Ms Ashling Kate Wall:

Dia dhaoibh do ghach duine. Ashling is ainm dom agus is as Cill Dara dom. Táim 17 bliain d'aois agus táim sa chúigiú bliain ar an mheánscoil. Táim ag deanamh ionadaíochta don Tionól Óige Náisiúnta na hÉireann. Inniu táim ag caint faoin nGaeilge – faoin stádas atá aici sa chóras oideachas. Ceapaim gur ábhar an-tábhachtach é.

I am going to start off by talking about the secondary school Irish course because that is where all of the foundations are built before the student heads on to third level. The emphasis placed on literature is slightly excessive. While some amount is necessary, the focus should be more on comprehension and understanding, not learning off answers. When a student goes to higher education it is more important that they know all of the correct grammar rules and can hold a flowing conversation, rather than being able to regurgitate memorised essays. For this reason, I would like to see more oral work done and examined from the time children go into first year, rather than suddenly starting it in leaving certificate.

The idea of 20 sraith pictiúr should be reduced, so there is more freedom for a student to speak about less generic personal interests to help to foster more enjoyment of the language. If somebody is impassive about Irish in school, they are highly unlikely to develop a passion as they move to third level.

An amazing way to encourage adolescents to take pride in the Irish language is by attending a Gaeltacht course over the summer months. However, especially now due to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, it can be extremely difficult for some households to afford the very high fees. On top of this, many 13- and 14-year-olds do not feel comfortable packing up and leaving home for the span of three weeks and shorter courses tend to have very limited spaces. Because of this, it would be extremely beneficial to have Gaeltacht courses aimed at college students and not just those studying teaching. If these were run in conjunction with universities, many people would become aware of them. It would be very helpful to have financial support available to aid students to attend these courses even for a span of a week or ten days.

Leading on from this, there needs to be more employment opportunities in rural Gaeltacht regions. It is very much an ageing population of fluent native speakers with many young people moving to cities or emigrating for better career prospects. If there were more jobs in Gaeltachts, it would be more accessible for young people to live there and develop their language.

It would be very useful if more third level courses were offered through Irish to accommodate young people who may have attended Irish-speaking primary and secondary schools or lived in Gaeltachts. However, at this time that might not be practical and not many lecturers could facilitate it.

My view is that it would be very beneficial if there was an option to submit assignments through Irish on non-Irish courses. If there was someone employed to translate these to be corrected, it would be ideal. Then it could be possible to encourage the language by awarding extra credit for it as we see done at leaving certificate level. It was suggested to me that we should put in place more Gaeilge societies in university, but the vibe of that comes across as quite dull or uneventful to young people as they might think it involves having to sit in a secluded room talking a so-called "dead language" one day a week. My alternative is to create common, sought-after spaces such as Irish cafés or libraries where visitors and staff speak the language. They should be located in busy, populated areas where people could pop in and out with a sense of community.

It is important that we develop a sense of pride in the role that Gaeilge plays in our culture and heritage. Back in the 17th century, the Penal Laws shunned people who only spoke Irish and for some reason we have carried a part of that shame into the present day. Of the 60,839 students who sat their leaving certificate in 2024, 13,695, or 22.5%, were not registered to sit Irish. Perhaps exemptions are handed out too easily. If a student has a learning disability with writing, instead of excluding them, I suggest a separate exam based on oral Irish to accommodate them. It is perhaps a taught trend to hate Irish and nobody knows why. This has been picked up on by certain musical acts, including Kneecap, which has been campaigning to rekindle a love for our heritage. More young people are now gaining an interest and we really have to nurture that while we can. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.