Why is the Irish on the roadsigns in Ireland put smaller and in italics and the English in bold?

Question

Is this right that As Gaeilge is being put smaller and I've noticed most direction signs are in English and only names appear in Irish ? Why is this.

Answer 1

hi you

by law they have to be in both Irish and English so in areas that speck nearly all English is put first and the Irish is put second and smaller in areas where there speck Irish the Irish is put first and English second and smaller

Answer 2

The majority of Ireland speaks english but because w'ere Irish as well as it being law it kinda makes sense so the gaelic language isnt completly ruled out! It shud all be as gaelige and the english in the little writting!

Answer 3

Roadsigns need to be clear and easily understood. If the Irish is larger than the English it makes it more difficult to read making them more dangerous. Cultural heritage is important but so are usable roadsigns. Furthermore if you have a map it will mostly likely be in English so if you are going to Leixlip a roadsign for Leim an Bhradain is a problem. Roadsigns are placed so that a car going at the speed limit has just enough time to react to the sign if you need to read the English in smaller print you will read it after the Irish which means you have less time to react.

Oh and who exacty said you didn't speak a Celtic language.

Answer 4

I think its a great pity that Irish isn't given more respect here. What use is it even having the signs in English, they're not even the real names of the places, just made up English ones.

Answer 5

I was born in Danegal and i never learnt Gealic, even though i was in the gaeltacht region..it just isn't useful. Celtic languages are also pretty vague and inflexible - they just aren't equipt for the modern age. This is why nobody in ireland really speaks Gealic.

It might be a shame, but you can hardly blame england for that. The people of Eire WANT to speak english, not Gealic...Infact this road sign thing is happening in Japan, China,most eastern countries and Suadi arabia. English is the universal language these days.

Answer 6

It's a pity that the Irish language is being sidelined but I guess most people can't speak it well enough to have the Irish as the main writing on the signs.  I am pleased that the Irish is there at all and at least in the Irish speaking areas have the signs in Irish only.....

Answer 7

Well the majority of Irish people do not speak fluent Irish....most have a limited amount (and relatively low standard) of Irish.....but for the most-part, English is spoken.

Irish is spoken as a "first" language in the "gaeltacht" areas, but this is a very small number.

The Irish on the roadsigns is basically just for cultural purposes (to keep the language alive)

(Its not really for "practical" reasons - because "gaeltacht" people can speak English anyway)