It's a Blas

ROCK MUSIC

FM and medium wave. This is BBC Radio Ulster.

Thank you, Kim. A very good morning to you. It's half past eight.

This week for the...

'I'm William Crawley, BBC journalist and broadcaster.'

'I talk for a living so it's little wonder I'm interested in language.

'But recently I've become fascinated by Irish.'

In Northern Ireland, it's a language that can inspire, provoke,

offend and motivate, all in one turn of phrase.

'I was born and raised a Protestant in North Belfast,

'so learning Irish is something I didn't think I would ever do.

'But times are changing, and I've decided I want to give it a go.'

THEY SPEAK IRISH

'In this programme, I'm not just going to learn the language,

'I'm going to learn about the language.'

I'll meet with those who feel that the politics surrounding

Irish is a thing of the past and no longer a barrier to engagement.

This is my language,

and nobody from either community is going to tell me anything different.

This belongs to me.

WOMAN SPEAKS IRISH

'I'll spend a week immersed in Irish classes in the Gaeltacht

'in County Donegal.'

It is doing my head in. I just...

I can't take any more Irish.

In Dublin, I'll explore how the south of Ireland has

a love-hate relationship with the language.

I think it's an integral part of being Irish.

It's one of the few unique things we have.

We need to have languages that we can communicate with

the rest of Europe, with the rest of the world.

We need to be speaking Chinese now.

'And at the end of it all, I'm going to try

'and co-present BBC Radio Ulster's Irish Language programme - Blas.'

It's ridiculous, it's ludicrous. You shouldn't even attempt this.

This is not the way to learn a language.

'But have I set myself a challenge too far?'

Right, William, here it comes. How are you feeling? I've felt better.

It's July 2012. Time for my first proper lesson.

HE SPEAKS IRISH

Oh, get in. Don't even start.

This is what's in front of you. Yes.

What's this? Are you ready to give this a go?

HE LAUGHS

Well, let's get coffee. Not a bad idea.

'Daithi O Muiri is a good friend of mine

'who happens to be fluent in Irish, so he'll be my personal tutor.'

What is coffee in Irish? Caife. That I can do.

HE SPEAKS IRISH

So... You ready to start this?

I am.

Sort of. Do you realise what's in front of you?

Well, it looks like a small library, for a start.

That's a very small section of it.

But these are some of the most important books that you'll use.

Is it going to be very bookish? No, not at all.

Not at all, but you're going to need some good reference materials...

..to go back and forward to when you're stuck,

when you're working on you're own.

We're going to really work on developing

your ability to speak Irish.

To develop your confidence in Irish, to be able to talk,

to be able to meet people and to introduce yourself and interact

and communicate, and do all of those sort of things.

Growing up as I did in North Belfast, you know,

I grew up in English and in a Protestant, working-class culture.

Irish wasn't part of our world.

The only Irish word I knew was "tiocfaidh ar la",

the only phrase I knew was "tiocfaidh ar la".

So there's a kind of politicalisation of the language.

I see that politicalisation retreating.

There's definitely a more openness from a lot of people to say,

"This is everybody's language,

"this is a language that has unearthed itself from this island.

"If you're here why not explore it and enjoy it?

"It doesn't have to be a threatening experience."

It's almost like a great-uncle that nobody talks about.

Why not bring him into the room and actually have a conversation

and see what this sounds like?

So what have we got here?

Well, I've brought you some presents. I'm going to leave you some gifts.

These, I want you to keep these on your desk. Don't put them on a shelf.

So bog means soft or tender. It's an adjective. Bog.

I've brought you a novel as well. A little teenage novel...

Sarah in the Gallery.

So 21 is... Fiche a haon.

Fiche a do. And so on.

So I'm really ready for it. The books ar not intimidating,

because I've got myself in the right headspace here.

Not worried about what I don't know.

A lot of this I will never understand...not a word about it.

All I want to do is intuitively walk into this language

and be able to communicate.

Bring it on, I'm ready for it. I'm going to do this.

'Not only am I trying to learn the language,

'I've set myself a further challenge.

'In just ten months' time,

'will I be able to co-present a radio show in Irish?'

This is BBC Radio Ulster.

SHE SPEAKS IRISH

You're very welcome to tonight's edition of Blas,

and I hope you're well on this...

Blas is tweeting that I'm on in no time at all.

