SBO's (if you'll forgive the abbreviation)views on the Irish language are not new. Many irish people over the last 200 years have felt the same - that one must give up one's native tongue (rural, backward, unsophisticated etc) and embrace the language of the invader (jobs, prestige , status etc).We all know why.
The resuklt is what we see in Ireland today. Most who learn the language at school leave it alone as soon as they are able.
The gaeltacht areas are shrinking , with fewer mother tongue speakers evry year.
(But for the record SBO, Irish IS one of the two official languages of the republic, with a new Official Languages Act just coming into force to provide equal rights for native speakers - who probably number around 30,000 nowadays.
So much for history and politics then.
The actual living health of the language however belies both thesep oints - and SBO's narrow views.
There are now over 13000 children being educated through the medium of Irish at Gaelscoileanna in Dublin, plus another 11000 or so in Belfast. Language classes proliferate both North and South of the border. In addition many thousands travel from all over the world to learn Irish in the Gaeltacht - I myself attend a summer school every year in Donegal and meet learners and enthusiasts from all over the world - Finland, Germany, USA, Canada, Japan, Holland...you name the country and there will be Irish speakers there.
Although it's true to say that Irish is weak even in the Gaeltacht areas, it is actually growing like never before as a second language in the rest of Ireland, as well as across the globe. As others have said, there are classes and events for irish in most countries.
Books, magazines and newspapers abound. In Ireland we have both TV and radio channels in Irish.
So..what SBO says is totally irrelevant, thanks very much.
In England where I live, there is a growing network of Irish speakers ad learners - we meet up all over the country for social occasions and lessons, weekend and one day events - to speak the language of our people and to celebrate a unique culture, music and literature.
Also, did I mention...it's FUN!

So if SBO isn't interested...so what? More fun for the rest of us.
Adh môr - agus beannachtaí geal oraibh go leir - Dáithí