In January we will enter Bliain na Gaeilge, a 12-month chance to use the cúpla focal through a wide range of events, festivals and sports with Uachtarán Micheál D Ó Higgín acting as patron.

However, before Bliain na Gaeilge has even kicked off there have been mutterings that given the lack of funding, investment and interest shown by the Government, the year-long celebration may be just a cynical and half-hearted attempt to promote the language which is already under threat, especially in Gaeltacht areas which should be where it should be thriving.

Many would say the Government’s €450,000 allocation to fund a year-long calendar of events, is reflective of its overall perception of the language — an afterthought.

To put this in context, the much criticised and talked-out Strategic Communications Unit has an annual budget of €5m and this year’s Culture Night which was held on September 22 received €350,000 in support.

The Gathering held in 2013 was supported by an overall budget of €13m from the Department for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

The 2016 Census shows that 1.76m people state they are able to speak the language, but only 73,803 speak it daily. The census shows that number of daily Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas continues to plummet.

An inspection report of a primary school on Achill Island in the heartland of the Mayo Gaeltacht published recently, revealed that children attending the school have a “poor” standard of Irish.

TG4 may have an afternoon schedule packed full of Irish language programmes aimed at youngsters including translations of popular shows such as Spongebob Squarepants and Alvin agus na Chipmunks, but it appears that these initiatives are not encouraging children living in the Gaeltacht — if we are to go by the Achill report — to speak Irish among their friends and families.

The Department of Education whole-school evaluation of Bulls mouth National School in Dooniver, Achill, found children speak English in the classroom and in the playground with most pupils struggling to communicate naturally in Irish.

While campaigners for the Irish language would of course argue that significantly more funding is required, the problem isn’t just centred around economics.

Money, or a lack of it, doesn’t prohibit a group of children living on Achill Island from speaking the language. Many people would argue that the easiest way to keep a language alive is to simply speak it.

However, supports do matter.

Bliain na Gaeilge will be officially launched in Government Buildings next Wednesday by the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who himself has made great efforts to learn and occasionally speak the Irish language.

Foras na Gaeilge, Údaras na Gaeltachta, Conradh na Gaeilge and other organisations have been working with the Government for almost a year to promote the Bliain na Gaeilge.

Around 100 events have been planned and include everything from ceilis to a surfing festival, drama, sporting events and Beo a large parade in Dublin on March 3 which will kickstart the annual Seachtain na Gaeilge.

Conradh na Gaeilge general secretary, Julian de Spáinn described it as an opportunity to speak Irish through organised events, but said that it will be a community-led initiative with a reliance on groups and organisations.

Minister of State with responsibility for Gaeilge Joe McHugh, who will take charge from the Government’s side, last month said it would be a national and international celebration and will build on the love of Irish in the United States, Canada, elsewhere in Europe and further afield.

“We will all play a major role in this celebration next year in order to tell our story to the world — our story is that Irish is still alive and well and is vibrant not just here in Ireland but in many places around the world,” Mr McHugh said. However, whether €450,000 is enough to successfully translate this concept into a reality is questionable and will, as has always been the case when it comes to the language, rely on the commitment and enthusiasm of those who give up their time free of charge for the love of the language.

While welcoming the initiative, Julian de Spáinn said the funding issues represent a wider lack of investment which is damaging the language.

“There are challenges that still need to be faced, today the Gaeltacht areas need much more resources than they have at the moment.

“There has been a lack of investment in the Irish language over a number of years and we can see that having an impact now, in the Gaeltacht areas the number of daily speakers is falling and even Foras na Gaeilge has had its funding drastically reduced in recent years at a time when other bodies were having their funding increased,” he said.

The decline of Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas is striking.

The 2016 Census found that of just over 96,000 people living in Gaeltacht areas in Cork, Kerry, Galway, Mayo, Donegal, Meath and Waterford, just 21.4% said they speak the language on a daily basis.

This is in contrast to urban areas and cities such as Cork, Dublin and Galway where the language is experiencing something of a revival.

The census showed that Dublin city and its suburbs had the largest absolute number of daily Irish speakers with 14,903 persons, up from 14,229 in 2011 and representing 20.2%of all daily speakers.

Cork, Galway and Limerick combined had 6,034 daily speakers accounting for 8.2% of the total.

These statistics also raise a separate question: Should the Government support the language in urban areas outside the Gaeltacht where it seems to be flourishing, or should money be pumped into the traditional and clearly marked out Gaeltacht areas where Irish has always been spoken as the community and family language?

Undoubtedly the best solution would be to provide funding to the emerging urban Gaeltachtaí, which have certainly been encouraged and bolstered by an increase of Gaelscoileanna.

People in cities may not speak Irish to their next-door neighbour or when buying milk in the local shop but are seeking out their own corners to use the language on a regular basis.

This can be seen through the emergence of the pop-up Gaeltacht — monthly gatherings hosted in pubs around Dublin which have now grown and see between 200 to 300 gaeilgeoirí attending on regular basis.

In a way, these pop-up Gaeltachtaí are a modern take on progressing the Irish language revival, 125 years after the movement began with the establishment of Conradh na Gaeilge by Eoin MacNéill, Douglas Hyde, Eugene O’Growney and others.

The Irish language, out native language, a language which sets us apart from our European and global neighbours, faces challenges, difficulties and threats to its future.

Whether a year-long celebration can help resuscitate it remains to be seen.