Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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That is much more than an educational challenge. That is a societal challenge. When I attended a course in Carraroe myself - I was fortunate enough to be there every summer throughout post-primary school - a gentleman called Pól Mac Con Iomaire was a teacher of mine. I said that this was a fantastic situation to have in the Gaeltacht, that there are young people talking about pop music and sport through the language. He chastised me to some extent, saying that we should not be trying to create a nature reserve here, so that people could come and visit the Gaeltacht, erect a fence around it and say it is wonderful to see this beautiful, ancient language being spoken by young people. Ultimately, people from Gaeltacht areas want to become part of a modern global society, which communicates predominantly through the English language. How does one preserve the integrity of the language as we move forward? Is the challenge the witnesses observe much more a societal challenge for Irish as a whole than an educational challenge? How can we go about addressing that?