Currently, the Constitution recognises Irish as the State’s first official language and English as its second.
Advertisement“But if you look at Kneecap, those young lads’ enthusiasm for the Irish language was born of adversity and opposition from the authorities in Northern Ireland.; last summer was the hundredth anniversary of Irish being made compulsory in schools and there are fewer people speaking Irish now than there were when the new State was formed.”June 6, 2024
Mr Downing conceded there is a “danger” to reducing State support for Gaeilge but pointed out that one of the most successful ways of promoting the language is by setting up a Gaelscoil - many of whom were established with little help from officials.“I’m speaking to people in kitchens around Ireland whose kids are going to be going to school today in a leaky clapped out prefab because they’re still waiting on a premises.A sign welcoming people to the Gaeltacht. Picture by: Alamy.com.
Although Irish remains compulsory for most students in English medium schools, Mr Downing feels the teaching of the language is often poor. “If you were to run the rule over this, the number of hours spent in schools drilling kids, you wouldn’t spend that kind of money or those kinds of resources on anything else and persist with it,” he said.According to the 2022 Census, close to 1.9 million people in Ireland can speak Irish - 112,500 more than in 2016.
Despite this, the number of speakers in the language’s heartlands continued to fall; only 66% of people in the Gaeltacht are gaeilgeoirí - down from 69% in 2011.Donegal vandalism: ‘Road signs should prioritise Irish over English’
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