When RTE's environment correspondent, Carol Coleman, attended Irish college in Carna, Co Galway, she loved it.
She was all of 13 years of age and cried when she had to return home. "I had a wonderful time," she recalls. `I fell in love with the place - the music, the singing and the craic at night with the local people. I enjoyed it so much, I demanded to be sent back for another three weeks. We had such a row about it at home - even my grannie got involved." Undaunted, Coleman raided her post office savings account and gathered up enough money (£70 then) to go back. She took the bus from her home in Longford to Galway and spent another idyllic three weeks learning Irish.
Sinead, who spent three weeks at Irish college last year, also enjoyed her experience. Her bean a' ti was "very helpful", the house "very nice" and the food good. During her time there a boy was sent home for speaking English. However, according to Sinead, the school wasn't overly strict about the use of English - in fact lots of people spoke English, though the teachers did try to enforce the rule. Sinead spoke English in her room at night. She just didn't get caught. Sinead believes that the boy, who was expelled was pushing it and "nearly trying to be sent home".
For many students, taking a whole year at Irish college is a valuable experience; but for parents sending a youngster away from home can be a wrench. `Letting her go was traumatic," admits Tony White, whose 11-year-old went to Ring (Colaiste na Rinne, Co Waterford), last year. "She was a bit homesick at the beginning but she settled down and was basically very happy there. She matured a lot during the year away. Now she's attending an all-Irish school near home and she loves it." Fourteen year-old Daniel Gleeson is also delighted that he spent a year at Irish college in Ring two years ago. "I made a lot of friends and learned a lot of Irish," he says. "I was fluent by the time I got out." Going from an English-speaking school into an all-Irish system wasn't difficult at all.
"They start you off very easy and they know how to do it properly. I wasn't good at Irish at primary school, but now I'm in the honours class." Sadly, though, Irish college doesn't work for everybody. "It was absolutely terrible," says 14- yearold James. "They thought I was younger than 13 and they put me in a class with young kids. I had spent a year in Ring and my Irish was of a much higher standard. They wouldn't let me and my friend stay in the same class - the only time I saw him was on the football field. For the first few days I spoke English to my friend and they didn't like it.
"The sports facilities were terrible. We played football on concrete and the rounders field was bumpy, so you could fall over easily. When I fell over and hit my head on a stone, I didn't get any sympathy from the staff."
His friend's mother visited the first weekend and didn't like what she saw - and the staff didn't like James talking to her in English, he says. When his mother came down the following weekend, she agreed to remove the boys.
Although bitter, he hasn't given up on Irish college. This summer he's going on an intensive revision course in Kerry. "They don't give you sport - but it's only 12 days, so I don't mind."
Novelist and playwright Joe O'Connor is one person who didn't go to Irish college and he feels he didn't miss a thing. "Everyone I know seemed to have a terrible time at Irish college and hated the compulsory Irish element of their education."
O'Connor did, however, benefit from some contact with the Gaeltacht. "My father used to stay with a family in the Gaeltacht, near Spiddal, and when we were kids we used to go there for a few weeks every summer. I'm happy to be able to speak a bit of Irish, but my Irish is terrible. I speak it poorly - quite ungraciously."
