Thursday, November 17, 2005

Mandatory Irish

Enda Kenny's proposal to make Irish optional for Leaving Cert students has irked a few people. Well, here's a suggestion for Kenny: compel utility companies to offer an Irish language call center option for their customers.

I had to call Bord Gáis recently about a ridiculously small matter. I expected the conversation would take, oh, about 15 seconds. Instead, after spending 15 minutes or so trying to communicate with a woman whose first language was certainly not English I began to wonder if Bord Gáis had a call center for those who wish to speak Irish. {For the record, I don't speak any Irish at all.}

I'm sure the Irish people, when faced with the trials and tribulations I had to endure with Bord Gáis, will jump at the chance to use the native tongue.