Gaeloideachas welcomes the publication of the Policy for Irish-Medium Education, the first State policy aiming to develop Irish-medium education outside the Gaeltacht. The policy outlines an ambitious vision, aligned with Gaeloideachas’ own: that high-quality Irish-medium education will be available to all, in inclusive and multicultural educational settings. The question now is how to implement that vision, as the action plan accompanying the policy contains few new actions, and there are no measurable performance indicators or indicative budgets given for those actions.

In 2019, the Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh, announced plans to develop the first comprehensive policy on Irish-medium education. At the time, 60,000 young people were attending Irish-medium schools, and Minister McHugh proposed setting an ambitious target of doubling that number. Little progress has been made in the 6 years since that announcement, which gave real hope to the immersion education sector outside the Gaeltacht, who were expecting an ambitious policy in line with the Gaeltacht Education Policy. Work is now needed to ensure that the same opportunities and ambition for Irish-medium education will be extended to all children in Ireland.

“After 3 years of development and public consultation on the Policy, a milestone has been reached, but many questions still need to be answered,” says Bláthnaid ní Ghréacháin, Chief Executive of Gaeloideachas. “The biggest question now is how the Department of Education and Youth defines Irish-medium education, when we understand from both national and international research that immersion education is best practice. Can the public be confident that high-quality immersion education will be available to all, and that the appropriate support infrastructure will be provided for it? Gaeloideachas will act on behalf of the sector and collaborate with all stakeholders to demand the highest standards of immersion education for the public”.

Gaeloideachas really welcomes the supports and resources that will come through the Policy, but the organisation maintains that more is needed to tackle systemic problems in the education system that hinder the growth of Irish-medium education. The issue of provision, or lack thereof, is the biggest issue reported by the public in the consultation on the Policy for Irish-medium Education. A large number of respondents recommended that more Irish-medium preschools, primary schools and post-primary schools be established. “This has given the Department of Education and Youth the mandate to place children’s rights in relation to access to Irish-medium education at the heart of the new policy. But, unfortunately, there will be no quick resolution to this. A taskforce is being established as a key action under the policy, with a one-year term in which to complete its work. Its purpose is to make recommendations to the Minister for Education and Youth regarding the establishment, development and sustainability of models for the provision of Irish-medium education. “While the establishment of a task force is a common State mechanism, our fear is that the ambiguity, dissatisfaction and concern that demand will not be properly assessed or met will continue until the work of the task force has been completed and a community will be left in the lurch in the meantime. We’re worried also that the scope of the work is far too broad to address the issue of provision effectively, comprehensively and equitably”.

An action plan was also launched today focusing on Irish in English-medium schools. The principles and cornerstones detailed in the plan are commendable but the issue of exemptions was not included in its scope, which is a serious omission. Over 60,000 exemptions have been given to post-primary school students this year, and the Department of Education and Youth has no plan to address the problem. “Exemptions suggest that Irish is not suitable for certain students – students with special educational needs and other home languages, for example – and this is neither fair nor true” said Clodagh Ní Mhaoilchiaráin, Gaeloideachas President and Principal of Gaelscoil Bhaile Brigín. “There is no such exemption for any other subject. This system continues to erode the status of the Irish language and Irish-medium education, and this action plan is a missed opportunity to redress the discrimination being faced by these young people, and to provide them with an inclusive education. We are hopeful that this action plan will bring forth a vision for the Irish language in the education system, and that its primary objective will be to implement an alternative system that supports the rights of every child to acquire Irish”.