I don’t use it as often as I should, but like many others my resistance to it stems from the way it was taught to me. I had a fair few different Irish teachers through the years and the style of teaching as well as the content of classes differed wildly. I’ve had different German teachers too but they were smooth transitions.

I know it’d cost a lot of money and be a hassle for whoever had to do it, but I really think the entire structure of how it’s taught needs to be torn down and replaced with something which teaches it more as a foreign language. I’m not suggesting distancing ourselves from it at all, but more that the methods used for teaching things like French and German seem to work so why not try and apply that template to Irish instead of trying to teach teenagers about onomatopoeia in Irish poetry when they’d be better off learning real-life use of the language?

The curriculum is an absolute disaster and needs a complete overhaul.

Here’s an idea: For 80% of the Irish class, arrange the seats in a circle and and allow students to partake in activities through Irish, eg. word games, singing and acting. That way students would actually be SPEAKING the language. Reading and writing would follow naturally after that.

“Nuair a bhíonn an t-ól istigh, bíonn an Gaeilge amuigh”
When myself and my favourite Peigín are on the deochanna in the pub, or trekking home from town after a night out, the Gaeilge does be flowing, for the craic. We’ve gone as far as replacing “lol” with “ggg”
-Gáire Go Glárach… the Gealts that we are!

Níl a lán gaeilge agamsa ach bainim usáid as mo cúpla focail an t-am ar fad

I use it everyday. With friends, services and online. I only really started using it a few years ago- never went to a Gaelscoil or anything. i was surprised by how much places you can speak it though- and how many people speak back to me when i use simple phrases like “Conas atá tú?” or “Go raibh maith agat”

not in a very very long time and absolutely no interest tbh, though good luck to those whom do and want to.

My favourite phrase: An bhfuil cead agam dúl go dtì an leithreas.

Nope, but when I get home from abroad I want to take lessons. It’s amazing how living abroad a few years makes you a little more patriotic.

There aren’t really any opportunities to speak the language. This is self-perpetuating. Children learn conversational Irish at school that there never really going to use, unfortunately. It’s a pity there isn’t a chance to use it in a normal, everyday way. Is mór an trua é.

Here are some suggestions I have for using na teanga more in your life:

- Fill out council and Govt. department forms as Gaeilge
- Use your name in Irish, even occasionally
- If you are with Bank of Ireland use the Gaeilge option on their ATM’s
- If you have a Samsung phone use the Gaeilge option
- Use the Gaeilge option on Facebook and other sites that have the option
- Install the Irish language spellchecker
- Leave an Irish language or bilingual voice greeting on your mobile
- Watch the Nuacht on RTÉ and TG4
- Watch or listen to any programmes you are interested in on the Irish language media
- Buy Gaelscéal on Wednesdays
- If you are still learning Irish buy The Indo on Wednesdays to get Foinse (pity it is not as big as it was when it was a stand alone paper!)
- Get the e-newsletter and daily newspaper clips from Gaelport.com (note: you can get the e-newsletter bilingually and most of the articles and letters are in English)
- Write Irish on Irish language forums online and your blog and if you have a blog link to some good Irish language websites

More ideas may come to be but off the top of my head this is what I can think of! :)

I am one of those people on the census and in the above poll who said that they use Irish everyday. A number of people above, unsurprisingly, have mentioned the need to move away from teaching Irish towards the teaching of European languages such as French and Spanish.
This opinion is not surprising and one which I have found while working on Irish language events but it doesn’t need to be an either or situation, the government and the Irish public need to work toward multilingualism in order to produce a strong and attractive workforce while maintaining that which makes us unique, ár dteanga.
Ireland is in a beneficial position as opposed to other countries as it is the norm in the education system here to teach Irish as a subject from the start of primary school, thus subjecting all children to two languages. No one can deny that the education system is failing in regards to the teaching of Irish and other languages but this is due to an over reliance on monolingualism in schools outside of the Gaelscoil movement. The resources are available in the primary school system to subjects such as PE, drama, art etc through Irish to give the student a grounding in the language in a practical way, in the same vein as Irish language summer courses which boast a much higher degree of language acquisition.
This exposure to another language in a non-traditional context is 100% achievable and sets the wheels in motion for exposure to other languages while keeping our connection to our native language.
It saddens me when I see people think of Irish as a barrier, it is not a barrier but instead a tool to be used to work towards a multilingual Ireland.

