THE IRISH LANGUAGE seems to be going from strength to strength – nó ag dul ó neart go neart – in recent years in particular.
An Ghaeilge has been made an official and full working language of the European Union, with Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly submitting the first ever amendment as Gaeilge.
Irish language films like An Chailín Ciúin and Arracht are drawing international attention, and the demand for Gaelscoileanna and coláistí samhraidh is flourishing.
On the other hand, as of the last Census there were about 74,000 daily Irish speakers – which is a long way off the government’s goal of having 250,000 by 2030.
So what needs to be done to close the gap?
In this episode of The Explainer, we put these questions to our two guests: president of Conradh na Gaeilge Paula Melvin, and our reporter Rónán Duffy, who has been looking at poll results and talking to experts in this area as part of The Good Information Project.
Issues like the Irish language and identity, how to support people to help them use the language more in their day to day lives, and planning and housing problems in Gaeltacht regions were among the issues that were discussed.
Listen here for more:
The Explainer / SoundCloud
This episode was put together by presenters Michelle Hennessy and Gráinne Ni Aodha, and producers Nicky Ryan and Aoife Barry.
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