Anne Barron and Klaus P. Schneider (eds.), The pragmatics of Irish English. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 2005. Pp.vi, 408. Hb. $151.20

Of the 13 studies included in this pioneering volume, two acquaint the reader with the research setting regarding the use of English in Ireland and with the particular focus of this project. In the first, “Irish English: A focus on language in action”, the editors specify that the volume is designed to fill a gap – since existing empirical studies on the pragmatics of Irish English are few and of recent date (starting in the late 1990s), unlike the investigation of this diatopic variety on various linguistic levels, the history of which reaches back into the 18th century and is synthetically presented in the second introductory study, Raymond Hickey's “Irish English in the context of previous research”. The other 11 studies are divided into three sections, devoted to pragmatic aspects of Irish English in the private sphere, in the official sphere, and in the public sphere, respectively.