Calling me the journalist William Crawley

on BBC Blas tonight at 7:03...

..as Gaelige. In Irish.

No idea what that means.

Blas is BBC Radio Ulster's daily Irish language programme.

Broadcast every week night, the 30-minute show covers

everything from news and current affairs to sport and the arts.

Tonight's show is being presented by Maire Bhreathnach,

and I'm going to join her live on air to announce my challenge.

This is the promissory note,

because when you're doing something like this,

if you commit yourself and make yourself accountable to people,

you're more likely to do it no matter what it is -

weight loss, learning a new language, anything.

I'm just going to announce it to the entire country -

that's the only difference.

SHE SPEAKS IRISH

The only thing I understood there was agus.

SHE SPEAKS IRISH

..or you could tweet me - Twitter.com/BBCBlas.

Hello. Hello, William Crawley.

SHE SPEAKS IRISH

Are you getting a wee bit nervous now? Is that what that means?

Are you stressing out? No, it just means are you well.

I can see here your tweets are coming up...

Are my tweets coming up on your screen?

I feel like I'm about to go into a GCSE conversation exam.

That makes you the examiner.

Be nice to me.

Be nice to me. Of course I will be.

So long as you can just speak fluently in Irish to me...

SHE SPEAKS IRISH

HE SPEAKS IRISH

Well, you know you're on to a question straightaway -

what is my name in Irish?

So we looked into this and we're going to go for Liam...

Liam... Does that sound right? Yes, that sounds perfect to me.

So anyone who follows you on Twitter will know that

you're learning Irish at the moment.

They may not, however,

know about the challenge that you've set yourself.

So reveal all to our listeners.

The challenge at the end of all this is that I'm going to switch

chairs with you and present this programme sometime next year.

Hopefully you're going to be here, don't abandon me, please, Maire.

Let's co-present it.

But by the end of this challenge, I want to get to the point where

I can read the scripts, do the interviews,

converse in Irish in a way that anybody listening in for the

first time will think, "Oh, he's the regular presenter." Now, no chance.

Listen, William, I want you to help me end the programme tonight,

so you're going to say...

Away you go.

HE SPEAKS IRISH

We're off air, William.

You've just announced to the world that you're going to do it.

What do you think?

I've got to go from struggling through that to...

What was your script like?

There's not a chance. Not a chance.

That was quite intimidating,

because it's one thing when you're speaking to somebody

in one little phrase and then they speak back to you

in one little phrase.

But when they rattle it off like that really speedily.

I mean they could well be speaking Chinese,

you haven't a clue what they're saying.

'I feel...like I've got to the top of a cliff

'and I'm about to abseil

'and I've been really brave, and this is not going to be difficult.'

Then I get to the edge of the cliff,

look down, and there's about 1,000ft below me.

I'm told that almost anyone who's learnt Irish has spent time

taking summer classes in a Gaeltacht -

a community that uses Irish as their first language.

It's an experience of total immersion,

and one of the best ways to learn,

so I've come to the Gaeltacht of Glencolmcille

in southwest Donegal.

But not only am I studying Irish, I'll be living it.

For the next week,

I'll be staying here at this house close by the school.

That wasn't too bad.

'I quickly find out there's only one language spoken here.'

Is that enough Irish, can I go on English?

SHE SPEAKS IRISH

It's Irish from now on, all right.

Thank you very much.

Terrific, thank you very much. SHE SPEAKS IRISH

SHE SPEAKS IRISH

I get the breakfast bit.

Champagne breakfast? No.

SHE SPEAKS IRISH

Is there anything I would like for breakfast? Yeah. Oh, right.

Can you do poached eggs? What's poached eggs in Irish?

THEY SPEAK IRISH

Bacon and spinach?

SHE SPEAKS IRISH

Yes, sausage, bacon and poached eggs would be fantastic.

How do I say fantastic?

THEY SPEAK IRISH

Do you want it in your bedroom or in the kitchen?

No?

HE LAUGHS

SHE SPEAKS IRISH

If you want...if you need anything.

You're there. I'll be downstairs.

You're a great... and a lovely view as well.

Terrific.

THEY SPEAK IRISH

This is gorgeous. It really is.

Do you ever get bored with complete beginners? Yeah.

You do.

Well, prepare to be bored.

I couldn't be bored with this.

'Over the next week, I'll be taking formal classes every morning

'and activities every afternoon and evening - all in Irish.'

