Introduction

While there is a substantial body of literature on the general characteristics of Hiberno-English (HE), relatively little is known about grammatical variation within this variety of English, although the circumstances in which HE has evolved have varied in different parts of the country, depending mainly on the position and strength of the formerly dominant vernacular, Irish. Given the paucity of empirical research into spoken HE, descriptions of regional and social differences within HE have remained at a rather general level. For example Bliss (n.d.:5), setting aside the Scottish dialects of Ulster, simply makes a distinction between rural HE, urban HE and the speech of educated Irishmen (cf. Henry 1977: 20, for a some-what different view). Of these, the rural varieties are said to display most clearly grammatical features which go back to the corresponding features of Irish, whereas the educated variety is closest to standard English. Urban speech is characterised as being somewhere in between: while it has been influenced by contact with Irish, it has also been open to standardising and, perhaps, other influences from outside the country, especially from Britain (for further discussion, see Bliss n.d.).