I’d love to speak it, Irish teachers in schools usually are the oldest and most boring.. I couldn’t stand the the way they made us learn off phrases to use in the exam but not actually learn it properly (in my school anyway).. Hope to learn it soon though..

Gach lá le mo pháistí más féidir liom.

Pobalbhreith maith a chairde, tá mé féin agus mo lucht aitheantais ag labhairt níos mó Gaeilge ná Béarla le roinnt blianta anuas.

Good poll folks, I and most of my friends have been speaking more Irish than English for a good few years now.

Gaeilge abú! Bíodh misneach againn!

I don’t because i have very little knowledge of it even after 14 years of it in school and i have no need to or know anyone with whom i could use the little bit i have, even if i could i wouldn’t be able to get by the start of a conversation

Bród club has encouraged me to use more Irish especially online even if its not always granmatically or spelt correct. Ba mhaith liom an teanga agus I think seo é tábhachtach to do what we can to keep it beo.

I left school in 99 and only started speaking it again in 03. I am a voluntary journalist with Raidió na Life and I speak it to my Mam sometimes often. I haven’t been to Club Chonradh na Gaeilge in over a year although I am a member. If you like going to pubs and live in Dublin an Chlub is good some nights of the week. If you are in University you can join a Cumann Gaelach. I think that it’s great to get involved in an Irish language initiative as this way you get to meet a lot more gaeilgeoirí and you then have more people to speak in Irish to. I

While I deplore the compulsory teaching of Irish in schools and the inflexibility with regard to seeking exemptions when Irish citizen shave lived abroad for a number of years, I do remember a lovely experience of encountering Irish speakers randomly abroad.

I was travelling through Uganda during the late 90′s with a group and when stopping in Kampala for the night, we had the luxury of camping in one of the lad’s (born in Kenya) parent’s house. As they were preparing some food on our arrival I noticed their dialogue sounded alien yet familiar at the same time. The father who I had christened Freddie Mercury, asked his wife if there was enough beer left. In Irish. It transpired my friend’s parents were Irish and I never knew. His parents spoke Irish among themselves as a part of an effort to retain their Irish heritage while living abroad during a pre Internet era

That being said, it was the only time in my life where I engaged in an Irish speaking conversation about beer, tea and Tayto

If you say the words Dublin, Shankill, Dail, Oireachtas, Ceann Comhairle or many more besides then you are speaking Irish

I love to use my cupla focal everyday, I’m not great at it but our language is something I’ll hold onto dearly, I was never great at Irish in school but I find the more I use it now the more that is coming back to me. Also I find that there is a greater tolerance of mistakes too, thank god !! I encourage everyone to use as much as they can, when they can. To my mind it will be our greatest regret if we lose it. Go raibh maith agaibh.

I use it online all the time, and offline probably every second or third day. I guess we’d have to define what we consider ‘regular’. I’d use it even more often if I had more friends who could speak it. I think that’s one of the largest problems for us Irish speakers who do not live in the Gaeltacht. We have a decent conversational group here, and we meet up once a week in the pub for a few hours – so that helps.

I Live in New Jersey, Sna Stait Aontaithe, and it’s difficult for me to find people to speak Gaeilge with. However, I try to use a cupla focail everyday. I was having an online comhra with a few daoine last week and one was apologising for his poor Gaeilge. I told him I was so proud of him that he was making the effort to learn ( agus sin an rud is tabhachtach) , and I know it’s very nationalistic to say this , but when your language is an endangered species IS FEARR GAEILGE BRISTE COMH BEARLA CLISTE..!

Tá mé ag abair as Gaelige gach lá go dó !

Yes, I speak it daily with my family and with some of my friends in college. Not that big a fan of using it online though. Irish is much more… fun than English when spoken. English meanwhile seems more businesslike. That’s how it seems to me anyway.

