Irish Today

Ireland, has a population of 4,713,993 people. Only 40,000 to 80,000 people speak Irish fluently. This figure is quite upsetting to me. I have gone to an Irish College twice before and I have grown to love the language. I speak it at home to my brother, sister and my mum. However, 1 in 3 people understand Irish to some extent. This image on the right shows the areas most Irish is spoken. It is mainly along the west coast most Irish is spoken. However, the numbers of people speaking Irish are growing. It is compulsory in school for everyone to learn Irish, with the exception of those with dyslexia.

In Ireland, we have Irish all around us, on signs on the road, on television channels, radio stations and Irish schools that do everything in Irish. All exams are done through Irish, and students are expected to speak Irish to one another during school hours.
There are 158 primary school Gaeliscoils (Irish schools) in Ireland today.