Gaeltacht Bill is ‘woefully deficient’

The 2007 Linguist Survey of the Gaeltacht found that Irish had 15-20 years remaining as a community language without a change in the current Statepolicy, best described by Prof Joe Lee as ‘letting the language die by stealth’.

The personal commitment of Minister Dinny McGinley to the language is beyond doubt, but the Gaeltacht Bill before the Oireachtas is woefully deficient.

This is a question of priorities, not funding. Devolving the most-used public services to Údarás na Gaeltachta for delivery through Irish and devolving the Department of Education’s Gaeltacht role to An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta would make an seismic difference.