62% against Leaving Cert Irish rule

FINE Gael leader Enda Kenny last night upped the ante in his bid to scrap compulsory Irish after the Junior Certificate by releasing poll figures showing 62% of people agreed with him.

According to an MRBI poll commissioned by the party, almost two out of three adults believe Irish should be an optional subject after the Junior Cert - a significant endorsement of Mr Kenny’s call for Irish language policy to be radically changed.

The Fine Gael leader first made the call at his party’s annual conference in Cork last month where he said: “Few subjects over the generations have been the target of so much hypocrisy and lip service as the Irish language.”