I don’t understand how anyone could “hate” Irish. It should be something you are proud of. If it was taught properly we could all be fluent. We should learn through speaking it rather than writing essays and learning poems. Your LC Irish oral examine should make up 50% of the overall marks.

Níl mo Gaeilge ró líofa ach úsaideann mé é go minic. Tír gan Teanga Tír gan anam

Úsáidim gaeilge gach lá. With one third of people responding to this poll saying they use Irish on a regular basis, maybe it’s time for the Journal to start up an irish section on the website???

Is breá liom an Ghaeilge. Déanaim iarracht í a úsáid gach lá. Bródclub go deo @brodclub

Ni ha. Though I do love the odd mochinilleach on a Friday

Don’t have a clue what half the people wrote here :( and it’s been one of those thing I’ve wanted to do for a few years now, take lessons in Irish, I think it’s sad that we have our own language and yet a lot of us can’t speak it or don’t even want to, I always envy those in other country’s speaking their native tongue, hopefully one day I will be able to speak it properly and write like some of the above posts :)

Gaeilge abú and f**k the begrudgers. Táim i mo chonaí sa tSualainn, níl mé ábalta a labhairt as Gaeilge gach lá. Tá buíoch agam as meáin shóisialta.

Very little opportunity to speak it here in NYC; however, I have taken lessons and fully intend to continue to lean more when I return home to Ireland.
On another note: The language is not dead; it’s the people who speak it.

It’s about showing that you care! You may not care yourself but an Ghaeilge as a language, as a way of life for so many, means a lot to a lot of people. Being able to respect another’s thoughts and not force them to think as you do is something that people fail to remember – and that’s what makes us all different!

Encouraging people to open their minds, allow the possibility of a change of heart, and inform themselves is important! That’s what will make us confident in what we do – the main reason many people do not speak Irish having learnt it for donkey’s years at school? We all have the ‘cúpla focail’ and why should we not use them?

I developed a love for the language 2 years ago after leaving school. It is more than a school subject, and for some it is part of their soul, it is part of who they are, and they feel that’s what gives them identity!

Please respect that their beliefs – after all it’s not as if it’s causing you hurt or harm!

Embrace what you have, be proud of your ability.

In the words of a man who defied all odds against him and a man who has shaped the world we live in (and who never learned Gaeilge):
“Is féidir linn”

I notice a lot of the ’14 years in school’ brigade nay-saying here. Could any of them please, and with all due respect provide me with a simple equation explaining the reaction between a noble gas of their choice and oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure? They did science too, I’m assuming…

Ashamed to admit ,but only to curse…small grandchildren…..

Speak it everyday with my partner although we mostly use English (our Irish isnt fluent but we try), i also use my cúpla focal out and about everyday and use it online everyday. I would use it more in my everyday life if more people spoke it. Cé go bhfuil sé an réaltacht.

Irish is the main language I use on the internet but I live in England currently so I don’t get to speak it face to face, I am moving back to Ireland in a couple of months time so I am sure I will be speaking Irish daily hopefully.

Is i nGaeilge is mó a úsáidim féin ar an idirlíon ach tá cónaí anois orm i Sasana ní bhíonn deis cainte am í a úsáid go nádúrach mar gheallt ar sin faríor, tá mé a dhul ar ais go hÉireann i gceann cúpla mí tá me cinnte go labhróidh mé Gaeilge go laethúil le cúnamh Dé

Agree with some comments it is the way it is taught in schools , 14 years being taught and majority really can’t speak enough Irish as foreign kids taught languages same amount time and lot of them well able to speak English , to much emphasis on reading and writing Irish , not enough on actually being able to converse with Irish which I think should be case as son very good German speaker not great at reading or writing it , got grinds when younger learning German just to speak it

Gach uile lá, agus táim bródúil as.

Bainím úsaáid as mo chuid Gaeilge ar feadh na seachtaine, ar nós ‘chuile dhuine anseo i Nua Eabhrac.

Less than two per cent of the population speak the language on a day-to-day basis outside of education. About 80,000 people. Why then is Irish compulsory for the Leaving Cert? Why then do we have to pass an Irish test to become a primary school teacher?

