In July, the European Union’s rotating Council Presidency will issue official communications in the Irish language, alongside English, in a historic first. Government ministers from Ireland, which chairs the Council for the second half of this year, will be encouraged to say at least a few words in Irish when they initiate or conclude a session. Paradoxical to the point of comedy It’s a high-water mark for Gaeilge on the world stage, but it’s also a moment that throws the language’s deepest contradiction into sharp relief. Constitutionally, Irish is the Republic of Ireland’s first official language, English merely the second. Yet the vast majority of the Republic’s five million inhabitants speak English first, or English only. According to the 2022 census, fewer than 72,000 people in the entire country use Irish daily. The situation of the Irish language is paradoxical to the point of comedy.…