Half of the public in favor of sending their children to an all-Irish school – a national poll

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Half of the public in favor of sending their children to an all-Irish school - a national poll
Half Of The Public In Favor Of Sending Their Children

The results of the national survey conducted by Kantar Millward Browne for Conradh na Gaeilge show that there is strong support for Irish – medium education in the community.

Half of the public in favor of sending their children to an all-Irish school - a national poll

Half of the state’s population would choose Irish-medium education for their children if it were available in their area, according to a new poll.

The results of the national survey conducted by Kantar Millward Browne for Conradh na Gaeilge show that there is strong support for Irish – medium education in the community.

49% of people in the state said that they would choose an all-Irish school for their children if it was available in their area.

23% said so in the North, according to the poll.

Irish-medium educators have long argued that there are not enough schools to meet the demand for all-Irish schooling and the results of the new poll will give them more ammunition as they demand new schools.

73% in the south and 54% in the north said that all children who receive their primary education through Irish should have the opportunity to continue their post – primary education through Irish.

It has long been recognized that the lack of Irish-medium post-primary schools is one of the biggest problems in promoting Irish-medium education in Ireland.

44% of people in the south and 20% of people in the north said that they would choose an Irish language crèche for their children if it was available in their area.

Bláthnaid Ní Ghréacháin, Chief Executive of Gaeloideachas, said that the results of the poll show the demand for all-Irish schooling and the need for the policy for Irish-medium education proposed by the Department of Education.

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“The figures in this survey provide a strong basis for our demand for a State policy for all-Irish education – a policy promised by the former Minister for Education in December 2019 and by the Secretary General of the Department of Education,” said Ní Ghréacháin.

“We will expect this policy to include a plan and approach to increase the provision of all-Irish education at primary and post-primary level, as well as the provision of early years through Irish. This policy will help the Department meet the huge demand for Irish-medium education and confirmed in the results of the Kantar survey. ”

Former Education Minister Joe McHugh last year announced a major change to the school-based system that would make it easier to establish an Irish-medium school in the future.

The Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga is discussing the issue of the establishment of Irish – medium schools with the Department of Education since it found that the Department was in breach of education legislation in the case of the establishment of a school in Dublin.

An Coimisinéir Teanga found that the Department of Education had breached the Education Act, 1998 by failing to take due account of their statutory language obligations in the process of selecting a patron for a new primary school to be established in the Drumcondra / Marino school planning area.

As a result of that investigation, the Department recommended that a new system be established which would eliminate the need for the patron seeking an Irish – medium school to have the greatest number of expressions of interest.

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Under the Department’s recommendation, two schools would be established – an English-medium school and an Irish-medium school – where it was proved that there was a demand among a certain percentage of parents for an all-Irish education.

Irish-medium educators hope to see the result of this new policy in the years to come.

Although Irish – medium education has been booming for many years, the number of new Irish – medium schools being established in the state has fallen sharply in recent years.

Niall Comer, President of Conradh na Gaeilge, said that it is clear that the community is “far ahead of the Governments north and south in terms of the cultural and educational benefits” of all-Irish education.

“The results show that the governments of the north and south are failing to meet the aspirations of the community to establish more Gaelcholáistí, Gaelscoileanna and naíonraí throughout Ireland.

“For example, the current provision by the Government in the south is insufficient where less than 8% of primary school pupils attend Gaelscoileanna and less than 4% attend Gaelcholáistí when taken into account in the Kantar survey 49% said they would choose a school that teaches through the medium of Irish if it were available in their area.

“We are far from having that supply available to them. We call on Education and Skills Minister Norma Foley in the south and Education Minister Peter Weir in the north to take action to reduce that gap as a matter of urgency. ”

The poll results are part of the research series What’s the Story?, a series of surveys published by the Treaty since 2015.

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A wide range of topics were examined as part of the research and more will be available from What’s the Story? will be published on Tuairisc.ie in the coming weeks.

All children who receive their primary education through Irish should have the opportunity to continue their post – primary education through Irish

Agree Disagree Don’t know / No answer
South 73% 5% 22%
North 54% 23% 24%

Source: What’s the Story? Kantar Millward Browne poll for Conradh na Gaeilge

I would choose a school that teaches through the medium of Irish if it were available in my area

Agree Disagree Don’t know / No answer
South 49% 23% 29%
North 23% 48% 30%

Source: What’s the Story? Kantar Millward Browne poll for Conradh na Gaeilge

I would choose a crèche run through Irish if it was available in my area

Agree Disagree Don’t know / No answer
South 44% 23% 33%
North 20% 47% 33%

Source: What’s the Story? Kantar Millward Browne poll for Conradh na Gaeilge