What kind of jobs are available through Irish in the public sector? I understand one can get degrees through the medium of Irish at some universities, but how is the demand for Irish speaking jobs? Is the government doing anything to make use of the years of Irish students must learn in school? What incentive is there for children to learn Irish in school, regarding how they will be able to use it after school? What kind of public organizations operate through Irish? And is the government making an iniciative to deal with all purported Irish speakers in Irish, whether they ask it or not?

Sorry, lots of questions. But you can probably get the gist of what I'm asking. I've been reading many of the articles at http://iers.blogspot.com/ which have sparked a lot of my curiosity.

P.S. I don't speak Irish! ¡No hablo irlandés!

(Message edited by aindréas on March 23, 2006)

Not a huge amount to be truthul, except if you go into education or the police force.

It's possible to study Irish at almost all universities over here, and take any course up to Ph.D level. But outside the world of academia, opportunities to work within the language are limited, be an Irish teacher (like me), and a minimum requirement exists to be a policaman/woman, but rarely is it used.

Kids here have an overwhelmingly negative attitude towards the language, they see it as pointless, particularly as primary teachers are not very well trained to teach it, so from the beginning students never become fluent in the language. From then on, it's an uphill battle throughout their school life, most look forward to not having to study or speak it again.

Regards,
Kieran

I mo thuairim, tá deiseanna fostaíochta le haighaidh Gaeilgeoirí níos fearr na laethanta seo ná mar a bhí riamh. Employment opportunities for Irish speakers are probably better now than they have ever been:

- In education, Irish medium schools are growing rapidly at primary and secondary level and they often find it difficult to get enough teachers with fluent Irish in all subjects.

- In broadcasting and the print media, there are opportunities in Irish language radio and TV stations as well as Irish publications. There are many private film companies which have been set up to make films, documentaries etc, in Irish for the public secctor broadcasters, and there are substantial grants available for these purposes. All community radio stations are required, as a condition of getting a license to have some programming in Irish and while most of this is of a voluntary nature, it gives young Irish broadcasters an opportunity to get some experience which will give them an 'in' to professional work later.

- The Official Languages Act 2002, requires all public service organisations to provide a service in Irish to those who want it. Each organisation must submit a plan to the Government as to how they will achieve this over time. Most are unable to do so at present but the pressure is on them to produce the goods. As a result candidates for public service jobs who have good or fluent Irish, will have a distinct advantage, throughout the state system.

- There are Irish language organisations, such as Foras na Gaeilge, Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge etc., who need staff. Their remit and funding has increased substantially following the Good Friday Agreement.

- Irish is now an official language in the European Union. This immediately creates a need for Irish translators in the EU Commission (35 are being recruited at present). More importantly, it gives Irish (speaking) people access to a huge range of jobs in the EU which were closed to them before. To get a job in the EU institutions, a proficiency in at least two official languages is required. Irish people who only had Irish and English could not apply for such posts until now. This is a major boost.

- In the private sector also, there are growing opportunities. Marketing agencies realise that Irish has a positive image and is a useful tool in advertising. One employment agency has set up a special unit dealing with job opportunities for Irish speakers.

The glass is not half empty as Setanta suggests. It is three-quarters full, at least as far as employment prospects are concerned.

D'fhéadfadh tú dul i dteagmháil le http://www.udaras.ie/. Sé sin Údarás na Gaeltachta. Tá a suíomh dhátheangach. Muna bhfuil mórán eolais ar fáil go díreach ar an suíomh, d'fhéadfadh tú iad a cheistiú faoin ábhar.

You could approach Udaras na Gaeltachta. I've given their URL above. Their site is bilingual. If it doesn't contain the information you require, you could ask them to advise.

"The glass is half - full/ empty"
A chara tá an ghloine beagnach folamh ar fad.Ní feidir post a fhail gan a bheith cailithe mar mhuinteoir le Gaeilge a mhuineadh.Cuimhnigh go bhfuil daonra na muinteoiri as an nGaeltacht fior-bheag agus agus is as an nGalltacht 95% de mhuinteoiri na tire ata ag muineadh sna bunscoileanna.Ta daoine le cailithe as an nGaeltacht i n-abhair seachas Gaeilge coinnithe as muineadh na teangan.Ba mhaith liomsa an teanga thabhairt don chead ghluin eile ach ta bac orm mar fuair me mo chailiocht i Sasana B.SC i 2004.

An bhfuil tú ag trácht faoi múinteoireacht i mbuncoileanna nó i meánscoileanna? Más meánscoileanna atá i gceist, nach bhfuil éinne le Ceard Teastas na Gaeilge in ann dul ag múinteoireacht i chuid dos na meánscoileanna ar aon nós? Ar ndóigh, bheadh aon amadán in ann an Ceard Teastas a bhaint amach.

Ar aon nós, chun ábhair a mhúineadh, seachas an Ghaeilge, trí mheán na Gaeilge, nach mbeadh sé aisteach muna raibh fianaise cháilíocht sa Ghaeilge de dhíth ag na húdaráis?

