Irish language declining faster than thought

The Government is being urged to provide resources for language development as research reveals that the use of Irish is declining faster than previously thought in Gaeltacht areas.

The study for Údarás na Gaeltachta compared the social use of the language based on data from the 2006 and 2011 censuses. It found that two thirds of the population speak Irish daily in just 21 of 155 Gaeltacht areas examined, down from 24, and mostly in the Cois Farraige and south Connemara districts of Galway, in Corca Dhuibhne in Kerry and in north-west Donegal.

But the 26 communities in the medium category of daily use include many that have improved, particularly in the Dingle peninsula and Cork’s Muskerry Gaeltacht.