Comments made by Taoiseach Enda Kenny in a radio documentary in which he disputed the decline of Irish as a spoken language in the Gaeltacht and outlined his reasons for appointing the current Minister for the Gaeltacht have been criticised by language rights group Conradh na Gaeilge.
During Documentary on One: Fine Gaeilgeoir, broadcast on Saturday afternoon about the controversial appointment of Donegal TD Joe McHugh as Minister for the Gaeltacht in July 2014 and his subsequent efforts to learn Irish, Mr Kenny said the use of the language was "actually increasing".
“The figures would show that it is actually increasing - by a small percentage - but increasing,” Mr Kenny said.
Conradh na Gaeilge said it was disappointed at what it described as “the lack of understanding”shown by the Taoiseach in his comments.
“It is clear that the Taoiseach is mistaken if he thinks that the number of Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht is growing, even minimally - the bulk of research and linguistic studies contradict such a statement,” Conradh na Gaeilge president Cóilín Ó Cearbhaill said
Alluding to amajor reportpublished in May that warned that Irish is unlikely to be the majority spoken language in Gaeltacht areas in ten years time unless drastic action is taken, Mr Ó Cearbhaill said there was "no question" about the reduction in the number of Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht.
Mr Kenny also drew criticism for a comment about Gaeltacht areas in which he said: “While there may be pressures on the language you can’t have a sort of an exclusive reservation here - it’s a free country”.
Mr Ó Cearbhaill said Gaeltacht communities are “seeking support” from the Government to address the issues facing them to “ensure the continuation of the Irish language as the language of use in the Gaeltacht today and in to the future.”
Mr Kenny, who was criticised in July 2014 for his appointment of a non-Irish speaker to the position of Minister for the Gaeltacht, said in the documentary that Joe McHugh’s appointment was partly due to geographical concerns that Donegal should be represented in Government and also for the fact that he had “been around for a while”.
“He’d been around for a while and obviously it’s a nice thing to, you know, to be able to shuffle a team. Obviously Donegal would have been left without anybody in Government if I didn’t replace Dinny (McGinley) with another representative and so, not just for Geographical reasons but for the fact that he’s been around a while.”
The Taoiseach also believed it was an important signal for people that someone who had lost his Irish could regain fluency in the language.
“In this case I thought it was an important signal for everybody else to understand that here’s somebody who’s got a responsibility who has lost his Irish - well go and learn it and prove to people that this is very possible. Get on with it and you are going to carry it with you for the rest of your life - and that’s.”
While acknowledging the progress made by Mr McHugh, Conradh na Gaeilge said it was clear from Mr Kenny’s comments that the crisis in the Gaeltacht was not taken into account when the appointment was made last year.
