>>17896655 (OP)
Finland/Estonia aren't really comparable.
Sort of already having this conversation (and it's been had many times on this board) in another thread, so I'll just paste this here:
I think it was past the point of "preservation" long before there was such a thing as an Irish government to try prevent it.
If I recall correctly, by 1911 there was less than 20,000 mongolot Irish speakers. When Ireland became independent that number had probably shank even more. Ireland enters the 1920s as a Dominion of the British Empire with the following to worry about
>setting up an economy
>setting up a government
>a civil war and its aftermath
The 1920s were spent dealing with the above. Then the 1930s
>new government (renewed fear of civil war)
>trade war with britain
>abdication crisis = further "republicanisation" of the irish free state
then the 1940s of course were a less than ideal for focusing on cultural pursuits.
You then arrive at the "Republic of Ireland" in the 1950s; only a few thousand speak it fluently across the entire island. Thus the policy remained
>teach it in schools, mandatory
>show it on street signs
>use it in government titles and in the various institutions like the guardia, an post, etc
>gradual revival through slowly working the language into everyday use more and more
Keep in mind that all Irish speakers in Northern Ireland spent the entire 20th Century and some of the the past 25 years living in a place that actively suppressed the language wherever it showed up-further hurting national revival efforts.
The simple fact is that most people do not really want to spend the time and effort to learn a language which offers zero real benefit to them other than being able to keep speaking to people they already speak to. Unless you're really into Irish culture/history/languages in general, you probably aren't arsed.
