It is called Gaeilge in Irish, I presume you don't say that you speak Deutsch or Francais, or what ever language you speak? When speaking in English, we use the English terms, "Irish" and "Ireland", when speaking in Irish, we use the Irish words "Gaeilge" (which as it happens is just the standard way to spell it, hardly anyone pronounces it like that, and some don't even spell it like that, so it could be incorrect to say "as its speakers call it", but it's nit-picking), and "Éire".

And I think that the 80,000 people who speak Irish as their main language of communication in the home (I can't think of the exact figure, but it's between 70 and 90 thousand according to the last census) would be highly insulted that you wish "them" luck in reviving it. The amount of people speaking Irish in the home has stayed remarkably stable in the last number of years, and that doesn't count a large number of people who have a pretty good grasp of Irish but are out of practice or never practice, as well as those who do. Irish isn't being revived in the present day, the last Irish revival was in the latter years of the 19th century, and that was only a revival in the sense that it was the end of the decline in literature being produced in the language. Irish will never replace English as the de facto first language of the country, but it is not being revived in any sense of the word, but thankfully, it is holding its own in an increasingly globalised world.

Sorry Delodephius for posting irrelevant information in your thread, ach níl athbheocain na Gaeilge ar siúl, agus tá súil agam nach mbeidh athbheocain ó Ghaeilge sa thodhcaí.

I thought the state's language policy was to teach Irish to everyone. What's wrong with wishing them success in that?

Irish didn't die, it declined and now attempts are being made to reverse the decline. That's great.
Not all that violent, but it varied from place to place.

Nothing--and if you had done that, there wouldn't have been any issue.

While we're at it, I'd like to wish the Finns success in teaching their people Finnish and the Chinese good luck in teaching their people Chinese.

I don't get it. What did I say that was so controversial?

Irish was declining. Now it's being revitalized. I expressed support for that and made a little joke about its orthography. I also called it Gaeilge. I don't see a problem.

May Day and Labour Day is the same in most ex-communist countries. Some celebrate it, in Serbia even the May 2nd is also Labour day, while some like Slovakia and Czechia remember it as a communist holiday and don't celebrate it, they just take a day off, but May 1st is a an old pagan holiday and in rural areas there and everywhere where Slovaks live the building of the May Pole is still done.

There has been no major decision in the last 80 years that was designed to revive Irish, the numbers have actually been remarkably stable for the last number of years, although there has been an overall decline in the number of native and fluent speakers over the last number of years.

Officially it is the first language of Ireland, and while that is more honourary than realistic, courts, driving tests and every government function can and must be conducted in Irish if the person so wishes. Yes, most Irish people would like to see Irish more common, but it is not being revived in any sense of the word.

"And I wish them only success in reviving it", is just a flippant remark that doesn't represent the situation or status of Irish. I probably wouldn't have minded if you didn't add the ridiculous addendum. It just doesn't make any sense.

I thought that while the number of native speakers has remained stable, the number of second-language speakers has increased a lot. Irish will never replace English as the primary language of the Republic, but at least it won't die out, right?

I apologize if what I said was insensitive.