SHE SPEAKS IRISH

Yous are lucky.

We've only two men, yous are blessed amongst women.

Is mise Liam.

LAUGHTER

We didn't come in the same minibus. No, thank goodness.

SHE SPEAKS IRISH

Have you been learning...

long time?

No.

It's been like being dropped into a big ocean.

The language just comes at you thick and fast.

And it's just overwhelming.

So I feel like I've just been dropped into it.

Or parachuted into it. We'll see how it goes. It's, erm...

Worrying.

I guessed that.

I just turned the T into an Irish sign, and it worked.

'I started enjoying it today, because things slowed down a bit.'

The afternoons are fun, because you go to other cultural classes.

You're learning Irish in-between learning something else,

like singing or dancing. Some people are going hill-walking.

Others are learning the bodhran drum.

I'm also doing a lot of Twitter with people

and putting out a bit of Irish.

I've now got about 200 people who are fluent Irish speakers,

as far as I can tell, following me.

Different colours. Glas is green...

and blue is gorm...

'Feeling still overwhelmed, but I'm starting to see where it's going to.

'It's always a thrill when you can finally get to two or three'

phrase exchanges with somebody in the pub

or in the cafe or in the streets.

Someone will say good morning, you'll say good morning back.

They'll say something about the weather,

and you'll recognise that they're talking about the weather,

and you'll say that it's a decent day.

That-that's...

It's like getting a Nobel Prize.

I've found that I've started taking to...hiding.

Hiding from Irish speakers all around me.

Going to a coffee shop and sliding into a corner somewhere.

Within seconds some well intentioned lovely person just walks up

and starts speaking in Irish,

sits down and starts interviewing me about the Irish language.

It is doing my head in.

I just... I can't take any more Irish.

I've been plunged into verbs and adverbs and verbal nouns

and I don't know what.

'I just want to get away with my head intact and stop feeling

'so confused the whole time.'

I'm kind of losing it.

So at the end of a tiring but enjoyable week,

what does my report card look like?

This has been a week I'll never forget.

I think my grasp of the language has progressed a bit,

but ultimately this has been a reality check

about the size of the task I've set myself.

'This is a five-seven-eight-year challenge to learn

'and become fluent in a language.

'So, yeah, I've had moments where I've regretted it.'

HE SPEAKS IRISH

'How am I supposed to conduct an interview in a studio where

'I'm asking questions that are about intellectual issues

'or the arts or politics or journalism?'

I'm going to be sunk.

The Donegal Gaeltacht and its traditions are a world

away from the developing Gaeltacht area here in West Belfast.

This recently established Gaeltacht Quarter aims to increase

the amount of Irish spoken in everyday life - in shops,

in restaurants, in cafes and schools.

Recent census figures show that almost 185,000 people

in Northern Ireland claim to have some ability in Irish, although

there's no way or knowing how much Irish is spoken on a daily basis.

But the Gaeltacht Quarter

hopes to play its part in increasing those levels.

One of the key driving forces is Colaiste Feirste,

the only post-primary Irish language school in Northern Ireland.

The Sinn Fein MLA Caral Ni Chuilin is here today launching an arts

and culture exchange programme between West and East Belfast.

An art and everything to do with art and creativity as part of this city.

As the culture minister,

she's responsible for the executive strategy around the Irish language,

notably the Liofa Campaign,

an initiative aimed at getting 5,000 people from all backgrounds

across Northern Ireland fluent by 2015.

Indeed that campaign is partly why I began to learn.

She's been credited with trying

to break down some of the stereotypes around the use of Irish.

But doesn't her party bear some responsibility

for the politicisation of the language?

When you look at ordinary unionist, loyalist, Protestants,

from the '70s, '80s and beyond, they might be watching television,

they might see a Sinn Fein politician speaking Irish.

And they're not driven by bitterness around this,

but they look at this and they think,

"That's an alien tongue, because it's being used by them."

And it adds to the them and us dynamic that's here.

And there's some truth in that, isn't there? There is a them and us

socialisation that comes from who is using the Irish language.

Yeah, and I suppose it's about maybe people feeling that it's used

to exclude, you know?

I mean, I remember talking to someone and said I just...

"I heard the start of a debate

"and I just turned it over, cos Gerry Adams was speaking in Irish.

"It's bad enough having to listen to him in English."

