(An Irish language version of this article can be read here.)

THE CURRENT SYSTEM for granting exemptions from studying Irish which places the responsibility on a school principal can lead to “unpleasant and hostile reactions” when the criteria are not met, a principals’ organisation leader has told a TG4 documentary due to be broadcast tonight. 

The assertion was made by Paul Crone, the director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, during an edition of the Iniúchadh TG4/TG4 Investigates series due to be broadcast tonight on the Irish language broadcaster. 

According to figures uncovered in the programme, a record number, 60,946, post primary students received an exemption from studying Irish in the last school year, 2024-25.  This figure was up more than 5,000 on the 2023/24 figure of 55,660 and represents 14.3% of the secondary school pupil population. 

According to the NAPD director, the system which places responsibility for judging whether the criteria for granting an exemption are met on the school principal needs to be changed as it is placing too much pressure on school leaders.

Currently a school principal can make a decision to grant an exemption if a student meets the necessary criteria laid down by the Department of Education and Youth. The conditions usually apply to children who have special educational needs or are new arrivals coming to Ireland from abroad.

The NAPD director said principals should no longer be responsible for making this decision and said the practice should be ended immediately. 

“The reason for this is the highly technical nature of making the exemption decision and the conflict it creates between the principal and the parent when the exemption criteria are not met.”

Parents believe that the principal has the discretion to grant the exemption and they often obtain a medical note from their GP to support their claim when the criteria for exemption are not met, and this often results in unpleasant and unnecessarily hostile interactions.

However, according to the Department’s figures, around two-thirds or 20,264 students, who had received the exemption due to having special needs, were studying a language other than Irish during the 2023/24 academic year.

There are certain things compulsory at school, you have to study maths. You have to learn English. You have to learn basic reading and writing skills and so on and as an Irishman I would include Irish among those things.

A Department spokesman said that the intention was not to remove the essential status of Irish.

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One principal interviewed by Kevin Magee, the award-winning Iniúchadh TG journalist, said that many of the students who came from abroad were automatically exempted. Joy Uí Mhurchadha of Coláiste Pobail Fóla in west Dublin had this to say, as she described automatic exemptions for students who come from overseas as “very outdated”.

Certainly the pupils we’ve given them a chance to learn Irish enjoy it.

“Most of the time, they continue with Irish, and certainly, in terms of inclusivity or inclusiveness of pupils with learning problems, pupils who have come from other countries, they feel that they are not part of the school community, if you are also telling them that they are not entitled to learn Irish, you are adding to the feeling of not being part of the school.

“I think you’re telling them another way as well, you’re different in this way as well – you’re not allowed to do Irish.”

A Department of Education spokesperson said the number of students coming from abroad in recent years must be taken into account when considering the number of exemptions. Over 18,000 students from Ukraine have been registered in the last three years and there is “an increasing number of children with more complex special educational needs”.

The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme