Senator Calls for Investigation into Irish Language Education - Dublin Challenged to Meet its Commitment to the Irish Tongue

Alarm bells are sounding over fresh evidence of erosion of support by the Irish Government for the restoration of the Irish language.  Put together, the recent moves by Dublin policy makers, combined with eroding support by the government for Irish language instruction in public schools, lends support to claims by Irish language activists that Dublin is waging guerilla warfare against the ancient tongue of Ireland. The latest policy reversals and budget cuts seem to work against objectives outlined by the government's own policy in the "20-Year Strategy For The Irish Language 2010-2030".  This Strategy seeks to more than double the number of irish speakers by 2030.

The  web site "galway bay fm" report that Senator Trevor O' Clochtartaigh, spokesman for the Irish Language and Gaeltacht for the poitical party Sinn Fein, has called for an investigation by the Seanad (Irish Senate) into the qualifications and work practices of those that teach Irish in the public schools.  The following is the text of the announcement published on Senator O' Clochtartaigh's official web page: 

I called this morning for a debate to be tabled in the Seanad (Irish Senate) on the teaching of Irish, following a recent report by the Department of Education Chief Inspector.  This report indicates that the teaching of Irish is less than satisfactory in a quarter of classes in our primary schools. The Chief Inspector’s findings with regard to Irish are significantly less positive than those for English or Mathematics. Further, the report points to issues regarding the accuracy and fluency of teachers’ own Irish language competence, and attention is drawn to a lack both of preparation and adequate resources. Sinn Féin is calling for a full and proper implementation of the recommendations in the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language without further delay. The leader in the Seanad, Maurice Cummins, has said he hopes Minister Quinn (Ruairi Quinn - Minister for Education and Skills) will come in to debate the report in due course.

This follows up on reports ealier this month on cuts to the funding of the Gaelic Authority (Udaras na Gaeltachta) which supports the infrastructure of Irish speaking areas (Gaeltacht) and which was viewed by many as a blow to the tongue. In a seperate but related development the Irish government announced a reversal of the long standing policy of favouring Irish Speakers in seeking civil service jobs or promotions, a policy reversal which the Gaelic League has condemned as "..another blow to the Gaeltacht (Irish speaking areas of Ireland) and the Irish speaking community."

http://www.ahg.gov.ie/en/20-YearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage2010-2030/Publications/20-Year%20Strategy%20-%20English%20version.pdf

http://www.galwaybayfm.ie/component/k2/item/3238-galway-senator-calls-for-debate-on-teaching-of-irish