The head of government in Ireland is the Taoiseach (plural Taoisigh).
Given that she listed the titles of other people sitting around the table in Brussels, she might have had the manners to mention the Irish head of government by his title, rather than lump him in with presidents, prime ministers and chancellors.
Taoiseach does not translate as prime minister… but, Google informs me, as ‘chief’.
She doesn’t know how to pronounce it.
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LOL. Probably not.
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she probably believes she’s PM of Ireland too! And Leo is a lesser being like Nicola.
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LOL. Possible.
Wasn’t Ruth nauseating?
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Britnats don’t like being reminded that Ireland’s independence represents the beginning of the end for England’s complete domination of the British Isles.
They will go into total melt down shortly when Scotland joins Ireland.
How do you say First Minister in Gaelic?
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“The First Minister of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Prìomh Mhinistear na h-Alba; Scots: Heid Meinister o Scotland) is the leader of the Scottish Government.”
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Sounds good to me.
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In fairness, I wonder how often the Taoiseach of Ireland encounters anyone outside of his own country who knows the name of the office he holds, or how to pronounce it if they did. It is however exceedingly cool (not to say somewhat bizarre) to know that the plural of Taoiseach is Taoisigh. (Presumably on the slim chance that you would ever need a word for more than one of them.)
Maybe an official gathering whose proceedings are being conducted in a single language could use a translation. Although “Chief” in English doesn’t really sound all that great either. 😉
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Oh, I was just being picky, Danny.
But she managed Prime Ministers, Presidents (although to the best of my recollection there is only one in Europe that is responsible for foreign affairs, and chancellors, or which there are two, I think.
When they talk about Leo here they usually refer to him by his proper title. I just thought that, as prime minister, she might have managed to not assume that she could use an English title for him.
The established anglicisation for the word Taoiseach is TEE-shock (-ee as in meet, -sh as in ship). The deputy prime minister is referred to as Tánaiste, pronounced TAW-nuh-stuh. Fine Gael, Leo Varadkar’s party, is pronounced FIN-uh GAYL.
The plural was just me showing off that I know how to Google this stuff! 🙂
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Tris……Using his correct title would have been respectful. I first heard the word from you. I’d never heard it used here. Definitions and plurals certainly help make us appreciative of Google. 🙂
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Just another one of the hundreds of things that she got wrong, Danny.
But the Irish are a bit fierce about their language. Even in English speaking areas, everything in the Republic is in Irish first and English second.
Google is a godsend. People really used to look stuff up in books…. !!!!!!
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Tris……We have an actual book that we use for a reference when we play Scrabble. Seems SO cumbersome to look up a word in it. 🙂
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Ohhhhh, A book, you say?
My goodness.
How do you click on stuff in it?
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🙂
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https://www.gov.ie/en/role/14142307-an-taoiseach/
May be of interest.
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Tris…..Interesting! And it appears that the President of Ireland, Uachtarán na hÉireann (Wiki says) is the elected Head of State, and is mostly a ceremonial position.
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Yes. He or she, as it has often been, is ceremonial. The most famous one, I think is Mary Robinson, who was a human rights lawyer and went on to do so much after her presidency. A woman who speaks solid common sense in the same class as Angela Merkel and Nicola Sturgeon.
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I was told once that the surname McIntosh means son of the chief. There are a lot of them about, so perhaps it was a sort of droit de seigneur.
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You were told right…
Last name: McIntosh
This interesting name is of Scottish origin, and derives from the Old Gaelic “toisech” which has the meaning “chief, leader” or “front man”. In modern Gaelic the spelling is “Taoiseach” (the title given to the Irish head of Government).
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