A Charaide,

I have heard that you can't be a teacher in Ireland unless you speak Irish. Do
you know if that's true?

Pádaigh

It is true if you want to become a primary teacher. you need a higher lever honour in the leaving certificate. but apparently there are some way around it?? if you want to be a secondary school teacher irish is not required.

I think the general requirement for Secondary teachers was removed a few years ago (i.e. it's no longer in place for those that don't use Irish in their work). Have a look at the Department of Education website for more info on how to train to be a Primary teacher, including the Irish language requirements:

http://www.education.ie/home/home.jsp?maincat=10900&category=10900&feature=teacher_training&sectionpage=&language=EN&link=&page=1