TV viewers slam Ivan Yates' 'astounding ignorance' as clip on Irish language goes viral

Ivan Yates has been slammed by TV viewers for disrespecting the Irish language. 

The comments were made following the circulation of a viral clip from Virgin Media's Six O'Clock show featuring presenter Brian Dowling, Ivan Yates and gaeilgeóir, Síle Seoige. 

In the clip - which was initially posted by Virgin Media and swiftly deleted following the backlash - Yates can be heard stating: "Níl focal ar bith agam. I couldn't be arsed to learn Irish, and I'm sorry about it if you're offended. All this money we've put into it and there's 16,000 people in the speaking it naturally." 

The response on social media was quick, with one person posting on X (formerly Twitter) to say: "I don't like indifference but I understand it; I can't say the same for the way Yates and his media friends celebrate their ignorance, as if it's a virtue. I can't speak, say, Chinese; I'm not ashamed but neither am I proud of it in the way Yates is proud of his lack of ability." 

Another person stated: "Ivan Yates - Fine Gael TD for 21 years, a former Minister, sat on the FG Front Bench. The decline of the Irish language throughout the 20th century was not by accident, it was because people in power had attitudes like this." 

Viewers also took issue with presenter Dowling's reaction as well as Yates' comments. 

An X user stated: "Brian Dowling stands up and SHAKES HIS HAND. How colonised can you be? Can you imagine any other minority group being treated with such open disdain? Only in Ireland..." 

Another person stated: Sickened to see an Irish presenter stand up and shake hands over such a comment. Not to mention inviting a guest to talk about our national language and commenting "Have we got subtitles at some point?" 

However, not everyone was quick to anger. 

One viewer commented: "Maybe Ivan Yates and Brian Dowling feel a bit embarrassed that they don't speak Irish so they deal with this by affecting an exaggerated disdain for the language? Why else would Ivan make false claims about the number of Irish speakers?" 

Although Yates claims just 16,000 people in Ireland speak our native tongue, the 2022 Census found that 142,828 people over the age of 15 speak Irish "very well" daily, with over 1.8 million people stating they could speak Irish. 

Seoige's response, however, was widely praised. 

She said, "I'm not even going to have this debate with Ivan, this is what he does. He just likes to wind people up. Stir the pot." 

"It's my normal. I was very lucky and fortunate to grow up in a Gaeltacht area, I was reared in Irish. My kids speak Irish. I'm living back in the West of Ireland, I'm living back in Connemara, in my home village of Spiddal. 

"It isn't dead, it's very much alive," she said, while Yates who can be heard laughing intermittently - said, "Okay." 

"It's intertwined in our Irishness, it's in our culture, our heritage. It's who we are." 

According to the Journal, Yates defended his comments and stated: "I’m not bothered by Twitter spats, but if anyone watched the programme, they’ll see that I was on to speak about politics and the power of podcast. 

"I have no problem with Síle Seoige or anyone else, but I do think we need to have an adult conversation about the resources allocated to the Irish language.

"Would the resources committed to the language be better if they were allocated to healthcare or childcare, for example?

"I think it’s worthy of a national debate and not one that’s left to zealots – the people and organisations who get defensive about Irish every time this is brought up." 

Multiple social media users accused Yates of hypocrisy regarding his opinions on the use of Government resources, given his history of bankruptcy. 

In an X post, MEP Luke 'Ming' Flanagan commented: "Ivan Yates asking what has the Irish language cost us. How much did his bankruptcy cost us?"