Fine Gael spokesman on education, Brian Hayes, says: “We need a radically different approach to the Irish language” in today’s Irish Times. Hayes says that “compulsion, as the political engine to revive the Irish language, has failed. Forcing students to learn Irish is not working, and is actually driving many young people away from real engagement with this beautiful language. The fact that so many students are not taking Irish, yet can study other modern languages, has once again shone a light on the problems with teaching our national language.”