o
Celticness` into a logo.

104

In such a context, speakers simply become employees, proiders
o serices in which the language is on show, notably in the case o
traditional song and music. 1he transormation o each and eery social
actor into a serice proider, into an employee o Scotland Ltd. or
Ireland Inc., enables the taming o the potentially disturbing image o
linguistic diersity by idealizing it and restricting it to an expected and
welcome role. Seeral ilms, Rob Roy or example, hae contributed to
the orging o this image o Gaelic as particularly suited or a aguely
mystical and nostalgic style o singing.
1his controlled, narrow ision o the Celtic languages allows or
the age-old processes o domination and elimination o their speakers in
both Ireland and Scotland to be obscured by identiying them with a
mournul demeanor: i they sing, it is not because o misery and exile, it
is simply their nature. lurthermore, this exile itsel is commodiied and
sold to the diaspora through the mechanism o uniersal ownership: the
Gaelics o Scotland and Ireland belong to eeryone, including those who
don`t speak them. In Scotland, notably, this is embodied through a new,
emerging notion, endorsed by the organizers o the lomecoming, that
o the Global Celt`: Celtic enough to be moed by the images that are
being shown to them, global enough to buy them.



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