A FREQUENT LAMENT from many people who aren’t fluent in Ireland’s native tongue is that they wish they were more conversant as Gaeilge.

The 2016 Census showed us that 1.76 million people in the country say they can speak the Irish language, but only 73,803 of those speak it every day (outside school), and just 8,068 Irish language Census forms were completed that year.

Locations and professions play a big role in who speaks it regularly, but whatever your current level of fluency it’s never too late to reassess your relationship with the language.

Or maybe those cúpla focal are enough to get you by?

This month The Good Information Project is looking at the future of the Irish language at home and abroad, and whether current initiatives are enough to help the language thrive or merely survive.

So today we’re asking: Would you like to speak more Irish in your daily life?

We want to hear from you

The Journal launched The Good Information Project with the goal of enlisting readers to take a deep dive with us into key issues impacting Ireland right now.

You can keep up to date by signing up to The Good Information Project newsletter in the box below. If you want to join the discussion, ask questions or share your ideas on this or other topics, you can find our Facebook group here or contact us directly via WhatsApp.

This work is also co-funded by Journal Media and a grant programme from the European Parliament. Any opinions or conclusions expressed in this work is the author’s own. The European Parliament has no involvement in nor responsibility for the editorial content published by the project. For more information, see here.

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