And I remember I asked him why and he just says, "I just feel that you are

"using the language, cos it's yours." I went, "Well, why can't it be ours?"

But if he already seemed alien to those people,

the Irish language made him seem even more alien. I know.

But when you have people like yourself...

See, I kind of knew...

That, had I seen you starting an interview,

knowing your background and your history in Irish,

his reaction would have been completely different.

Do you think, ironically,

that Sinn Fein could best help the Irish language by walking

away from it for a while, and allowing someone else to drive this?

And then you become the problem.

And I think that's where the dichotomy around not knowing

why the language has been an issue.

"It's Sinn Fein's fault."

Is it Sinn Fein's fault that we're pushing marriage equality?

Is it Sinn Fein's fault that we're pushing

rights for people who have no jobs?

Is it Sinn Fein's that we're fighting social justice issues?

No, it's not.

But this is an issue that we all should be fighting for,

and that's my argument.

So, why should you walk away from any equality issue?

It just isn't in my DNA.

But what I don't want people to think or sense or perceive

or even believe is that I'm using the language as a way of excluding them.

I want the language to be a liberating experience for them

as it has been for me.

Nowhere is the depoliticisation of the Irish language

more evident than here in East Belfast.

Among the union flags and loyalist murals,

weekly Irish classes are growing in popularity

and take place here at the East Belfast Mission.

HE SPEAKS IRISH

'I think there is an interest within Protestants.

'I think that's a lot of Protestants feel it's something

'that's been denied to them.

'They've never had the opportunity to engage with the Irish language.

'But the interest has always been there.'

Here, in East Belfast Mission, we haven't waved a magic wand.

All we've done is make it available for people.

'I've part culture with the Irish language,

'cos I was in the British Army, in the Royal Irish Rangers.

'Who would have brought up, we would have had the Irish culture.'

Linda just mentioned it, and I thought, "Yeah, well,

"it's a perfect opportunity," cos I think, you know,

you think about it...

and then if it's not available, you're less inclined to, you know,

if it's not too close to you and you're not inclined to push

yourself to go for it or go and do it.

But with it being so close, there was no excuses.

I've been surprised at the number of Protestants who have

maintained their interest in it, even in spite of all these troubles.

In spite of it being perceived as the language of the enemy.

What shocked me was the revelation of the 1911 census.

When I found that my family, who lived in Frome Street,

within the shadow of the shipyards,

were all bilingual - this is before my father was born -

his older brothers and sisters and my grandparents spoke Irish.

That shocked me.

This is a way where ordinary people can get together on the basis of,

and hopefully an A-political language,

and get together.

I'm quite proud of the fact that there's so many in the class,

you know, and they're so eager and everybody turns up every week,

and if somebody misses one, they're texting or e-mailing to tell me

how much they're sorry, "I can't make a class,"

and they come up to you the next week.

I meet people who get angry at the very youth of the Irish language.

People from a Protestant or unionist background

sometimes get angry. "Don't introduce this into a conversation.

"Don't put this on television, don't put it on the radio,

"don't put it in a speech." Why are they so angry?

I think some people feel very threatened by the Irish language,

they feel threatened by that whole idea of Irish identity,

and for me, that's quite sad,

because I feel I'm British but I'm Irish.

I feel that as a Protestant from Northern Ireland,

we are the other Irish.

We are the ignored, forgotten Irish that have been overlooked, because

when people think of an Irish identity, they think of Catholic,

they think of republican.

And that's who I am, that's not my identity.

So I think that is why people from my community have rejected

that idea of an Irish identity and what goes along with that -

Irish dance, Irish language.

So for them, this is something that is alien to them.

Yet for me, I see now that actually, no, that identity is mine as well.

The Irish language has had a strong relationship with Protestants

stretching back centuries.

So in some ways what's happening here in East Belfast is not new.

It's just being rediscovered.

The dedication shown by Linda

and her colleagues to learning the language is inspiring,

and, to be honest,

I could do with a little bit of that rubbing off on me.

It's now December 2012,

five months since I announced my challenge live on radio.

And I found this much harder than I thought I would.

In my defence, I've just been so busy with work that

I haven't had the time to study as much as I need to.

But I have a feeling my teacher

isn't going to be very understanding.

Where are we?

Um...

Well, it's...

I wouldn't say... I wouldn't say it's a crisis. OK.

But I'm not being invited to lecture in Irish just yet.

