Irish summer colleges are heartbeat of gaeltacht

Summer colleges do not pay lip service to the Irish language, as columnist Victoria White suggests. Rather they are inclusive and worthwhile on many counts — culturally, economically, and are authentic, writes Niall Comer.

Victoria White’s article “Sending kids west for Irish school, Irish Examiner, August 4, pays lip service to the language” and is her latest attempt to undermine it by attacking one of the most positive and enjoyable educational experiences in Ireland, na coláistí samhraidh Gaeilge – the Irish-language summer colleges in the gaeltacht.

Comhaltas Uladh is the Ulster provincial assembly of Conradh na Gaeilge and has founded a number of the most renowned summer colleges in Donegal, with up to 2,000 students attending each year. This year’s courses are sold-out and our colleges have already been inundated with requests from parents and students to reserve places on our 2017 courses. They are in demand. But not because they offer, as Ms White claims, “childcare”. A Conradh na Gaeilge survey, conducted independently by Millward Brown in 2016, shows 62% believe that more opportunities are needed for young people to use Irish outside of school – only 10% disagree with this. The coláistí samhraidh cater for this need, and then some.