The drop in Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht shows the State “has a lot of work do”, Conradh na Gaeilge has said. 

The 2022 census found the population of the Gaeltacht had risen by 7% but the percentage of daily Irish speakers had dropped. 

Just 20,261 people living in the Gaeltacht speak Irish on a daily basis, 325 fewer than in 2016. 

“It’s less of a decrease since the last census,” Conradh na Gaeilge General Secretary Julian de Spáinn told Newstalk Breakfast.  

“The last census it was an 11% decrease, now it’s a 2% decrease of people who speak Irish in those communities.

“But it really does show that we need to do a lot of work in the Gaeltacht; the Gaeltacht is the well or the tobar where an awful lot of people from outside the Gaeltacht get to go during the summer and experience the language better. 

“We really need to do a lot to protect and help Irish survive and thrive in the Gaeltacht.” 

Housing

One issue Conradh na Gaeilge believes is central to this fall is the housing crisis, with many young people unable to afford the price of accommodation in the parishes they grew up in. 

“One of the basic things we need to do is make sure we have a housing policy for the Gaeltacht that actually supports people from the Gaeltacht to stay in the Gaeltacht if they want to,” Mr de Spáinn said. 

“That they can build, that they have accommodation to live there. 

“At the moment, like anywhere else, there’s housing issues but if we don’t have that future we’re going to lose something more than just rural decline, the language is going to suffer as well.” 

Education

Mr de Spáinn also called for fundamental reform to the way Irish is taught in schools, decrying the current education system as “failing” students. 

“If you were to tell me you had just done the Leaving Cert and you have a… high mark coming out of the Leaving Cert, I still wouldn’t have a clue whether you’re actually able to speak Irish to me or not,” he said. 

“The system isn’t geared towards that; what we’ve been saying is that we should change the system and bring it in line with the European Common Framework of Reference for Languages. 

“What that is a skills based method of teaching a language and it’s used all around in Europe.” 

Close to 1.9 million people wrote in the census they spoke Irish to a certain degree and Mr de Spáinn said getting them to use the language more is key to its survival. 

“There’s the potential there to have people speak Irish more,” he said. 

“It’s giving them the opportunity and that’s one of the biggest things that you’ll find. 

“People will say, ‘I’d love to speak Irish more but…’ 

“Then when you go into the ‘but’, you find out maybe they don’t know somebody else who speaks Irish well or maybe they’ve never had that conversation with people whether they speak Irish or not.” 

According to the census, close to 473,000 people in the State speak Irish but never use it.

Main image: Sign in Irish language welcoming visitors to the Gaeltacht.