Dia Dhuit, mo chara!

Conas tá tú? An bhfuil tú Gaeilge nó Gaeilge na hAlban (Gàidhlig)? Is as Contae Dhún na nGall mé, och tá mé i mo chonaí i Ceanada.

Wow, that was really difficult. I think that's the first time I've actually written sentences in Irish since I was in school. Language is one of the most practical things we use in everyday life and unfortunately it has to be practical to use. It's also the medium through which culture flows and once lost it's hard to hold onto the attached culture. Gaelic (whether it be Irish, Scottish, or Manx) is sadly on decline and has been for ages. Manx is practically extinct and Scottish Gaelic is in serious danger of becoming so in a generation or two. (Many of the speakers are elderly already.)
Much of the blame can be laid at the door of the former British Empire but one can't deny the native antipathy towards the language as well. The Irish Republic claims that Irish is its first official language but the reality is that true fluency is limited to those in the Gaeltachtai and the language is somewhat discriminated against elsewhere in the country and abroad.
Many older people still have a stigma about speaking Gaelic if they know it. If they spoke it at school they were often the subject of corporeal punishment. When you are told repeatedly that it is a barbaric peasant tongue I guess you begin to believe it. Thus, it is difficult to engage a Gaelic speaker in a Gaelic conversation if he thinks he can convey it better in English.
The biggest problem of all is that Gaelic has to compete with English, the most widely spoken language in the world. That is a hopeless task. It would be easier if it were up against a different language.
We should all take an interest in our ancestral tongues whatever they are. I actually feel inspired to look up some Irish courses online. Hmmm...

Is mise le meas,

Seán Liosliath Ó hAirt