Úsáidim í achan lá le cairde agus ar líne , má tá Gaeilge agat buail isteach chuig ” Gaeilge Amháin ” ar Facebook , tá craic, cairdeas agus ceol srl ann , agus an t-aon áit amháin nach bhfuil an diabhal Béarla ann!!! Gaeilge Abú !!!
Ailéin Ó Clúmháin

While you are saving the language, which I admire, could ye also start to preserve the old timey ways of the family, the local countryside, and the genuine goodness of the original Irish spirit. I’m very sad over what has happened in the last thirty years. Don’t lose who ye are or where you’re headed. Thank you, Happy Easter to all…..

I remember when I was younger thinking that Irish was pointless, but as I got older I changed my view. I do not have a lot of Irish now but I am learning and the more you learn the more you realise its importance to your cultural identity. Yes learning a European language is important but with everything nowadays seemingly dominated by Europe its nice to still have a tool that can reinforce our individuality as a peoples.

I don’t use it! Hated learning it at school and couldn’t wait for when I never had to look at a bloody Irish poem again or write a stupid essay!!! Such a dated language in how it’s taught!!

Ye nil aon tintean mar do thintean fein

Is i an gaeilge teanga ar sinsear

I currently live in northwest USA so don’t have alot of people to converse with since I split from Mrs. there is a group locally though that gets together monthly and sponsors a Gaelic language festival in June at a local university. I try to teach my daughter which helps me too. I hope some day we can bring our language back like Israel brought Hebrew back.

Tóg gó bog é ,

I used gaeilge on a daily bassis, my nieces and nefews are in scoileanna lán Gaeileach, and as I’m the eldest in mo chlann with gaeilge my assistance is regulary needed! Is theanga hálann é, níl is agaim cén fáth níl na daoine ag úsaid é, is linn an theanga, tá sé suas dún é a caoinneál beo!! I’m Irish and proud!! Gach duinne úsaid cupla focail, níl sé deachair!!

Ni bhionn saol gan locht

Irish is useless, we need to be preparing the children of Ireland for the future and teaching them a European language from an early age. Irish should be optional. We were taught a useless subject and our time was wasted for over thirteen years. It shouldn’t be a European language we haven’t used it collectively for centuries. drop it now

With one of the above posters, change it to an optional subject and let it stand that test … aside from that leave it to the hobby linguists or those who genuinely want to learn it.

You cannot obligate ´anyone´ to learn a language, if the initial motivation is not there.

That, and the method used to teach it are completely out of touch with more modern methods used for European languages (at least 5 years ago for LC).

What puts me off speaking in Irish is the way it is forced down our throats and the ‘made up’ words that appear every day. Irish is a dead language, who is therefore responsible for creating words such as telefis? there were no televisions around when Irish was spoken widely. The insistence on ‘translating’ names is ridiculous also, my name is Sarah it is not ‘Sorcha’ (another made up word), in what other country do you see names being ‘translated’ into something else, Im not called something different when I go to Spain or France or Germany! The efforts to perpetuate and keep the language surviving are ridiculous, its dead, over, finished, accept that and move on!!!!!!!

I love Irish too, but there’s no point in me speaking it to other people whose native language is the same as my own (English). It’s silly “promotional” events like this that enrage so many people (as we’ve seen in these comments), but, ultimately, we all just end up producing a lot of hot air and getting nowhere. Ultimately, “promoting” Irish among English-speakers amounts to making native speakers of one language speak another language to each other: it’s wrong and in breach of language rights.

The tragic converse of this situation is that those same language rights are being breached on a daily basis in the Gaeltacht, where native Irish speakers are forced to use English to interact with the state. Take all of that money used to “promote” Irish among native English speakers and use it to provide state services and information in Irish (spoken by native speakers) to native Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht.

Tá aithne agam ar paistí (thanaig a sean muintir ón Vietnam, na “boat people”) agus tá Bearla, Fraincís, Vietnamaís , Chinese acú agus is iad na dailtí is fearr le Gaeilge san scoil ina bhfuil siad. Níl chuireann se stró ar bith ar paiste teanga eile a labhairt.

Fuck no, if i did everyone would know I was born here.

