The new report on the status of Irish, launched on April 21 by Gaeltacht Minister Éamon Ó Cuiv, suggests that official policy and the education system have been found wanting. 

'The Irish Language and the Irish People' was put together by sociologist Fr Micheál MacGreil SJ and Fergal Rhatigan of NUI Maynooth.

It stresses that "change is needed, firstly in the attitude of the Department of Education and Science, and then in all aspects of the teaching of Irish in English-medium schools".

"The history of the change in the State's policy towards teaching Irish has been far from even or adequate to meet the needs, or even satisfy the expectations, of the Irish people over the past 40 years," it states.

There is an increase in the proportion of people who express a reasonable competence in the language (up to 47 per cent - a growth of 6 per cent in 18 years), which the report attributes to the influence of Irish-medium schools.

It also notes that the parallel system of Irish-medium schools was "forced" on the Department of Education through the support of voluntary organisations.

Occasional and more frequent use of the Irish language has, however, dropped from 28 per cent to 23 per cent.

Those expressing reasonable competence in the language are more likely to be in younger age groups, reared in Munster, highly educated and in senior occupations. This bodes well for the future, according to the report.

Launching the document, Minister Éamon Ó Cuiv said that people's positive attitudes and aspirations for the language had remained very high, with 93 per cent of adults wishing to have Irish revived or preserved.

Fr Micheál MacGreil SJ was also optimistic:

"We have saved our language to the point where it can survive. It is strong enough now to be revived, if the appropriate policies and actions are taken," he said. (Source: Irish Independent)