The first national protest for our language in over a decade will take place on September 20th from Parnell Square to Leinster House.
CEARTA: National Protest for the Irish Language and the Gaeltacht comes on the back of years of broken or unfulfilled promises and inadequate actions to support our language and the Gaeltacht.
The first national protest for our language in over a decade will take place on September 20th from Parnell Square to Leinster House.
CEARTA: National Protest for the Irish Language and the Gaeltacht comes on the back of years of broken or unfulfilled promises and inadequate actions to support our language and the Gaeltacht.
The Main Demands
Funding
To address the emergency in funding for the Irish language and the Gaeltacht, we are calling for the following:
That the historic inequality of baseline level funding for the Irish language and the Gaeltacht be acknowledged, and the resulting negative impact this has had on the realisation of language rights for the public over the years
That adequate funding be provided through the appropriate state agencies to equitably and adequately fund the Irish language and Gaeltacht community.
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Education
To address the crisis in education, we are calling for the following:
That every school pupil north and south has the right to attend Irish-medium education, and to that end that appropriate satisfactory provision be made available by both Governments
That every school pupil north and south attending a school operating through the medium of English has the right to a satisfactory Irish language learning experience, and to that end that appropriate and satisfactory provision be made available
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Rights
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The Irish-speaking and Gaeltacht community has achieved a number of language rights, language legislation and additional Government commitments over the past few years, but many of these are still not implemented and are not therefore providing the appropriate rights for the community That all language rights, language legislation and Government commitments made over the past few years be complied with and implemented without further delay. |
Housing
To address the Gaeltacht housing emergency:
To ensure that Gaeltacht communities have the right to live in their native areas, to make the necessary provision to achieve this and, in so doing, help to preserve and strengthen Irish as the community language.
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.
Publicity
Resources to download
Buses
Ulster
Bus from Coalisland
Ticket: £10
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Bus from Ionad Uíbh Eachach, Iarthar Bhéal Feirste
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Bus covering Co.Down (Downpatrick - Castlewellan - Newcastle - Annalong - Kilkeel - Rostrevor - Warrenpoint - Newry)
Ticket: £5
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Bus from Gort an Choirce and an Fál Carrach
Free
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Bus from Gaelscoil Éanna / St Endas GAA, Belfast
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Bus from Belfast with Fóram na nÓg
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Bus from an Carn, 132A Bóthar Thír Chiana, Doire
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Bus for Óige Charn Tóchair, 132A Bóthar Thír Chiana, Doire
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Bus from Baile na Scríne, Glór na Speiríní
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Bus from Machaire Fíolta, Glór Mhachaire Fíolta,
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Bus from Gaoth Dobhair, Donegal
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Bus from Cavan and Monaghan
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Bus from Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, Derry
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Bus from Gaelphobal an Droichead
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Bus from Glór na Móna
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Bus from Fís an Phobail
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An Dream Dearg bus
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Bus from Aonach Mhacha and Gaelphobal Ard Mhacha Theas
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Connacht
Bus from Galway Cathedral
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Bus from Tuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta, Ceathrú Rua, Galway
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Bus from Ennis. Clare with Clare as Gaeilge
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Bus from the Studetns Union, Galway University (for Galway University Students)
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Train from Castlebar, with the Mayo Branch
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Munster
Bus from Corca Dhuibhne, Kerry
Ticket: Price will depend on numbers
More infromation : Barry Ó Siochrú - 087 376 9538
Bus from An Chuallacht , Cork (University College Cork)
For UCC students only
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Bus from Múscraí and Cork City, Cork
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Train from Waterford with Craobh Phort Láirge
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Leinster
Train from Sallins, Kildare with Cill Dara le Gaeilge
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