Ard Mhaca

Your mention of Leinster is interesting. The nearest thing to first language Irish there is, as you know, Rath Carn which is a transplanted enclave of Conemara Irish. I have no real experience of the dialect or accent involved - the numbers are very small.

My basic point remains. The three main streams of first language Irish differ significantly in intonation, vocabulary and idiom. Yes - native speakers of each can, with some adaptation, understand each other in speech. That doesn't take away from the fact that the differences exist.

Non native-speakers (such as myself) tend to use a more standardised vocabulary and, often, mixed intonation and a phraseology with greater or less transfer from english idiom. This is neither a criticism nor a defence - it's a simple statement of my experience over more than fifty years of speaking a language I love!

Beir bua.