It’s claimed Clare is ‘fighting an uphill battle’ when it comes to remedying the county’s dwindling Gaelscoil attendances.
New figures from the Department of Education show Clare has fallen behind the national average in education through Irish.
According to the latest department statistics, fewer than 5% of students in Clare currently attend a Gaelscoil, falling short of the national average of 6.5%.
The county also has fallen behind the rest of the country in its number of Irish language schools with just four, five behind the average of nine recorded nationwide.
Language Planning Officer with An Clár as Gaeilge and Irish and Cultural Officer with Clare GAA, Leah Ní Thailtigh, claims the ‘simple solution’ is the establishment of an independent Gaelcholaiste in the county.
She says without a clear pathway from early years education through to Gaelcholaistí, students are opting out of education through Irish.
There’s a call for people in Clare to be more truthful when logging their ability to speak Irish on the next census.
Data from 2022 shows 47% of people in Clare speak Irish to a strong standard.
MacDara Ó Conaola, who’s a native Irish speaker orginally from Inis Oírr is an Irish Language columnist living in Ennis.
He says if the Government saw a noticeable drop in the number of competent Irish speakers, they’d be forced into action.
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