Positive attitudes towards Irish – but citizens shy on fluency

Most people in Ireland have a positive attitude towards the Irish language but fluency levels among the population do not reflect this, according to a new report.

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) study found 43 per cent of respondents in the Republic had “basic fluency” in Irish (the ability to speak and understand some phrases) and 14 per cent had near native standard or “advanced fluency”. In Northern Ireland 14 per cent had a basic grasp and 3 per cent had advanced levels of fluency.

Attitudes towards the Irish Language on the island of Ireland drew mainly on the 2013 Irish Language Survey involving a sample of 1,215 people over the age of 18 in the Republic and 1,045 people in the North.

In the Republic, 64 per cent believed Ireland would lose its identity without the language, while only 33 per cent believed the same in the North. Catholics in Northern Ireland were more likely to have a favourable view of Irish.

“With such high support for the Irish language we still don’t have that many people who are fluent,” said the report’s co-author Dr Merike Darmody.

Spoken word

People who grew up with Irish spoken in the home were more likely to use the language as adults than those seldom or never exposed to it in the home, the study found.

But in the Republic the wish to study Irish to pass exams was more prevalent than in Northern Ireland, where researchers found the primary factor was learning the language for its own sake.

Having friends who used the language socially was also associated with positive attitudes towards it in both jurisdictions.

Dr Darmody said the results showed the use of Irish, and attitudes to it, were rootedin three domains: the education system, the family and the wider community”.

She added that if people did not make an effort to learn Irish and use it in a variety of social contexts, it was hard to see how it was going to flourish in the future.

Foras na Gaeilge chief executive Ferdie Mac an Fhailigh said the “very positive attitudes throughout the general population confirm our own experience and the very real desire for Irish-medium education cannot be ignored”.

On the issue of perceived unionist hostility towards the language in the North, Mr Mac an Fhailigh said: “We have politicians who are openly hostile to the language but they’re merely playing to the gallery”.

He added that the Ulster Unionist Party was no longer against Irish. “There has been a steady decline in that open hostility... which was based on ignorance, on misconceptions and misunderstandings,” he said.