CEARTA: A National Protest for the Irish language and the Gaeltacht has been announced to take place on Saturday 20th September 2025 in Dublin. The rally will begin in Parnell Square before making it’s way through Dublin City Centre to convene at Leinster House for a final demonstration.

The announcement came off the back of a series of emergency meetings and two national ‘crisis assemblies’ earlier this year, which discussed ongoing national campaigns that have yet to be resolved by either government. The most recent Assembly in Belfast’s Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich agreed to convene a national day of action in Dublin, where the following major campaigns would be brought together:

The Main Demands

Funding

That both governments recognise the historic underfunding of the Irish language and the Gaelacht, and the resulting diminution of language rights as a result of this, and that adequate funding be provided to the respective language agencies so they are in a position to ensure the Irish language and Gaeltacht communities are fairly resourced.

Education

That all school students will have the right, and that the necessary provision is made available by both Governments, to attend Irish Medium Education & that all school students will also have the right, and the necessary provision is made available, to learn Irish in a holistic system in English-medium schools.

Rights

That all Irish language rights, legislation and all outstanding government and political commitments achieved over recent years are implemented without any further delay

Housing

That all school students will have the right, and that the necessary provision is made available by both Governments, to attend Irish Medium Education & that all school students will also have the right, and the necessary provision is made available, to learn Irish in a holistic system in English-medium schools.

More Information

10 facts & problems in the South

1. The amount of people with Irish has fallen from 40% of the total population in 2011 to 37% in 2022.
2. There are now only 20,261 daily Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht, and the number of daily speakers there fell by 13% between 2011 and 2022.
3. There are over 1,000 houses/apartments on Airbnb in the Gaeltacht, compared to fewer than 10 houses available to rent long-term in the Gaeltacht.
4. The State spends only 0.10% of total State expenditure on Irish language and Gaeltacht schemes related to the Department of the Gaeltacht (including spending on the Department itself, Údarás na Gaeltachta, and Foras na Gaeilge).
5. When inflation is taken into account, Foras na Gaeilge’s funding has fallen by 45% compared to what it was 20 years ago, even though the number of community groups needing funding has grown significantly.
6. The Arts Council receives eight times more funding than Foras na Gaeilge (20 years ago, the Arts Council received 2.5 times more funding than Foras na Gaeilge).
7. Although the last Government promised to work towards doubling the number of pupils in Irish-medium education, the number of pupils in Irish-medium schools has actually fallen by 3%.
8. From September 2025 onwards, 30 minutes per week will be cut from the teaching of Irish in primary schools from 1st to 6th class.
9. There are over 50,000 students in secondary schools who are exempt from studying Irish, and there is no plan at all to address these exemptions.
10. The amount of money provided by Foras na Gaeilge to these schemes is constantly decreasing and at the moment the groups in the Irish Language Network Development Scheme are only receiving €48,000 per year, an amount that does not even cover the salary of the officer as part of the scheme in certain cases and that does not leave any scheme with a proper budget to organise events in the community.

10 facts & problems in the North

1. 60% of Irish-medium schools in the North are still located in temporary, unsuitable accommodation.
2. There has been a disastrous decline over the past 20 years in the number of pupils choosing Irish as a GCSE subject in English-medium secondary schools in the North: from 2,630 pupils in 2004 to 1,572 in 2024.
3. At present, the baseline funding for Irish in the North stands at around 0.024% of the total block grant (about £7 million per year). For comparison, the Welsh Government spends more on its language strategy in a single year than the Department for Communities has channelled through Foras na Gaeilge over the past 10 years.
4. It has been confirmed twice in the High Court that the Northern Executive has failed to adopt an Irish language strategy — a legal obligation in place since 2007.
5. The historic language legislation gained under the Identity and Language Act places the role of the Irish Language Commissioner at the heart of politics here; this means the DUP actively veto every aspect related to the role and the legislation itself.
6. Bilingual signage is still banned in shared, public spaces in the North.
7. The Irish-medium early years sector is swimming against the tide, facing a significant increase in demand for services at a time when the state’s approach is inactive, putting further financial, staffing and resource pressure on the sector.
8. The core policies of local councils regarding street naming are extremely strict and restrictive, and are designed in a way to ensure that applications to increase the visibility of Irish will not succeed.
9. People who have the courage to learn, celebrate, or use Irish are still subjected to intimidation.
10. Public authorities give weight to sectarian, anti-Irish, baseless arguments when carrying out equality screening or assessments on important Irish language issues.