Ivan Yates has said he does not regret his comments about the Irish language “at all” – labelling his critics ‘absolute zealots’ and ‘bullies’.

The broadcaster and political commentator has come in for criticism online after he told The Six O’Clock Show last week that he “couldn't be arsed to learn Irish”.

In a clip that has been widely shared on social media, he said the State was pouring money into the language even though, “There's only 16,000 people in the country who speak it naturally”.

Presenter Brian Dowling agreed with him and shook his hand, while fellow presenter Fionnuala Jay and guest Síle Seoige voiced their disapproval.

On Lunchtime Live this afternoon, Ivan said he has “no regrets at all” about his comments.

“Anytime this issue is raised about Irish, from my ten years of full-time broadcasting, you can be absolutely guaranteed that the roof will fall in with a lot of hateful people who are absolute zealots – and I am absolutely not afraid to confront them because they are bullies," he said.

Education

He said he is calling for an “adult debate” about the way Gaeilge is treated in Ireland.

"If people want to voluntarily do Irish, that is absolutely fine, but I think the problem is that a lot of people are forced to learn Irish and people are going through the school system and saying, ‘Well, I'm looking at my career plans, I'm looking at opportunities in life and I don't think I should be forced to learn Irish,” he said.

Asked whether he would like his grandchildren to speak Irish he said his wife and daughter are both fluent speakers.

“I have no difficulty with them making their own life choices, but please don't ram it down my throat,” he said.

I hadn't planned on speaking on @NewstalkFM today, but I felt compelled to.
This is a complex topic, one which I have plenty of views and thoughts on.
There was not enough time to get into it all here.
& no, still no contact from anyone.
Éist leis anseo...https://t.co/eGGVhDKWdQ

— Síle Seoige (@SileSeoige) February 14, 2024

Also on the show, Síle Seoige said she was “breathing very deeply and doing my best to stay calm” listening to Ivan’s comments - adding that she was doing something very similar in The Six O’Clock Show studio last week.

She said she "actually can't believe" that Ivan would, 'use the word bullies, referring to people who were commenting on what happened”.

Síle said she understands that the incident on TV was “a joke that backfired” but insisted, “nonetheless it was executed badly”.

"You have a guest on who is a native speaker and you're discussing the Irish language with her," she said.

"One of the presenters is saying that they're currently learning the language and the other presenter and the other guest are dissing the language - therefore, they're dissing the guest.

“Literally, as I was speaking Irish, the presenter says, ‘Do we need subtitles here?’ and the other guest laughs.”

'Grave offence'

Síle said many people, whether they speak Irish or not, took “grave offence” to the way the language was being treated, adding that it is “absolutely nonsensical” to label them bullies as a result.

She said The Six O’Clock Show yesterday “made an apology that was not an apology at all” about the incident.

“Actually, what it did was, it was gaslighting everybody who had a problem with it,” she said.

“The host was saying, ‘We are a show about love and inclusion and we're about having fun' and what it didn't actually acknowledge was the hurt that it had caused amongst the people who watched it.

“I think it's been handled really badly. I'm really sorry to say this. I wish this never happened.

“I'm about having authentic conversations with people in a real way and this is something now that has gone from not bothering me at all to, my blood is boiling over it.”

'Very disrespectful'

Síle said the debate about the Irish language can’t be “wrapped up in a little bow and finished off” with a soundbite - adding that the way she was treated on the show was “very disrespectful”.

"When you're disregarding somebody's language, you're disregarding them,” she said.

The Six O’Clock Show has been contacted for comment.

You can listen to both interviews here: