Accommodation or rejection? Teenagers’ experiences of tensions between traditional and new speakers of Irish

This article analyses narratives presented by teenage Irish‐speakers about encounters between new speakers of Irish and locals in Gaeltacht (traditionally Irish‐speaking) areas. It demonstrates how two conflicting ideologies of legitimate language promoted by the state in the establishment and maintenance of Irish as ‘the national language’ alienate young new speakers of Irish and young Gaeltacht‐based Irish‐speakers from each other and from the language by construing the Gaeltacht as a resource for the nation, generating unrealistic expectations from new speakers and corresponding resentment from their Gaeltacht peers. The analysis of this case contributes to wider debates about the impact of language revitalisation policies on young people, and explores the tension that may arise between the aim of increasing the number of a language's speakers and the desire to retain its traditional functions in the communities where it has been best maintained. Irish‐language Déanann an t‐alt seo anailís ar na scéalta a insíonn cainteoirí óga Gaeilge maidir le teangmháil idir nuachainteoirí agus muintir na Gaeltachta. Pléann sé dhá idé‐eolaíocht maidir le teanga dhlisteanach a chuireann an stát chun cinn chun stádas náisiúnta na Gaeilge a bhuanú agus taispeánann sé go scarann na idé‐eolaíochtaí seo nuachainteoirí óga agus cainteoirí Gaeltachta óga óna chéile agus ón teanga tríd an Ghaeltacht a léiriú mar acmhainn don náisiún. Cothaíonn sé seo frustrachas i measc nuachainteoirí agus i measc a gcomhghleacaithe sa Ghaeltacht. Cuireann anailís an cháis seo le díospóireachtaí maidir leis an tionchar a bhíonn ag beartais athbheochan teanga ar dhaoine óga agus déanann sí iniúchadh ar an neamhréir idir iarrachtaí líon na gcainteoirí a mhéadú agus iarrachtaí feidhm na teanga a choinneáil sna pobail ina labhraítear mar ghnáththeanga í.