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Yes agree it isn't the case that the Irish lost their language willingly. This was over an 800 year period and the biggest death knell to Irish was the Famine when most of the Gaelic speakers died or immigrated. It is a different history and shouldn't be compared. There was also Plantations of populations from Britain so there was a determined effort by the English to eradicate the Irish language and this was done over a long period of time. Irish also was seen as a language of no future among a lot of people so all this contributed to very few people continuing to speak the language.
"A combination of the introduction of a primary education system (the 'National Schools'), in which Irish was prohibited until 1871 and only English taught by order of the British government, and the Great Famine (An Drochshaol) which hit a disportionately high number of Irish speakers (who lived in the poorer areas heavily hit by famine deaths and emigration), translated into its rapid decline. Irish political leaders, such as Daniel O'Connell (Domhnall Ó Conaill), too were critical of the language, seeing it as 'backward', with English the language of the future. The National Schools run by the Roman Catholic Church discouraged its use until about 1890. This was because most economic opportunity for most Irish people arose at that time within the United States of America and the British Empire, which both used English. Contemporary reports spoke of Irish-speaking parents actively discouraging their children from speaking the language, and encouraging the use of English instead. This practice continued long after independence, as the stigma of speaking Irish remained very strong." Hopefully the language will make a revival as it is still taught in the schools.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histor...Irish_language
Anyway I hope Belarusians continue to speak their language.
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