In the spirit of Seachtain Na Gaeilge, the Dáil recently had a bilingual debate which discussed the need to improve how Gaeilge is taught in the Irish education system.
A debate, requested by Southside Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh, saw TDs from both government and opposition parties discuss how teaching of Gaeilge can match up to 2025 standards.
Statistics compiled by Ó Snodaigh, a native Gaeilgeoir, found that 13% of students who sat the Leaving Cert last year sought an exemption for the subject, up from 2.5% in 1999.
The Dublin South Central TD said that a string of education ministers have failed to comply with the Education Act of 1998 which called for the language to be taught “to the abilities and needs” of students, but the current model, Ó Snodaigh states, makes students choose between Irish as a core subject or requiring specialised teaching.
He also pointed out that Junior Cert students not having to study for an oral examination is hurting how students perceive the language.
Pointing to January’s Programme for Government, he also flagged that the coalition has quietly dropped previous commitments to improving the standard of Irish language teaching, which included more of a focus on speaking Irish in the classroom.
He expressed doubt that the government would be able to meet its targets of having at least 20% of the civil service able to speak Irish by 2030.
With the Irish language experiencing a cultural resurgence thanks to the likes of Kneecap (the Belfast hip-hop group which recently swept the IFTAs and won a BAFTA in addition to its record box office haul for an Irish language movie) and An Cailín Ciúin becoming the first ever Irish language film to receive an Oscar nomination in 2023, the Dáil heard that the government should capitalise on this newfound interest.
Minister for Education Helen McEntee said, “it clear to me that there is renewed and positive interest in the Irish language, due in no small part to our Irish-language media.”
“TG4, Cúla4, Raidió na Gaeltachta and Irish social media have all played a pivotal role in promoting the language, while films like Kneecap and An Cailin Ciúin have further shaped public perception.”
Minister McEntee said that TG4, in particular, has made the language “more accessible, normalising its use in daily life.”
“What is particularly significant about these initiatives is that they have reached not just those who would traditionally have engaged with the Irish language; their impact has also extended to children and young people in English-medium schools and to people who may only have thought of Irish as a school subject.”
McEntee pointed to €405 million worth of funding for Irish-medium schools, saying that almost 300 Gaelscoileanna, Gaelcholáistí, and Gaeltacht schools across Ireland have benefited.
McEntee’s Fine Gael colleague Barry Ward said, “the central issue is that everyone in the country should have the chance to receive their education through Irish; if they wish, they should be able to do so.”
“If Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí were not there, parents or children could not make that choice. It frustrates me when parents come to me wanting a place in a Gaelscoil for their children when that place is not available, even though there is a Gaelscoil or Gaelscoileanna in the area – we need to do something about that.”
Noting that there are two Gaelcoileanna in his constituency, he said, “parents do not have the same choice in every part of the country, and we need to address that.”
Labour TD Eoghan Kenny, who serves as the party’s education spokesperson, said that Welsh Labour has set up a blueprint for Ireland to follow.
“We can learn best practice in Wales and elsewhere to launch a new effort to promote everyday use of spoken Irish. We must ensure citizens can access all government services in Irish and provide increased support to grow the language on a shared-island basis.”
He said that the government should introduce a recruitment plan to increase the number of Irish language speakers in the public services, but particularly in education, because that is where it needs to come from.”
“We need to give the children the opportunity to be educated through Irish and the right thereto. Right now, that is just not possible for the majority of students across this country.”
Ó Snodaigh’s Dublin South Central colleague, Jen Cummins of the Social Democrats, said that a recent visit to the Donegal Gaeltacht area reignited her passion for the language and said the same opportunity should be made available to people.
Cummins, who was recently named as the Soc Dems’ education spokesperson, said “we must look at our education system and see how we can improve the way Irish is taught.”
“We need to evaluate the outcome that the curriculum is focusing on. What are the educational outcomes that we want our system to have? The failure is that students who go to primary school for eight years, learn Irish all the way up, and then learn Irish for five or six years in secondary school, do not have the language at the end of the process.”
She said that removing the oral exam for Junior Cert students “stifles fluency.”
“We need our students to know not only about the beauty of the poetry and stories we have in Irish. They also need to be able to go to the chipper and order chips and a spice bag, as well as having meaningful conversations in Irish.
The Dublin South Central TD added , “we need children to go to the Gaeltacht; perhaps the education system does not fit young people who are learning Irish in the school system.”
Independent TD Paul Gogarty flagged a common complaint students have with the subject; grammar.
The Dublin Mid-West TD said, “we need a special leaving or junior certificate subject for comhrá Ghaeilge so people can speak together as Gaeilge but not necessarily get into the grammatical stuff.”
“That will flow after people foster a love of the language.”
The independent TD said, “there are many more people who want to go to a Gaelscoil than are actually able to go” and said that there needs to be more medium-sized Gaelscoils.
“There is no point in just having a fast lane without also having a medium lane.”