I would like to comment on this stupid phrase. First of all, it’s in poor Irish. Gaeilge (=Gaedhilge in the correct Irish spelling) is the genitive form. The base form (now that the nominative of this word is obsolete and replaced by the former dative) is Gaedhilg, with no -e on the end. True, Gaeilge is used for all cases in Galway Irish, but then that is no different to saying that some dialects of English say “you was” instead of “you were”. The fact that the Irish government has “standardized” on the world Gaeilge is also neither here nor there – they have no right to try to change the standard language. Anyone attempting to read the Irish works of the early 20th century (the last gasp of real Irish) will immediately be confronted with the Gaedhilg/Gaedhilge distinction.
Let’s put aside the uneducated morphology and address the meaning. This phrase means “broken Irish is better than clever English”. It is an expression of utter stupidity on the part of anyone who utters this phrase. Nothing of inferior quality is just as good as something done well. If Irish is not going to be taken seriously, it would be better to focus on English instead. If on the other hand, Irish is going to be taken seriously as a subject for study and a vehicle for Irish heritage, “broken Irish” simply will not do.
The rationale behind the “official standard” Irish is that any old thing will do – who cares if it is really traditional Irish or not? It can be endlessly simplified at will by government committees. But the result of that procedure is a type of Irish that is just not traditional Irish. It is “Gaedhilg bhriste” that is being devised and taught nowadays, and Irish people sell themselves and their culture too cheaply when they accede to the notion that broken Irish is somehow a good thing.