The modem history of the Irish language is a noteworthy example
of the profound difficulty of conserving endangeredlanguages.Ireland has one of the oldest“linguistic preserves”in place,the Gaeltacht, which was established just after the country gained independence from the United Kingdom in1922.The government identified several districts in western Ireland where Irish was still used on a daily basis,and instituted measures to protect the language by requiring Irish proficiency for government posts and providing financial support for businesses and cultural activities conducted in Irish.The Irish language has survived in the Gaeltacht,but the initiative has only had limited success. The Gaeltacht is less linguistically homogeneous today than it was when created,and there are fewer monolingual Irish speakers.Worse still,social attitudes toward the Irish language in the Gaeltacht are far from positive Irish is perceived by many as backward,while English 
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