It's been tough because you need to immerse yourself in any language,

and that's particularly the case in Irish,

and it's very difficult to immerse yourself,

because the talk is here and there's a bit there,

you go to classes, and I've been to a couple of classes - not many.

And I've tried a bit with some of the books, but there's no...

replacement, really, for immersion, I think, to fully get it.

And when you're doing so any other things...I've been working more,

I think, than I've ever worked ever before in my life

with documentaries and all kinds of films and programmes.

It's much more difficult than I thought it was going to be.

Much more difficult.

To find the time and then to concentrate in the time.

And it's exhausting.

Mentally exhausting, actually,

to get into another language at the best to times.

I find Irish particularly exhausting.

Even at the talk, I find it very tiring.

I went to bed at ten o'clock at night. I was knackered.

One of the funny things about this conversation is you're displaying

all the characteristics of the things that I hear from my students

in school when they want to put in place excuses to explain

why they haven't done anything. They use evasion techniques.

"I'm busy, I'm the busiest person in the world, I'm doing this,

"I'm doing that."

Did you not realise how difficult this was going to be

when you decided to take it on?

I thought it was going to be difficult.

But if I'm interviewing somebody on a radio programme,

I'm not going to be saying, "How's the weather?"

That's no use to me at all.

I mean, some of it's propositional.

If I'm interviewing someone about a subject or a topic,

I need to be able to say, "Why do you think that?"

So we need to look at what you're learning

and how you're leaning it and make a few tweaks.

The same advice I would give my kids in school - "Stop putting

"obstacles in front, stop finding reasons why you can't do it."

Clear your diary, clear your desk, clear your mind,

and focus on this for the next couple of months.

And I know you can do it.

Despite his words of encouragement ringing in my ears,

I'm heading into the new year with a distinct sense of anxiety.

I'm getting a good sense of the issues surrounding Irish

and how some attitudes are changing.

But discussion about the language isn't unique to Northern Ireland,

as I'm about to find out in Dublin.

How does the Irish language play out here south of the border?

Is it as controversial here as it is in some places?

Is it tied up with religion? Is it tied up with politics?

Is it tied up with peoples' experience from their childhood?

How do people in Dublin see the Irish language?

While Irish is enshrined in the constitution as the country's first

and official language,

in reality English is by far the most common language spoken.

In 2010, the Irish government launched a 20-year strategy

aimed at tripling the number of people who speak Irish

on a daily basis from 83,000 to a quarter of a million.

It's led to a public discussion about the relevance of the language.

Some people resent it. Some people are very uncomfortable with it.

Some people say it's taught very badly.

On the other hand, there is probably a growing culture that is

a second or third generation removed from Irish language altogether

and therefore has a fresh pair of eyes towards it,

and sees a novelty and like my experience,

is romantically drawn to it.

People pay lip service, excuse the pun.

Learn a few words.

It has a symbolic value for most people.

Not for everybody but a lot of people. Like tourist Irish?

Yeah, but it doesn't go beyond that.

It takes a real effort to perfect your Irish. Very difficult.

I think people are wanting to get back to the traditions that we have.

The culture.

Definitely when I was in school,

it was more of a hindrance than anything.

People weren't happy that they had to do Irish.

Are we going to face the facts of life that we need to have language

to communicate with the rest of Europe.

We need to be speaking Chinese now.

We need to be speaking German, Latin American, Portuguese.

Communicate.

People's attitudes to the language are formed

by their experiences of it, and for most people in the South,

that means during school.

In the education system here,

Irish is a compulsory subject right through secondary school,

but recently, Taoiseach Enda Kenny suggested making it optional,

an attempt he says at changing attitudes to it.

I've come to Ballymun,

an area witnessing a revival of the language,

to meet with someone who's devoted a lifetime to promoting Irish.

Talking to people in Dublin, especially younger people,

if they had an option not to study Irish at school,

many of them would take that option.

Many of the teachers would take the option of not learning it

to teach it as one of their additional subjects.

I think it would be a nail in the coffin of the Irish language

as it's used in Ireland, if it ceased to be a compulsory subject.

Well, I would have to agree with that.

I think we also need to look at flexible ways of dealing with

a flexible school population.

To make a more persuasive argument for the enjoyment of Irish

rather than seeing it as something like bad medicine you have to take.

I agree with that totally and I think a lot of that has to do...

