An teanga sna scoileanna ar an gclár i Muineachán

Government legislation is needed to ensure that the choice of education through the medium of the Irish language is available to future generations of students, the February meeting of Monaghan County Council heard.

The Sinn Féin motion called on the Government to “systematically, sustainably and steadily increase the provision of Irish-medium education” so that future generations would have the opportunity to be educated through the national language if they desired.

Proposing the motion, Cllr Niamh McCooey (SF) said County Monaghan demonstrated what could be done with the right Irish language supports and provisions in place, as 11% of school pupils in the county are being educated as Gaeilge. She believed this showed that, where the proper supports existed, many families would choose to send their children to Irish language education.

“It would be great if we were all bilingual and all of our young people could be,” stated Cllr Pat Treanor (SF) in seconding the motion. He remarked how children in most European countries are at least bilingual. He commended the Irish teachers and mainstream schools who are are putting a lot of effort into the language because of enrolment competition. Cllr Colm Carthy (SF) said County Monaghan should be very proud of what had been done to expand Irish medium education in recent years – four of the county’s five towns now had gaelscoileanna, and the county also had a very successful Irish language second-level school in Coláiste Oiriall.

“The want among our young people to gain an education through Irish is there,” Cllr Carthy added.

Independent councillor Seamus Treanor referred to what appeared to him to be a cultural resistance to using the Irish language. “I personally have never gone any place where someone was speaking Irish as their everyday language and I think that is a terrible indictment of how the language has been ‘sold’ in this country,” he remarked.

“I am not against the motion,” Cllr Treanor added, “but I don’t want to see developments that will foist extra pressure on our children.”

Cllr Sean Gilliland (FG) said he had no problem supporting the motion but he was confused as to why legislation is necessary. Taking issue with Cllr Treanor’s stance, Cllr McAree (SF) said she spent a lot of time speaking Irish with family and friends and when socialising. She asked Cllr Gilliland, meanwhile, whether his problem with the motion was because it was being advanced by Sinn Féin. “Anyone with any patriotic blood in them should be supporting the motion,” Cllr McAree declared.

Cllr McCooey told Cllr Treanor that the intention of the motion is not “to ram Irish down anyone’s throat” but to give parents and children choice. “I think we do need legislation because Irish language groups are not being funded adequately.”

The motion received unanimous support when put to the meeting.