Bertiespeak
Encyclopedia
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
spoken by former Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....
.
Ahern's use of Bertiespeak has been credited as playing an integral part in the Northern Ireland peace process
Northern Ireland peace process
The peace process, when discussing the history of Northern Ireland, is often considered to cover the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Belfast Agreement, and subsequent political developments.-Towards a...
and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
was noted on at least one occasion to have allowed Ahern to use Bertiespeak when confronted with a tricky question posed by a journalist. On another occasion when Unionist
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
s on a visit to Government Buildings
Government Buildings
Government Buildings is a large Edwardian building enclosing a quadrangle on Merrion Street in Dublin, Ireland, in which several key offices of the government of Ireland are located...
in Dublin made a complaint Ahern was said to have "drowned" them "in a torrent of Bertie-speak", according to Deaglán De Bréadún.
References to Bertiespeak appeared regularly in the Irish media during Ahern's administration. Will Hanafin
Will Hanafin
William 'Will' Hanafin is an Irish journalist, a researcher, television producer and radio presenter from Youghal, County Cork. He can currently be heard on The Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM, largely in the background offering advice to listeners but he sometimes presents the show solo. He has been...
's De Little Book of Bertie, published in 2001, features numerous examples of Bertiespeak.
Description
Bertiespeak has been described by witnesses as being constructed of sentences which are "coherent and logical" when taken individually but are "calculated to bemuse and mystify" when said consecutively, with one observer remarking: "You would want to be EinsteinAlbert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
to understand it". Pat Leahy, writing in The Sunday Business Post
The Sunday Business Post
The Sunday Business Post is an Irish national Sunday newspaper published by Post Publications Limited. Post Publications is owned by Thomas Crosbie Holdings. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, Ireland, the average weekly circulation was 57,783 for the period January to June 2009. The...
in 2002, suggested in relation to Ahern's speech, "one is seldom in doubt about what he means, but there is sometimes confusion over just what he is actually saying" before citing one example from a press conference during which Ahern said "neutrality is not and never has been anything but absolutely clear".
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
book reviewer Edward King described Bertiespeak as being "characterised by a combination of malapropism
Malapropism
A malapropism is an act of misusing or the habitual misuse of similar sounding words, especially with humorous results. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes".-Etymology:...
s, grammatical infelicities and general confusion" and said the following was the most famous example of Bertiespeak:
Examples of use
One example of Bertie-speak noticed by the Irish media (Sunday TribuneSunday Tribune
The Sunday Tribune was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tabloid. Former editors include Conor Brady, Vincent Browne,...
) occurred in 2003 while Ahern was addressing Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
and referred to "the road map", the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
's Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
peace plan, as "the road crash" on several occasions.
Another famous example is his call for people not to "upset the apple tart".
Political opponents too have recognised Bertiespeak. Then Labour Party
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...
TD Derek McDowell
Derek McDowell
Derek McDowell is a former Irish Labour Party politician. He was a Teachta Dála from 1992 to 2002, and member of the 22nd Seanad Éireann ....
, speaking at the Select Committee on Finance and the Public Service on 19 April 2000, is recorded as having registered his confusion at some of Ahern's points:
Speaking of media opposition to his Stadium Ireland
Stadium Ireland
Stadium Ireland was the name of a proposed government built sports stadium in Abbotstown, Dublin, Ireland. The Bertie Bowl was called so due to its close association with the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern....
proposal in 2002, Ahern complained: "I’ll not have it whinged to death in the press".
Book
De Little Book of Bertie, written by Will HanafinWill Hanafin
William 'Will' Hanafin is an Irish journalist, a researcher, television producer and radio presenter from Youghal, County Cork. He can currently be heard on The Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM, largely in the background offering advice to listeners but he sometimes presents the show solo. He has been...
and published by Merlin Publishing in October 2001, was the first book dedicated to Bertiespeak. As part of his research Hanafin browsed newspapers and watched television programmes which featured Ahern.
Hanafin's personal favourite is: "People should stop throwing white elephants and red herrings at each other".