Kids being forced ‘against their wishes’ to go to English medium schools due to lack of Irish provision

Children educated from an early age in Irish are being forced “against their wishes” to turn to English medium learning aged 12 because of a lack of Irish provision, a Stormont committee has heard.

Stormont’s Communities Committee also heard that failure to implement an Irish language strategy — which is almost 20 years late — is a “disgrace” and an “attack” on the Irish language community that is being “ostracised”.

An Irish language strategy was a commitment in the 2006 St Andrews Agreement and was reaffirmed in the 2020 New Decade, New Approach deal.

Over the years, there have been two High Court rulings, in 2017 and 2022, that found the Executive was in breach of its legal duty to introduce such a strategy.

Campaign group Conradh na Gaeilge has secured a third High Court date seeking to judicially review the Executive and Communities Minister Gordon Lyons’ alleged failure in this area. It will be heard later this month.

Members of a co-design group formed to provide input on the development of Stormont’s long-awaited Irish language strategy briefed members of the Communities Committee yesterday.

Maria Thomasson of Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta, the representative body for Irish-medium education in Northern Ireland, said there has never been an overarching strategy for Irish medium education here.

“The reason the Irish medium sector is what it is is because of the practitioners, the governors, the volunteers, the community groups on the ground, and the teachers,” she said.

Ms Thomasson said Irish medium teachers are working 46% above their contracted hours to keep up with demand, adding “we can’t continue to rely on the goodwill and the passion of individuals to give more and do more than their English medium peers”.

Giving one “extreme” example, Ms Thomasson said there are children “having to turn to English medium education at the age of 12 against their wishes, against the wishes of their families, because schools can’t accommodate them and we don’t have the capacity to grow in line with demand.”

Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh of Irish language campaign group Conradh na Gaeilge outlined how the co-design group has produced a draft strategy action plan containing 200 actions it hopes will inform the finalised strategy, which is to cover the next 20 years.

Mr Ó Tiarnaigh said Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has failed to give a commitment that an Irish language strategy will be finalised within this Assembly mandate and called on the committee to request that a clear timeline be set out.

“For any new Irish language strategy to have a meaningful impact and for the action plan to be implemented over the next 20 years, there will need to be accompanying financial resources to spread out over the next 20 years,” he said.

“Actions and resources should be in addition to current departmental actions and not simply repackaged.”

The Irish language campaigner said the co-design group would rather have no strategy than one that is not effective.

He added: “I don’t think anyone could question the hard work and time that we’ve invested in [this strategy] very faithfully, in engaging with the minister and other people right across the board, to make sure we get a strategy that is as robust as possible and that over 20 years will make a significant difference to our community.”