On the Use of Irish

I didn’t have any real sense of what role the Irish language plays in everyday life here. When I was over earlier I was intrigued to discover that there was an all-irish channel on TV (TG4) and that most streets had both the English and the Irish posted. I was aware that this is not a sound-out sort of language. Dun Laoghaire for example springs to mind. When I was over in 1991 I can certainly remember trying to make any connection between the place on the map and on the DART and one which people referred to clearly as Dun Leary. I have a sense that the Irish is used more now than it was twenty years ago and I find that a fine thing.
One place that I have found it is pretty much necessary to have some sense of irish is when it comes to the buses. If you are making a quick glance at the schedule listed on a bus post, without knowing that Ballsbridge is Droichead na Dothra (but these mean two different things), I would not be finding my way home. The use of Irish on the transit system seems preferred over English. The list of stops will be listed with Irish names and only major stops in English. I guess I’ll just have to brush up on my Irish.