It's heartening news - the new Junior Minister with responsibility for Gaeltacht matters, Joe McHugh, doesn't have great Irish.   He had it, through primary and secondary school and he is from wild and beautiful Donegal, a cradle of our native language, but he's lost it.

Great!  That really is good news.

There's always been that gap, whether real or perceived, between those who can and those who can't when it comes to the cúpla focail.   Those who can are blessed with the knowledge and wisdom of an ancient language, beautiful in its intricacies, history and very utterance.

And those who can't are frequently intimidated and put off by the sheer wonder of it all.  They would dearly love to be a Gaelgoir, to even try the cúpla focail, but where to start and sure they'd only be looked down on for their efforts!

Deputy McHugh can lead the way - make an example of himself and make the rest of us put up or shut up!

Aside from inspiring the adult population, think what a positive reaction to Deputy McHugh's appointment could teach our young people.  Not to be an expert but to have love and passion for a subject, not to know everything but be willing to learn, to stand in front of others and admit to not being perfect, to ask those who know more to lead and assist - well isn't that exactly how we want our children to behave?

And isn't that pretty much where we all are?  In our connected world, in our world of daily discoveries, no one has finished learning, no one can finish learning  - ever.  We all have to stand up and shout out that we are prepared to keep on learning, to make the commitment to be a life long learner.

It would be great if the Gaelgoir and non Gaelgoir alike could come together on this, make this a rallying point for the language. Go at it heart and soul.  There should be no shame in being willing to learn.

Otherwise do we may prove the inverse of the old saying:

Tír gan anam - sin tír gan teanga!