‘Tá Dóchas sa Dúchas’
Irish is a language with a heritage stretching back some two and a half thousand years, making it one of the oldest historical and written languages in the world. This indigenous language and tradition with its earth-based cosmology is an invisible treasure which is hidden in plain sight. At this moment of renewal for human civilisation it’s time to regift our contemporary selves the abundance of this birthright.
ReSource is committed to tapping into this well/tobar of renewal as an integral part of its work, in a spirit of renewing the source and, in turn, being renewed by it. This work includes:
· Reimagining the Gaeltacht: The Gaeltacht, the wellspring of the language / tobar an dúchais, needs to be reimagined not as a place of managed decline, but as the site of progress and innovation for the country as a whole in addressing issues of participatory democracy, ecosystem engagement, wellbeing indices, progressive education and much more. This starts with a strategic approach to the Gaeltacht as a coherent whole, not an ancillary part of a national plan which is inadequate to addressing the needs of a language viewed as the life-force of a community; [Insert link to outline plan for the Gaeltacht]
· Invitation to a National Conversation/Comhrá Náisiunta: We need to to harness the winds of renewal that are building with a new generation which is shedding the baggage of history in a new self-confident multi-cultural Ireland. A century after the foundation of the stage, now is the time for a national conversation to make this shift in national consciousness visible and provide the political space for a fresh approach – time for an embrace of bilingualism? There is also language-related work of trauma healing which cries out to be addressed – where suppression and imposition of language has been the seat of trauma and can also be the source of resolution and integration. [Insert link to Comhrá Náisiunta]
· Healing Divides – Ecological/Social/Spiritual: Acknowledging that we need look no further than our own language for an indigenous sensibility in relation to the greater than human world, our invitation is to dive into this liberating space of the imagination and allow it to shift consciousness towards the healing of our contemporary civilisation’s split with nature, community and spirit – ‘Ar scáth a Chéile a mhairimid’. [Insert link to ‘Language and Ecology’ report and toolkit.]
