Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The irony here is that I am asking this question in English because I do not have the Irish to do it. However, the one thing I can say, and I am really proud of it, is that my two daughters could ask this question as Gaeilge. This is because they went to a local Gaelscoil - Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers in Fearann Phiarais. The fact that there was a local Gaelscoil available to them - it was not around when I was young - meant they were able to learn the language and become fluent in it. I am on the board of Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers. This school has tripled in size in the past number of years because people want their children to be educated in the language. They want to have that option.

We have seen a surge in people wanting their children to be able to speak the language. Aside from Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers, we have Gaelcholáiste Mhic Shuibhne in Knocknaheeny, we have seen significant growth in Gaelcholáiste Mhuire on North Monastery Road in Cork, which has hundreds of pupils in second level and we also have Mayfield Community School. There is, therefore, a vibrant community of Irish speakers that we want to build on.

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