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Irish Language: People
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[M]any Irish speaking families encouraged their children to speak English as it was the language of education and employment. The Official Languages Act of 2003 gave people the right to interact with state bodies in Irish. It is too early to assess how well this is working in practice. Other factors were outward migration of Irish speakers from the Gaeltacht (see related issues at Irish diaspora) and inward migration of English-speakers. The Planning and Development Act (2000) attempted to address the latter issue, with varied levels of success. Planning controls now require new housing in Gaeltacht areas to be allocated to English-speakers and Irish-speakers in the same ratio as the existing population of the area.
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As power passed from the native Irish to the imperial power of England the Irish language and Irish culture generally were weakened and the English language took hold. By 1600 it had become the language of power, law, administration, commerce and education. Nevertheless, most of the common people continued to speak Irish.
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The language is currently going through a major renaissance and more people are able to speak and write Irish today than have been able to for over 150 years. More books, newspapers and magazines have been published in Irish in the past century than in the entire history of the language. Although the decline of the Gaeltachts remains a great concern, it has been slowed down considerably. The great increase in learning Irish by children as well as adults in non-Gaeltacht areas and abroad, is ... very encouraging.
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Today, Irish is the official language of the Republic of Ireland but is not spoken by most Irish people for day to day life, but a lot of people speak it daily ... or when among friends or family. It has to be taught in all schools in Ireland.
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