It is very difficult to change attitudes.

It's one of the most difficult things to do in life is to change attitudes.

If you can change the attitude in a particular school,

and that can be done, and it has been done in an awful lot of schools

where Irish is only a subject, where it isn't even a medium,

where the teachers of Irish in that school have offered

exciting opportunities to the children to use the language

that they are learning.

For example, schools I know have internal radio,

they involve themselves in all sorts of debates and drama, everything.

As somebody who has been a language teacher,

I think there comes a point where...

There always is a point,

that there is no point in learning a language if you're not using it.

I do think that the Irish language community needs to do more to present

itself to the public and to people, to offer opportunities to them.

It has to be done, and I don't like saying "in a fun way",

because not everybody wants fun.

Enjoyment in the sense of being fulfilled,

and they don't want to lose what they have.

Jane Fonda, I think it was, I often use...

Well-known gaeilgeoir. Well-known gaeilgeoir.

She did a video for keep-fit and one of her mantras was,

"use it or lose it".

I think we need that.

Clearly, the debate about the language here is political

but in a very difficult way from the politics of Irish in Northern Ireland,

but there are common themes north and south,

including addressing attitudes to Irish and the teaching

of the language, which reminds me, time to get back to the books.

It's now March 2013.

I'm still having difficulty finding time for my one-to-one classes,

so I've signed up for a few day courses to boost my knowledge.

Time for another one, here at an Irish cultural centre in Belfast.

I feel like I'm making progress actually

at an intellectual level with Irish.

I'm understanding, for example, more and more of the grammar.

"Fadhb ar bith" - "no problem" -

but in your intonation, "fadhb ar bith?" "Is there a problem?"

One of the things we did here today was started putting together

a page of useful phrases you could drop in here and there,

which takes you on a little bit,

being able to respond to someone who asks you how you are in a way

that's more interesting than simply saying,

"I'm well, I'm doing all right." "Ta me go maith."

You'll maybe not be so well.

You might be middling, neither here nor there.

"Ta me go measartha," which is more accurate.

Or you might be having a great day and you want to say,

"I'm having a great time, I'm doing brilliantly well."

Those little phrases just build up your vocabulary as you go.

Just use them as much as you can

and find ways to squeeze them into your speech.

Using the language in everyday life

is key to developing my grasp of Irish.

Finding those opportunities can be difficult but sometimes

the language is being used in places where you might not expect it.

It's St Patrick's Day,

and this is St Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral in Armagh.

This morning is a special communion service,

a Church of Ireland service, and it's in Irish.

HE SPEAKS IRISH

A further twist is that today's service is being led

by Archdeacon Gary Hastings, a rector in Galway,

who was born and raised in East Belfast.

When I went to do Irish,

my granny didn't know there was an Irish language.

There was no connection with anything at all.

I went to university and I met Catholics for the first time.

A lot of them were in the Irish department.

I was interested in the music,

because this was mid-70s we are chatting about,

so traditional music had a whole big flowering then in Ireland.

I got fascinated with that. I was able to meet stuff

you weren't going to come across in East Belfast.

People tend to associate the Irish language with the people they know

who speak it, but if you see a Church of Ireland minister

like yourself speaking it, that's a very different image.

They are confused, still.

We're not supposed to do that kind of thing, you know?

That was the way they thought.

That all comes about the late 1800s when the Gaelic League was founded

and all that political nationalism,

that espoused the whole cultural side of stuff.

If you want to be a Unionist, the Nationalists were doing

all the cultural stuff, so we couldn't do that.

All we were left with was the Orange order and drums and banners and stuff,

but you weren't allowed to play traditional music or talk Irish,

because that's what they did so we didn't do that.

MAN SPEAKS IRISH

What do you enjoy most about speaking Irish? It's good craic.

I mean, it's not to do... There are no highfalutin ideas about it, nationalism or anything.

I actually enjoy doing it.

Like, I play a lot of traditional music

and I get a lot out of that personally.

That's good steam, and I meet people through it, it is a social thing.

And the language occupies nearly the same set of brain cells in my head.

HE SPEAKS IRISH

What is the most difficult part of learning Irish, do you think?

What's difficult about it?

I could tell you myself what the most difficult part is.

I'm sure you know. It's brain-frying.

Because learning a second language as an adult is excruciating. It is.

