Flag war to Language war

“We have, then, to consider and decide our immediate attitude to life where we stand. There are errors to remove. The first is the assumption that we are only required to acknowledge the flag in places, offer it allegiance at certain meetings at certain times that form but a small part of our existence while we allow ourselves to be dispensed from fidelity to our principles when in other places, where other standards are either explicitly or tacitly recognised. That we must carry our flag everywhere; that there must be no dispensation: these are the cardinal points of our philosophy. Life is a great battlefield, and any hour in the day a man's flag may be challenged and he must stand and justify it. An idea you hold as true is not to be professed only where it is proclaimed; it will whisper and you must be its prophet in strange places; it is insistent of all things — you must glory in it or deny it; there is no escaping it, and there is no middle way; wherever your path lies it will cross you and you must choose.”

— Terence MacSwiney

One of great successes of the past few years has been how the energy of our national flag has been harnessed. Whatever about it’s origins. Lots of people have tried to dilute and mystify its meaning and dismiss it as a symbol of control, a Freemasonic insignia not of the people.

I couldn’t disagree more with this esoteric subterfuge. The fact remains, this was the accepted flag of our republic. The flag that our people adopted as the symbol of independence and the flag that transformed our consciousness and separated us from the Union Jack.

The display of flags on the streets of this country terrified the regime so much that they had to go into damage control mode and try to engage in their own propaganda and mystical explanations. The simple display of a flag sent them into a collective psychosis, whereby they had to (in order to justify their own ideological positions) accuse ordinary people of being radicals for holding or displaying their own flag.

Insane stuff that the likes of MacSwiney who died on hunger strike only a century ago would be spinning in his grave to hear. The flag visible all across the nation was one of the great things about the past few years. But we must also address the negatives as well as the positives.

Holding a flag is the simplest thing in the world to do. Although it looks fantastic seeing a sea of tricolours at a rally, it is also illusory. If it is the zenith and we don’t evolve beyond it, accepting the symbol alone as victory without putting in the effort and work required to breathe new life into it, it will stay what it is. Mere optics.

These words may appear harsh, but they are an honest evaluation of where we are. The flag is a powerful symbol, but if we don’t evolve to next step of setting about putting back all the pieces of the jigsaw that form the overall picture of nationhood, then we will ultimately stagnate and are doomed to fail.

This is why I have chosen to focus much of my attention and efforts on our language. For me it is not and never will be some quaint relic of the past. It’s who we are. Something happens to my soul when I speak it. It makes me feel connected to the source. All of that ancient ancestral memory and spirit can be unlocked simply by speaking it.

It was spoken by our people for millennia and is still inside us. It required trauma and abuse to separate us from it, which is probably why that reluctance to re-engage exists so prevalently. However, it must be a key component of resistance. Infused into what we do.

It is a difficult undertaking and an incredibly complex language to get your head around, but it does get easier as you learn. Some people have learning difficulties and that’s understandable. Not everyone will be at the same level, but I do still believe anyone who loves this country should at the very least, make an effort.

The discipline required to free us again, I believe is downstream of the discipline required to learn, speak and revive our language. It is a basic thing we can do to venerate this land and respect our culture and ancestry. The language revival is the next, more difficult step.

It’s one small thing but the collective payoff and the ripples created in the ether by large numbers of Gaels committing to the project will be incalculable. I’m starting back the ciorcal comhrá now that the nights are brighter and the weather is better. If anyone is interested, let me know.

Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam!