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‘Fionn is fluent in Irish. It would be a shame to lose it.’ The boy who can’t access a secondary Gaelscoil

Advocates of Irish-medium education have criticised the Department of Education over a Gaelscoil shortage at second level

Sarah Cremin and her son Fionn (12), in their home. Photograph: Tom Honan

Éanna Ó Caollaí
Mon Apr 29 2024 - 06:00

Sarah Cremin did not attend a Gaelscoil, but she loved Irish at school – and when her son was accepted at an Irish-medium primary school in Ranelagh, she was delighted that he would receive his education through Irish.

Fionn started out at the school naíonra, an early-immersion setting attached to Lios na nÓg, where children aged 3-5 learn through play. The naíonra’s immersive approach to language acquisition meant Fionn would learn Irish through play from his first day.

He started in junior infants at Lios na nÓg later that year, “and he’s been there ever since”.

Fionn has become fluent in Irish during his time at Lios na nÓg.

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“I have to say that at times he surprises me,” Sarah says of her son’s view of the language.

[ School places: Three out of four parents unable to secure spots at oversubscribed secondary schools ]

“He has a sense of pride in the language. And the wonderful thing is that in a city like Dublin where we are surrounded by so many languages, there is something amazing about being able to speak your own language.”

“He has benefited enormously,” she said.

“Lios na nÓg was so fantastic particularly in terms of music and culture,” Ms Cremin explained.

The school is one of five south Dublin Irish medium primary schools that have been campaigning for several years for a new Gaelcholáiste to serve the area. While there are some 42 English-medium schools in the Dublin 2, 4, 6 and 8 postal districts where the five schools are located, there is no Irish language provision.

The problem is replicated nationwide as there are not enough secondary school places for children currently attending Irish-medium primary schools. Eight per cent of all primary students attend Irish-medium schools in the State, but Irish-medium secondary schools only account for 3.5 per cent of second-level students.

For parents whose children currently attend Irish-medium primary schools, the chance to continue their education at an Irish medium school is often decided by lottery.

“The dream was always to go to Coláiste Eoin,” Ms Cremin said.

“In terms of the selection criteria, Lios na nÓg was number seven along with another six Gaelscoileanna. The names were picked out of a hat. It was perfectly fair, but unfortunately for Fionn, his was the last name to be picked. He is now number 10 on a waiting list.

“We are still hoping that he will get a place, but he has a place in another [English language] school.

“He loves his Irish and four boys from his class are going to Coláiste Eoin. He was very unlucky not to get in. And, the awful truth is that he still has his heart set on it,” she said.

We have all these Gaelscoileanna and we have all these kids and why is that not being followed through upon?

“He said recently that he would be devastated if he doesn’t get a place.

Going to secondary school is such a milestone for all children, Ms Cremin pointed out. She said her son is completely fluent in Irish and that it would be a shame to lose that ability.

“It is such a pity that the revival of interest in Irish-medium education isn’t facilitated, and [nor is] the possibility of continuing.

“There are people in his class whose parents are not Irish and who would not speak Irish. It is such a shame that there’s no Gaelcholáiste for them to go to,” she added.

“It just seems bitterly, bitterly, disappointing.

“We have all these Gaelscoileanna and we have all these kids, and why is that not being followed through upon? It seems like such a no-brainer really. Kids learn languages so easily – and then to not have the possibility of continuing is such a shame.

“It should be a right to be educated in Irish in Ireland. If we’re serious about retaining our language, then we need to nurture it and access to education as Gaeilge is key,” she said.

Fionn’s situation demonstrates a wider problem. A leading proponent of Irish-medium education has said that efforts to establish Irish-medium secondary schools have gone “largely ignored” by Department of Education officials and the Minister for Education Norma Foley.

Caoimhín Ó hEaghra, ardrúnaí of An Foras Pátrúnachta, the largest patron of Gaelscoileanna in Ireland, said the proportion of students enrolled at Irish-medium primary schools has decreased by 3 per cent in recent years.

“The number of pupils in Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí has fallen from 48,518 pupils in Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí (Irish-medium secondary schools) outside the Gaeltacht in the 2019/2020 academic year to 46,933 pupils in the 2023/2024 academic year,” he said.

“This represents a 3 per cent drop and must be placed in the context of the Government’s commitment to double the number of young people attending Irish-medium schools,” Mr Ó hEaghra said.

Mr Ó hEaghra made his comments during an Oireachtas committee hearing last week.

The absence of a Department of Education process for establishing Irish medium-schools was cited “at the most basic level” as the fundamental issue by Mr Ó hEaghra.

He said community-led efforts to establish Irish-medium schools have gone largely ignored by department officials and by the Minister for Education. “We have not received any response to the request to establish a new gGaelcholáiste in Castlebar, for example,” he said.

Mr Ó hEaghra said it is “impossible” to meet the demand for Irish-medium education, due to the department’s position on new schools, and he accused the Government of failing to achieve its own goals regarding the provision of Irish-medium education.

Mr Ó hEaghra said the Department of Education’s preference is to extend existing schools to meet additional demographic demand. This, he said, benefits English-medium schools, while Irish-medium provision is not sufficiently catered for.

Referring to the Official Languages Act which stipulates that 20 per cent of public service recruits will have to have Irish by 2030, Mr Ó hEaghra said the State is denying opportunities to students who do not have access to education through Irish.

“Where will the 20 per cent of new recruits come from, especially when the number of pupils in Irish-medium education is falling rather than growing?” he asked.

Speaking at the same meeting, Conradh na Gaeilge president Paula Melvin urged the committee to write to Ms Foley to seek “immediate” approval for eight Irish-medium secondary schools in locations around the country.

Ms Melvin also asked that the Joint Committee urge Ms Foley, to set “an ambitious and measurable target” for at least 20 per cent of pupils to attend Irish-medium education within 20 years.

Ms Melvin said it was often due to “pressure from the community”, and despite the State’s approach on the issue, that new Gaelscoileanna or Gaelcholáistí were established.

The failure to “satisfactorily meet the demand” for Irish-medium education is “nothing new”, she said.

She asserted that the Department of Education was using the promised development of a new policy on Irish-medium education “as an excuse” to avoid granting permission to schools and to place such decisions on the “long finger”.

The new policy could be developed “in parallel”, she said, “but there should be no delay or excuse for not establishing Gaelscoileanna or Gaelcholáistí in the meantime”.

Clare Spáinneach, on behalf of patron body Gaeloideachas, said recognition of naíonraí, which provide early years education through the medium of Irish, would be an “easy win” for the State. Naíonraí were first founded in the 1960s amid concerns about the future of Irish-medium education after the State closed Irish-medium preparatory colleges for primary teaching in 1961.

The approach was based on linguistic principles and early total immersion for second language acquisition, whereby learning was encouraged through play, a method mirroring how children acquire their first language by interacting and exploring their environment.

The number of naíonraí grew significantly in the 1970s and in subsequent decades, but has declined significantly in recent years.

Ms Spáinneach said there are now only 53 naíonraí where full immersion is offered, and called for a process to support naíonraí and to ensure that an Irish language option is available to all children.

Calling for a subsidy scheme to be made available to naíonraí “as a matter of urgency”, Ms Spáinneach said the State does not recognise naíonraí as settings where immersion education is practised and which have specific support needs.

“There is not even a public directory available from the State for parents as to where the nearest naíonra is,” she said.

Éanna Ó Caollaí

Éanna Ó Caollaí

Iriseoir agus Eagarthóir Gaeilge An Irish Times. Éanna Ó Caollaí is The Irish Times' Irish Language Editor, editor of The Irish Times Student Hub, and Education Supplements editor.

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