Status of the Irish language from 40,000 up to 80,000 people. Areas in which the language remains a vernacular are referred to as "Gaeltacht" areas. Irish is the least widely spoken among the 24 official languages of the European Union. The use of the language in the Irish diaspora has been declining steadily. Irish speakers outside the Gaeltacht include both second-language speakers and native speakers who were raised and educated through Irish. They are sometimes known as and constitute an expanding minority, though of uncertain size. They are predominantly urban dwellers. Present trends make it likely that they represent the future of the language and
The Evil of the Day The Evil of the Day The Evil of the Day is a novel by Thomas Sterling, published in 1955. The book is patterned after Ben Jonson's Elizabethan comedy "Volpone", and was later adapted for the stage by playwright Frederick Knott under the title of "Mr. Fox of Venice". Together, these three works formed the basis of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1967 film "The Honey Pot". As in "Volpone" a wealthy old man summons three old faces from his past to his villa in Venice promising to name one his heir. It departs from Johnson's work when one of his guests is