Conradh na Gaeilge demands rethink on English-teaching research

Irish language group Conradh na Gaeilge has demanded the Minister for Education rethink a proposal to teach English in the all-Irish Gaelscoileanna from the second school term onwards, without conducting further research.

Conradh na Gaeilge says children need to be totally immersed in the Irish language at the early stages of their education to counteract the presence of English in their everyday lives.

"There is a need for an Irish language immersion system for junior classes because of the omnipresence English has and because the majority of Gaelscoil children come from families where English is the family language," said president of Conradh na Gaeilge Dáithí Mac Cárthaigh.

"There is a need for immersion to even up this imbalance and to create and preserve Irish language practice among the pupils and in the school," he added.

Another spokesman for the organisation Julian de Spáinn said Conradh na Gaeilge believed more research needed to be done into the different approaches to teaching English in the Gaelscoileanna, before a final decision were made on when to start formal teaching in the subject.