Judge rules `Irish' offensive ethnic slur
By MIKE CONNOLLY
News Writer
Although 20,000 fans will scream "IRISH" this Saturday at the Blue-Gold Game, they cannot print "IRISH" on their license plates in Vermont, a judge has ruled.
Superior Judge Matthew Katz upheld a decision by the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles to prevent Carol Ann Martin from purchasing a vanity plate with "IRISH" printed on it. Katz ruled "IRISH" could be considered offensive or confusing to the public, according to court documents.
"Even in the context of IRISH — evocative as it may be of leprechauns, shamrocks and Galway Bay — the need to avoid viewpoint discrimination can be quickly apparent," Katz wrote in his decision. "If IRISH is permitted, because most Vermonters would not find it offensive, is NOIRISH? Although cinema buffs might consider this latter example intriguing, more folks would probably find it evocative of `No Irish Need Apply,' an employment notice actually and reasonably offensive to many."
Martin found flaws with the judge's logic.
"This decision, I don't see the common sense in it," she told the Barre Montpelier Time-Argus. "I didn't apply for NOIRISH. If someone applied for I-T, would they deny it because someone else might apply for S-H-I-T?"
Peter McQuillan, a professor of Irish studies at Notre Dame, believes Irish is not offensive.
"[The ruling] sounds like nonsense to me — that's my gut reaction," he said.
Denny Moore, director of public relations, agreed.
"That's outrageous," he said. "That's like saying you can't use Jewish or Polish because someone might use No Jewish or No Polish."
Although Notre Dame uses a former British stereotype of the Irish as its mascot, Moore said it rarely receives complaints — usually one or less a year. When Notre Dame does receive a complaint, Moore explains that the Irish-Americans who made up most of the students, administrators and faculty of the University adopted the symbol themselves.
"It is a British stereotype turned into an Irish-American icon," Moore said.
The Notre Dame Bookstore sells "quite a few" items with "Irish" written on it, according to Jim O'Connor, director of the Bookstore. He has yet to receive any complaints about items with "Irish" printed on them.
"Irish" is also used several times on the Embassy of Ireland in Washington DC's Web site.
All News Stories for Friday, April 27, 2001