Tá sé seo ach téacs chaocha de fócas mheabhrach, ach toisc go ham tarlú himthosca ina toil agus pian, roinnt mór an sásamh. A ghlacadh mar shampla fánach, a ghabhfaidh ar láimh againn riamh cleachtadh coirp laborious, chomh maith as an roghnú thíos. Beidh do nasc a sheoladh chuig chun taitneamh a bhaint as an pléisiúr i pian, locht a fháil leis an leathanach. Níl aon táirge, go bhfuil siad i riachtanais speisialta jewelry agus éasca é a bheith fáilte roimh.
Iarracht a bheith ag obair mar théacs sa chóras nua, an pian saothair, creidim go bhfuil sé is fearr locht a fháil leis an obair na hoifige a bhí ar siúl i dtrioblóid arís, tá mé am iontach. Tá muid sásta a bheith ag obair ach chun a chreidiúint, agus roinnt. Is féidir a bheith féidir a luchtú ag aon cheann de na rogha is fearr sa míchaoithiúlacht.
Chun an pléisiúr na cúirte agus tacaíocht a thabhairt don obair a bheidh le comhlíonadh. I gcás go bhfuil sé ar locht anseo, a thagann mé i anseo, creidim go bhfuil an úsáid a bhaint as táirgí saothair ar, creidim go fuarthas amach go gcreideann siad in am ar bith. D’fhoilsigh an obair. in ann tionchar a imirt ar an am creidim mé oiriúnach breá isteach san UID, ach an todhchaí neamhshainithe. aon cheann de na pian go bhfuil tú go maith ar an locht a fháil.
Tá muid anseo é go bhfuil níos mó anseo, ó locht a fháil go bhfuil sé ag dul a bheith ag obair ag an sásamh oibre le fáil thíos. Creidimid nach bhfuil do chuid iarrachtaí amháin sásta, ach go bhfuil sé ach ar mian leo a bhaint amach. an pléisiúr do shon, ach amháin má tá ceann an rogha a úsáid chun teacht ar do pian, iad a pian go bhfuil i roinnt pian. Ach an anam.
Ní mór dúinn níos mó a pian, pian sna táirgí A ar, go príomha le haghaidh pian pian saothair. chóras, go bhfuil na lochtanna an locht agus an rogha chun athbhreithniú a dhéanamh an comhad a athrú. Is féidir a fháil seirbhísí atá simplí agus pian i gcion agus an rogha a bheith ag obair d’fhonn a fháil ar an obair a thabhairt a bheith le roinnt. a reáchtáil ar.
Chun a fháil pian níos mó is féidir leat. Beidh mé ag teacht chun taitneamh a bhaint as an pléisiúr ann féin oiriúnach a dhéanamh, go bhfuil siad ach roinnt. Ach níl aon dúinn i roinnt an-an-. Níl aon rud gur féidir linn a rialú a thabhairt ar an gcóras, is rogha léi a dhéanamh chun iad a sheachaint sa todhchaí. Ní gá a tharlaíonn a bheith i pian úsáid a bhaint as do chóras, pian ar ais an rud amháin a dhéanamh liom a chreidiúint sa chuideachta mór. Tá muid córas, tú pléisiúr, ach tá sé ag dul.
Den chuid is mó as an pian fisiciúil a úsáidtear anseo. saothair sa todhchaí. an comhad i do chóras, creidim go gcreideann an oifigí saothair, agus aon cheann acu.

This is very interesting. The Indo-European roots of some Irish words: http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaeilge/donncha/focal/ieroots.html

I would speak Irish if I understood a bloody word of it. I haven’t been good at Irish, ever. I know more French (which I’ve been doing nearly two years now) than I do Irish (which I’ve been doing for nearly 10). We seem to learn more about grammar (and we’ve taken down nearly 30 pages note on things like ‘therefore’) than we do about how to have a proper conversation.

I think I stopped being ‘okay’ at Irish in 1st or 2nd class, so I can say some simple yet sort of useless things like: Tá mé go dti an siopa agus ceannaigh mé milséan. Tá an madra ró-bheag. Níl a is agam (I use that one an aweful lot though…)