Just FYI, it's spelled "iechyd da".
About to read article. Response to follow.
I'm speechless. Or I would be if he had his way. As would the 85% of the people here in Gwynedd who speak Cymraeg as their first language. A language they have been brought up speaking here for centuries. The language of a literary tradition and culture that predates English. A language that has survived centuries of suppression and legislation from successive English monarchs and governments. Take a trip to the remotest parts of rural Wales, untouched by industrialism, and look at the churches and gravestones dating back centuries, read the engravings on statues, war memorials and civic buildings, listen to the locals from 9 to 90 talking, then try and tell me that Welsh has "long since faded into obscurity." For sure, it has suffered, but it never died. It's not a fad or a fashion, or anything to do with nostalgia or romanticism. It's not a symptom of anything (referring to the Welsh language in the same sentence as Basque terrorists is an outrageous and unfounded slur, incidentally).