Gaeilge for all
or for some?
Reports
Recommendations
1️⃣ Make spoken Irish the central outcome
Children should leave school able and willing to use Irish in meaningful situations. Reading, writing, literature and examination requirements can then be designed around that central purpose.
2️⃣ Retain a universal entitlement to Irish
Every child should ordinarily encounter and participate in Irish throughout compulsory education. A shared entitlement, however, does not require every learner to follow an identical programme.
3️⃣ Create differentiated learning pathways
Pupils should have different routes through spoken language, literacy, literature and assessment according to their needs and circumstances. These pathways must remain ambitious without creating stigma.
4️⃣ Use accommodation before exemption
Schools should provide adapted ways to participate before removing a pupil from Irish altogether. A clear exceptional exemption should remain available when participation would be inappropriate or harmful.
5️⃣ Define what successful learning looks like
Ireland needs realistic proficiency expectations for the end of primary school, Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle. Progress should be judged by what pupils can understand and communicate, not simply by years spent studying Irish.
6️⃣ Increase opportunities to use Irish
Irish should extend beyond the formal language lesson through informal conversation, culture, projects, CLIL and bilingual learning. Expansion must reflect local demand, staffing and school capacity.
7️⃣ Strengthen teacher confidence and competence
Teachers need sustained opportunities to improve their spoken Irish and language-teaching practice. Particular attention is required in English-medium schools and initial teacher education.
8️⃣ Evaluate policy through pupils’ experiences
The 2025–2027 Action Plan should be independently evaluated using spoken proficiency, inclusion, teacher confidence, pupil voice and language use beyond lessons.
Missing Links
1️⃣ The voices of pupils most affected
We need direct testimony from pupils who received an exemption, remained in Irish with additional support, or wanted an exemption but did not receive one. Their experiences should be central to the next stage.
2️⃣ Evidence about different additional needs
Additional educational needs cannot be treated as a single category. We need to understand which accommodations work for particular learners and when participation may genuinely be inappropriate.
3️⃣ Reliable evidence of spoken proficiency
We do not have a clear national picture of what pupils can understand and say at the end of primary school, Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle. Without this, it is difficult to judge whether current policy is succeeding.
4️⃣ Evidence about different models
We need fair comparisons between English-medium, Irish-medium, bilingual and CLIL provision. These comparisons must account for pupil selection, family background and socioeconomic differences.
5️⃣ Better exemption data
We need to know who requests exemptions, why they are granted or refused and what happens to pupils afterwards. We also need to establish whether better accommodation could prevent some exemptions.
6️⃣ Missing perspectives
The inquiry needs more contributions from newcomers, migrant parents, Gaeltacht communities, teachers with low confidence in Irish and employers who use the language.
7️⃣ Evidence about the teacher requirement
We do not yet know how many prospective teachers are deterred or excluded by the Irish-language requirement. We also need to establish whether alternative routes could protect professional standards.
8️⃣ Practical implementation evidence
Proposals to expand Irish-medium, bilingual or CLIL provision need realistic information about cost, staffing, training, community demand and implementation capacity.
9️⃣ Evidence about Irish beyond school
We need to identify which family, community, cultural, media and youth initiatives lead to sustained language use. Schools cannot create a living language on their own.
5 Big Questions
1️⃣ What should every child be able to do?
What level of spoken Irish should every child be entitled and expected to achieve by the end of primary school? The answer must be meaningful, realistic and measurable.
2️⃣ Can different routes lead to a shared entitlement?
What differentiated pathways would help pupils progress without creating stigma or unnecessarily lowering expectations? We need to distinguish fairness from sameness.
3️⃣ When is an exemption appropriate?
Who should decide that accommodation is no longer sufficient, and what evidence should inform that decision? The process must protect children without making exclusion the first response to difficulty.
4️⃣ Would optional Irish improve engagement?
Would introducing greater choice at post-primary level encourage more committed learning? Or would it reduce participation and accelerate the language’s social decline?
5️⃣ How much Irish can schools realistically use?
How much Irish can English-medium schools incorporate throughout the school day? Any answer must account for teacher competence, confidence, workload and supply.