Fada fadó: 'Use it where it should be' says Kilkenny councillor

Kilkenny County Council has passed a Notice of Motion to call on all State bodies in Ireland to position a fada “where it should be in any given word in Irish, in all communications, and relevant places when printing words in Irish”.

The Notice of Motion was brought by Councillor Fidelis Doherty, who said there were a lot of big issues to be discussed, but this was about Ireland’s culture, and Irish language was important. The name Seán is a nice Irish boy’s name, but the word ‘sean’ means 'old', and ‘Órla’ is a beautiful name here, but without the fada can mean ‘vomit’, she added.

The Fine Gael councillor said that in France cedillas are commonly used and in Germany they use umlauts, so Ireland should use its fada.

“It’s hugely important we honour our language and heritage in its written form,” she said.

The Notice of Motion was agreed by members.