Irish speakers top 1.6 million
More than 1.6 million people claim to be able to speak Irish but most of them never use it, new research revealed today.
The latest batch of Census 2006 results showed there are 90,000 more people with the language than five years ago and teachers and teenage girls have climbed to the top of the class.
But more than 1 million of these self-styled Gaeilgoirí admit they never or rarely speak the language.
According to the Central Statistics Office population survey half of households have at least one person with some Irish while only 72,000 people use it on a daily basis.
One third of people living in the Gaeltacht never or rarely speak the language.
On a brighter note west Kerry’s best known tourist town has proved Anglicisation hasn’t dented its hold on the language as it’s now one of the country’s most popular spot for Irish speakers.
Renowned for a bureaucratic wrangle over how it should be known, An Daingean, or Dingle to its residents and visitors, boasts almost two-thirds of its 1,920 population speak Irish.
There are 1,656,790 Irish speakers in the state with half of them living in Leinster.
The dwindling importance of Irish in the daily lives of people in the Gaeltacht areas was highlighted further.
Even though three quarters of people living there speak the language, all regions except Meath and Waterford saw a drop in the number of Irish speakers over the last five years.
They accounted for 70.8% of the population aged three and over in Gaeltacht areas in 2006 – down from 72.6% in 2002. It was highest in Co Waterford 79.5% and lowest in the Galway City Gaeltacht at 50.7%.
Around three quarters of teachers and gardai have Irish but it is the youngsters who appear to have the best ability. More than two-thirds of 10-14-year-olds speak Irish, while it drops by less than 2% for the 15-19 age group.
The Census also showed you are more likely to speak Irish if you live in the country than a city.
