If you will it, it is no dream. Yes, an Irish- speaking Ireland -- not exclusively Irish speaking, but bilingual -- can re-emerge. It will require a unity of vision and willpower that has been lacking in Irish politics these past few decades.

Over a half century ago, Israel rescued Hebrew from obscurity. It was then a language spoken by a few thousand persons, but it is now flourishing with around five million speakers. Hebrew's revival is proof that Ireland can do the same with Irish.

The signs are hopeful. The incoming Taoiseach, for one, wants to see the language flourish. Taking the order of business on behalf of the outgoing Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and Labour leader Eamonn Gilmore sustained a good quarter-hour of leaders' debate in the Dail in Irish.

Another positive sign is the depoliticisation of Irish. By voting to de-politicise its constitution in relation to the North, Conradh na nGaeilge has greatly expand its appeal (stressing the Protestant religion of its founder, Douglas Hyde, will also reach out to Protestants in the north).

Unfortunately, there are those who are willingly sabotaging this good work. God knows Mary Hanafin is not one of them. But she has become their pawn. As she pointed out to me when I interviewed her, she has done more than many ministers in her brief to promote the language in secondary school. But secondary school is the last resort for learning Irish, and if we are to maintain spoken Irish in the Gaeltacht and beyond, then maintaining the policy of total immersion -- a policy Hanafin's department is trying to destroy -- is critical.

Before going any further, I should clarify that we are not talking about plumbing policies west of the Shannon. Immersion -- so called -- is a highly successful policy of educating children in a bilingual environment. To compensate for hearing one language at home and on TV, kids are educated totally in another language for the first two or three years of education before switching to dual language teaching. The crucial word here is "totally". Until it can compete with the dominant language around it, Irish must be given a leg up and a fighting chance in primary school. Introducing any English into those crucial early years -- as the Department's notorious circular 0044/2007 requires -- defeats the policy.

As Donal O Hanafein of NUI Maynooth has shown, immersion children are better not just in Irish, but in English as well. Given this evidence, the Department of Education should be enforcing immersion across the country.

Unfortunately, when it comes to this issue the minister's policy advisers have little interest in evidence -- and if ever there was a case of a great minister being given bad and unsupported advice, this is it.

But neither she nor her advisers are responsible for the root of the problems facing Irish. The first is what can only be described as a second plantation of the Gaeltacht whereby native Irish speakers are becoming strangers in our own environment. Ironically, the Cabinet recently decided to issue a stamp to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Plantation of Ulster. Like Conradh na nGaeilge's decision, it was a generous gesture towards the million Irish Protestants whose history and origins deserve respect and recognition. Were a second wave of incomers not threatening the Gaeltacht's existence, it might be easier to celebrate this commemoration.

Like a glacier, the Gaeltacht has shrunk back to the western fringes and is in danger of disappearance. Like a glacier, its small size disguises its huge role in our cultural ecosystem. Its existence feeds how English is spoken and sung in the rest of the country. Wipe it out, and Ireland is little more than a culturally lobotomised province of England, no more culturally different from London than Yorkshire or Devon.

A stalwart of sport, Micheal O Muircheartaigh has also been promoting Gaelscoileanna since Mary Hanafin was in primary school. "The Gaeltacht is the remnant of an Irish-speaking Ireland. The decline began in the east, so every effort should be made to preserve what is still there. It is far more important to preserve the language than any of the national monuments. There is no comparison between even the greatest of national monuments and a living language," he told me recently. He is dead right.

He also echoes the findings of professional research on immersion. "English doesn't suffer, it might even benefit ... They can't help but have English because it's in their surrounds and it's the language of most of their parents. The immersion helps in setting them off in initial stages. I can't see how anyone would be against it."

Grand statesman that he is, TK Whitaker is reluctant to get involved in contemporary debates on policy. But he does favour publishing the results of research more widely.

"All that sort of information should be more widely available so that parents are not adopting their present habits about bringing up their own children in English unnecessarily," he believes.

Another statesman of younger vintage, former Finance Minister and Labour leader and the party's current Education spokesman, Ruairi Quinn, agrees. "There is international evidence that immersion is the way to go to facilitate the early learning of another language while the home language may be different. The merits and demerits of this issue are hotly contested and the national response in this case would be to seek detailed research."

The smoothness and policy competence of the response tells you why this man became Finance Minister.

Alarmingly, and in total contrast, Hanafin's department has conducted no research at all.

One reason might be a lack of competence. Bodies with such competence -- the NCCA (National Council for Curriculum Assessment) and COGG (Council for Education in Gaelscoilleanna and the Gaeltacht) have said no change should be made before research is conducted.

Another reason could be a hostility towards the language that would make Oliver Cromwell blush. When he said, "To hell or to Connaught," Cromwell at least accepted the idea of an Irish-speaking west of Ireland. Not so some of our officials. As Irish language Commissioner Sean O Cuirreain exposed last week, someone in the Department of Justice disgracefully obstructed an investigation into why a judge unable to speak Irish was appointed in a Gaeltacht area.

Hanafin admits that it was her senior officials and members of the inspectorate who advised her on this matter. She also failed to produce any research to back up this policy change. Neither was there any mention of it in Fianna Fail's manifesto or in the Programme for Government. In short, a minority of unelected, unaccountable officials have hijacked a democracy.

They have also given their minister a bum steer. When she told me that the 1999 curriculum gave her no choice but to abandon immersion, saying, "I cannot allow a situation where schools can pick and choose any aspect of the curriculum," Hanafin revealed the poor quality of her department's advice. Page 70 of the 1999 curriculum clearly states that teaching English in early years is recommended but not mandatory. The fact that the Department has issued a circular -- and plans to issue a Regulation to back it up -- proves that it is the Department itself, and not the curriculum, forcing the change.

As she goes down this road, Mary Hanafin should contemplate the fate of a woman with whom she has much in common: Niamh Breathnach was an Irish speaker, a TD for Dun Laoghaire and also an Education Minister. She also from time to time ignored sound advice, and her absence from today's political scene speaks volumes about the wisdom of this approach. She should also note that none of her colleagues has spoken in favour of the policy.

With or without her, the struggle to revive the language will go on. Just as the Israelis nurtured Hebrew back to life, we should actively nurture Irish-speaking areas to the point where they are economically viable and growing of their own accord. Like Israel, there are some who would push Irish-speaking Ireland into the sea. And just as Israel does, we must oppose these enemies of our culture with resolve, determination and ruthlessness.