A Aindreas, a chara,

Sure and that is a brilliant website, it rocks! I've been theroughly enjoying reading all of those articles. I've seen a couple of them before but most are new. I particularly liked the one about "minding your language" which talked about the language commissioner and his concerns and goals. I absolutely can't stand Kevin Meyers, he's a bit of a pain in the arse. I have to go finish reading those. You always give the best links. Thanks. Oh, and I haven't found anything new in my continuing quest that we all know about, but you have to rent those DVDs if you haven't yet.

Beir bua agus beannacht.

To be honest, Fiacc, there are opportunities for employmentif you are an Irish speaker, as you have outlinedabove, but the harsh reality is that the language just is not used in the work place.

There are gaelscoileanna, but not very many nor are they rapidlyincreasing in numbers, in fact there is an increasing % of multi-denominational schools springing up at a faster rate than gaelscioleanna, and that really is a symptom of where Irish society is placing priority right now.

Irish is an official language of the EU, but didn't you know, our own Taoiseach (PM) didn't request it initially, it was the hardline Gaelgeoirí.

I wouldn't like to say the glass is half empty, 'cos it isn'ta very useful phrase to use in this context,most Irish people don't care too much about it, and havn't done for decades.

Regards,
Kieran

I agree with most of what you are saying, a Chiarán. We can look at the downside or the upside, and I am not one to underplay the difficulties and the apathy which Irish speakers and the language movement faces. But when there are some good things happening, we should build on them.

It is quite true that the government had no interest in Irish becoming an official language. This goes back to 1972 during the accession negotiations for entry to the EU when the then Jack Lynch government could have had official status without question. Scandalously, they declined the invitation.

Bertie Ahern's government did achieve it, only, as you say, because of a great campaign by language activists. Is that not a good thing, that there are sufficient numbers of people who can force the government to do something positive for the language? And I repeat, this one move literally opens up thousands of jobs for Irish speakers which were closed to them before, in the process making Irish more attractive for Leaving cert. students who may wish to work in Europe.

I also think that Eamonn Ó Cuiv has done some very good things (and not out of cynicism). He is genuinely committed to the language. Credit where credit is due. So let us build on what is positive without losing perspective of the critical situation which the langauge faces.

Aontaím leat.

Kieran

Ní thagann do dhearcadh leis na fíricí a Chiaráin. Ní fheadair mé ar bhuail codladh Mochua thú, nó céard a tharla duit.


>>> There are gaelscoileanna, but not very many nor are they rapidly increasing in numbers ....


- Incredible that you should write so, given the facts, which are well known a Chiaráin. Check their site here under 'fúinn' - 'About us', go to the bottom of the page and click on 'Graif ar fhás na gaelscolaíochta' or 'Growth of Gaelscoileanna from 1972 - 2004' if going through English.

http://www.gaelscoileanna.ie/index.php?page=reamhra&lang=gaeilge&tid=2


>>>in fact there is an increasing % of multi-denominational schools springing up at a faster rate than gaelscoileanna, .....


- Firstly your statement counterposes Gaelscoileanna and multi-denominational schools, almost as though you seem NOT to realise that Gaelscoileanna are numbered among both the inter-denominational and the multi-denominational schools!

- Secondly, it is not true. All-Irish schooling is the biggest growth area in education in Ireland. So much so, that it is facing considerable opposition from within SOME elements of Roinn an Oideachais (mar is fearr liom féin é).
Check them out i nGaeilg or in English here:

http://www.foras.ie/home%20nav.html


Take a look at the Manxman for the 90s (http://www.manxman.co.im/cleague/archive/edu.html) :

Growth and Development of Irish-medium schools
(a) 9 Primary and 6 Post-Primary all-Irish schools were established in September 1993.
(b) 10 Primary and 1 Post-Primary all-Irish schools were established in Septemb& 1994.
(c) 11 new Prirnary all-Irish schools were established in September 1995.

It would appear that the same tremendous rate of expansion is a cause of concern for the Minister for Education and for her Department. Instead of trying to stifle that development the Department of Education should be doing its utmost to cater for it and, also, to take the wishes of many parents who wish to provide an all-Irish education for their children into account when the Department itself is planning new schools.
(end of quote)

The number of gaelscoileanna in Ireland has risen dramatically in the last 30 years, from 11 schools in 1972 to 158 this year. http://irishtribesman.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_irishtribesman_archive.html This is outside of the Gaeltacht of course.


An bhfuil uimhreacha agat do líon na scoileanna ilchreidmheacha Béarla faoi láthair a Chiaráin?

Seo mar a bhí beagnach 10 mbliain ó shin (ar lch. 90) (www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/ csa_new_schools_technical.pdf?language=EN - ):


14 scoil ilchreidmheach Béarla (Gaelscoil amháin ilchreidmheach ina measc)

Gaelscoileanna 85 (nearly double this now in 2006)

(Scoileanna Gaeltachta 113)

Take a look at page 166 and then look at 167 - 168.
I hazard the guess that in the interim Gaelscoileanna may even be the largest growth area in multi-denominational schooling, níl a fhios agam. If not, it may well become so. Either way, it is still the fastest growth area in education as a whole in Ireland, another 5 new Gaelscoil starting next Sept. 2006. Some of them may also be multi-denominational, níl a fhios agam.

For those of you without Irish, some info from the north may be gleaned from the graph for future plans:
www.comhairle.org/downloads/nuachtlitir01.pdf