Because here you are, you're a grown man, you have an education behind

you, you're literate and everything else, and suddenly you are reduced

to being a sort of mentally not very sharp three-year-old, you know?

Have you become a bit of an evangelist for the Irish language?

Do you encourage people to learn it?

No, actually.

Not because I don't think they should learn it,

but I don't like inflicting my own interests on other people, you know?

I do it and it is what I do

and I don't even know I'm doing it any more.

If people are interested in that, then that's good, but I do my faith the same way.

If I'm doing my faith the right way, then other people would be interested

and attracted to that, rather than me asking them if they are saved,

which is a different matter entirely.

You don't carry leaflets around with you, then, no?

No.

Gary challenges so many stereotypes.

A Protestant minister, based in the south of Ireland,

who is originally from East Belfast, who speaks fluent Irish.

It's refreshing to meet a man who is still clearly at ease

with his own identity.

It's now April and only a month left until the radio show.

And what is your fear? Lack of vocabulary or just something is going to go wrong

on the night or you're not going to be able to pronounce something?

All of that, yeah. All of those!

Clearly this task is going to be difficult,

so to give me any chance whatsoever of pulling it off,

I'm going to have to concentrate on preparing to present a radio show.

Over the final weeks, I am going to learn essential words

and phrases that I will need to get by.

Tonight on Blas.

HE SPEAKS IRISH

Easy.

HE SPEAKS IRISH

Try that one again.

THEY SPEAK IRISH

You're saying it...

7.20.

HE SPEAKS IRISH

No, no, no, no.

How many of these do we do in half an hour?

We can't do it every five minutes.

Say a little bit more about that.

Yes, I agree with you. Keep talking.

Well, at least one of us is feeling confident.

As I have learnt more about the language, I have clearly seen

how many previous attitudes are changing, but what about the future?

I have come to visit a rural community focused on the next

generation. Just outside Maghera, the Carntogher Community Association

has been successfully regenerating the area

for the past 20 years.

It now consists of a post office, schools, businesses,

a library, a GAA club and even a nature reserve.

And the Irish language is the common thread linking it all.

The group is in the middle of a major development project,

a brand-new cultural centre,

housing an auditorium that can seat more than 200 people.

Already you've got hundreds of people involved

in this community, haven't you, in this association?

Definitely, I guess, and we cater for the broader community,

it's not just the Irish language community.

We try and get the entire community

in behind all of the activities we're doing.

We have several hundred Irish speakers within this area.

They happen to be young people, nearly all young people.

Most of the Irish speakers in this area are under 20 years of age.

Is that right? Because of the schools?

Because of the schools, because of the Gaelscoil.

The fact that you're doing this bilingually is important, isn't it?

Because the Irish language could be seen as a badge of exclusivity for some people.

"I don't speak the Irish language, so I can't come to your events."

Yes, I think that something we really want to dispel

and we want to make sure that doesn't become a force of any

sort or people feel, "I can go to that because I can't speak Irish."

So bilingualism and doing a whole range of activities

which are not in the Irish language at all.

We do a whole range of lectures and things like that,

which are not necessarily in the Irish language.

And we also do a lot of outreach within the wider population

to home in on things like local history, local environment,

explore those areas which are of common interest across a wide

range of people, and we do a lot more with other community groups.

All of that helps dispel this myth that there is this language,

which is exclusive. It is part of everybody's heritage.

How do you join the dots?

How do you make the connection between Irish

and community life and cultural identity here?

I think we do it by weaving the Irish language in as part

of the background to different things we are doing.

A sort of subliminal Gaeltacht.

You know the phrase, it is part of what we are.

That's what it is, it's not the whole of what we are, but it's part of what we are.

You don't push it, you don't make it a big issue, it's just there.

It's just normal.

The energy of this community is evident in these regular

traditional music sessions. I have been known to play the bodhran

on occasion, so I am happy to join in.

The creativity that we see in those young people is incredible, and these facilities will give them

an opportunity to develop that creativity. The name of this building is

the Cauldron of the Arts. That is what it is about, it is

about creating a future for their children and shaping the future

and their artistic future and giving them the opportunity to develop.

The focus on the next generation brings a confidence to this rural community.

What is happening here at the foot of the Sperrins is intriguing.

It's almost like a social experiment,

developing a bilingual community where the Irish and English

languages happily coexist in everyday use.

But what's even more intriguing will be how this community will look and sound in 20 years' time.

