"Not merely Free but Gaelic as well..."
A quick extract from the excellent book Who Needs Irish? which is now out-of-print, apparently. The Irish State established in 1923 with a native government at the helm, adopted the revival of Irish, as an important national objective. This was to be expected as the state was born out of a struggle for independence, the ideological basis for which was dependent to a large extent on asserting a separate national identity based on language. It was hoped that Irish would replace English, in the same way as English had replaced Irish in the previous century. Firstly, do you agree that the struggle for independence was largely based on asserting a separate national identity based on language? Secondly, is it hypocritical for republicans and nationalists, who on the one hand, strive for an all-island republic, but on the other, put forward zero effort in making Irish an integral part of their lives?

here in Boston, most of the Irish I know with Republican sympathies have good Irish. I even know Irish Americans (like myself) who see learning Irish as a good way of doing their part to reverse the cultural dilution that seems to be going on.

It would certainly seem pointless to me. As Ruairí ó Brádaigh pointed out at a recent debate in Cork, we are an ancient nation - not a revolted English colony.