But this is where the fun ends for me.

Right, William, D-Day. It's May 2013. Tonight's the night.

Ten months ago, I announced I was going to co-present

the Irish language radio show Blas live. I must've been mad.

It has been ten months of ups and downs,

but have I learnt enough to pull it off? I'll be your safety net.

If I look to her and go like, she knows, time to jump in.

My focus now is try not to be too good,

because they are lovely girls, don't want to embarrass them.

You know, they do this every day. No, that's not my feeling at all!

I'm stressed.

I didn't sleep the other night at all thinking about this.

You've just done a great half an hour and you'll ruin it all by saying...

I just don't want to fall off air with embarrassment.

I mean, even in that meeting in there, they said, don't worry,

we have a track of music on standby

in case you collapse.

How much time do we have? It'll be half seven by the time you've said that.

It feels quite real now. Years, you've got a running order.

So out of the 31 minutes, how many minutes are you going to talk?

Probably about three. And slow down on this one.

Once you're in the studio, the focus is there.

I don't want to think about what I'm feeling,

I just want to do the job my focus on the job.

And are you afraid of over-preparing? I'm not over-prepared!

That's yours, that's what you had anyway.

Hello, everyone, have you met my camera crew? How are you?

You didn't need to dress for this, really, you didn't.

Good to meet you, how are you? Good to meet you.

Three minutes to go. Were you wondering where I was? I was.

Aye, I bet you were.

Right, William, here comes. how are you feeling? You nervous?

I have felt better. I really have. Am I nervous?

Is the Pope a Catholic?

And yes, that was William Crawley you just heard.

You may recall a number of months ago,

William came into the studio and declared on air

he had set himself a challenge to learn Irish and co-present Blas.

Well, that night has finally arrived. The Voice UK star Conor Rua Scott

drops into the studio to give us a taste of life on the BBC TV show.

Stay tuned, because you have survival tips on the way.

Not a bad start,

but tonight's first guest is certainly going to test my ability.

I'm too busy thinking about Alex Ferguson.

Speaking of Alex Ferguson...

Thankfully, that's the first item over.

Next up, I am interviewing a guest about a new book on Irish poetry.

Not an easy task, but I think I'm starting to settle into it.

I should switch into English for a second,

because this is important, it's a controversial thing

for some people that Michael Hartnett wrote both...

Part of it is people's idea of what a poet should be.

I was more nervous than you were.

No, you were not! But I couldn't tell how much

she understood. The deal was I was to continue in Irish and assume.

Absolutely, and I was picking up some wee phrases and things.

So that's where I am... jigsaw puzzle.

I'll just do a few tweets now and then at the end,

we'll do the rest of these and yours. OK?

Ten minutes to go!

You take as long as you need, Conor.

# You're old enough to understand

# You'll always be a stranger on a strange, strange land... #

Right, William, over to you.

Corny!

Well?

I just turn up at 6.30, and you just do everything in Irish and every so often speak to me in Irish,

and I'll reply in English to a question you didn't ask.

And we'll just make that our shtick. That's what you do best. That's what I do best.

It's the following morning, and I'm taking time out to let it all sink in.

There were times when I thought I wouldn't be able to pull this off, but I did.

Of course I could have done more,

I could have dropped some things and done more,

I could have woken up every morning in the way some people

go to the gym and go to my Irish books

and just drive myself through it and then I would've made more progress,

but I have no regrets about it, because,

and I'm not haunted by, I could have done more,

I'm actually just amazed and relieved that,

because I had the best Irish tutor in the world, in ten months,

I got to the point of presenting a live Irish language radio

programme, which is an achievement. I feel really proud of that.

The past ten months have been quite an experience.

I have learnt a fair bit of Irish, but I have learned a lot

more about the language and about those who speak it.

I have discovered with the Irish language community,

that most of the people I meet are very open-minded,

they are very open to diversity

and they are very open to giving space to other people,

because that is what they feel they haven't received at times

in their history and that was a bit of a revelation, actually.

So if there was more Irish and more interest in Irish in this society,

one would hope there would be more open space for the kind

of pluralist diversity I think defines a healthy society.

But I have one piece of advice for anyone else wanting to learn.

Whatever you do, when you're learning Irish, do not

do it with a television camera crew following you around for a year.

I mean, it's enough pressure all by itself to learn a new language,

but to be stalked by this?

Not the way to do it.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd