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Two-thirds support more Irish in daily life as young people increasingly link language and identity

New polling indicates a desire for Irish to be used more in this country.

THERE IS A clear desire for the Irish language to be a more prominent feature of daily life in this country, with younger people associating it closely with national identity. 

New polling, conducted by Ireland Thinks/The Good Information Project, has found that almost two-thirds of people (65%) would like to see most people using ‘cúpla focail’ on a daily basis. 

This figure is backed up by 63% of people who would like to hear more Irish used in daily life, with just 14% saying they would not want to hear more Irish. 

Eight separate questions were asked of 1,011 people as part of the survey, gauging their feelings towards the language, whether they speak it and the role of positive discrimination in favour of Irish speakers. 

The results are broken down by a number of demographics including age, gender and region. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly given previous Census data about the language, the results show a disconnect between overall positive feelings towards the language and its habitual use.
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/8926383/

The poll surveyed self-reported fluency in the language, with 17% of people saying they were fluent in Irish. This was made up by fluent speakers who say they speak Irish a number of times per week (4%) and fluent speakers who do so less often than that (13%)

Interestingly, the age group with the highest self-reported fluency at 27% was people aged 18-24, suggesting perhaps that fluency wanes in the years after education. 

By contrast, fluency dropped to 20% among 35-44 year-olds and to 12% of 45-54 year-olds. 

On the question of fluency across all age groups, by far the biggest cohort of respondents was the 52% of people who say they have some Irish but do not feel confident enough to understand radio or TV programmes in Ireland. 

Indeed, only 5% of people listen to Irish language programmes daily compared to 31% who responded ‘never’.

This 52% is perhaps precisely the group that can be encouraged and helped as part of the government’s strategy to triple the number of daily speakers of the language by 2030. 

Whether or not this target is actually achieved, the poll certainly reveals a public receptive to the idea. 
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/8926251/

The panel of people were asked to what extent they feel the Irish language could be used and were given the freedom to select multiple options. 

Almost two-thirds of people (65%) would like to see ‘lots of people using their cúpla focal most days’ with 28% of people saying they would like ‘strong use of the language in the Gaeltacht areas’. 

There was little desire for Irish to become the predominant language in the country, however, with 17% selecting that options. Interestingly, people in Dublin (22%) were more likely to want this than residents of Connacht-Ulster (19%) where Gaeltacht areas are more prevalent. 

Positive discrimination 

There is, however, only marginal support for the goal of one in five public sector recruits being Irish speakers by 2030. 
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/8926855/

That goal was announced by the government last year with 29% of those polled saying the target was right, with 14% saying it should be higher. 

The combined figure of 43% was only marginally more than the 39% who felt it was too high, with a significant 18% being unsure.  

The figures chime with a theme often observed in polling, when the potential for a change to affect someone’s financial prospects alters an ideological opinion. 

Overall though, lecturer at TU Dublin and managing director of Ireland Thinks Kevin Cunningham explains that the polling is encouraging for people who seek to grow the language. 

“I think there’s often an existential question facing the future of the Irish language but from this poll it is clear that the Irish language has a strong future. It is clearly very important for our national identity and there’s an overwhelming majority in favour of hearing more of the language being spoken,” he says.

There are some small intergenerational differences also. Self-reported fluency among those aged 18-24 is at 27%, significantly higher than older generations. This reflects the steady increase in the number of students taught through Irish as a first language.

“Relatedly, it is also very important to the national identity for this younger cohort. Perhaps as our Irish identity increasingly leans away from Catholicism it has started to lean more heavily into the Irish language.”

The national identity factor referenced by Cunningham and its importance to young people is particularly clear in the data.
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/8926925/

The polling shows that 75% of 18-24 year-olds feel the language is either ‘important’ or ‘very important’ to identity compared to 53% of 55-64 year olds and 61% of those aged over 65. 

Overall, there is undoubtedly a link between the Irish language and national identity, with just 18% saying the two are not connected. 

This afternoon we’ll be hosting a webinar on how the Irish language can grow within the EU.

We will be joined by Jim Maher, a senior policy advisor at the European Parliament, and Dr. Teresa Lynn, a research fellow at the ADAPT Centre at DCU. You can register your attendance here

This work is co-funded by Journal Media and a grant programme from the European Parliament. Any opinions or conclusions expressed in this work is the author’s own. The European Parliament has no involvement in nor responsibility for the editorial content published by the project. For more information, see here.

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    Mute Chonky Racoon
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    Apr 1st 2019, 7:48 PM

    Sad! If I was to hazard I guess I’d plastic has a role to play.. Bet if you opened the whale up you’d find a lot of plastic

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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Apr 1st 2019, 7:56 PM

    @Chonky Racoon: that’s what it says in the article!!

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    Mute Chonky Racoon
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    Apr 1st 2019, 9:34 PM

    @Colette Kearns: I didn’t read it. Big oppsies by me :)

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    Mute Alan Christopher
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    Apr 2nd 2019, 4:37 PM

    @Chonky Racoon: while it may well have plastic in its stomach (almost definitely does, to be honest), it wouldn’t be as common with sperm whales as they are toothed whales who actually hunt. Large amounts of plastic tend to be ingested by baleen whales who filter feed and don’t actively seek out specific prey.

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    Mute j4VEpUO8
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    Apr 1st 2019, 8:11 PM

    Very sad reading!. Magnificent creatures!, yet man is destroying their simple right of life!.

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    Mute missroisin
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    Apr 1st 2019, 7:56 PM

    Maybe one the 100 or so foreign Factory trawlers towing of the west coast of Ireland got it up in there nets and then dumped back the body and then it got washed up. That would be my guess.

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    Mute Tweety McTweeter
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    Apr 1st 2019, 8:21 PM

    @missroisin: You think a trawler accidentally picked up a 40ft whale and then threw it back in? Are you for real?

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    Mute Liam Whelan
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    Apr 1st 2019, 8:42 PM

    @Tweety McTweeter: have you ever seen a factory ship? They’re absolutely huge, there nets are about a mile or so long and just as tall! It could quite possibly be a cause!

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    Mute Shane Hughes
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    Apr 1st 2019, 9:10 PM

    @Liam Whelan: no your right. I went to the shops earlier and when I got home I found an elephant in my pocket. Must have picked it up by mistake.

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    Mute missroisin
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    Apr 2nd 2019, 5:43 AM

    @Tweety McTweeter: google annelies llena and magiris trawler , there is a massive fleet of worlds largest trawlers fishing of Ireland and yes you would fit 10 in there nets . So sort your comments out with facts I never said a trawler, I said a super trawler.

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    Mute dowthebow
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    Apr 2nd 2019, 4:16 PM

    @missroisin: well you didn’t say super you said foreign…

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    Mute Alan Christopher
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    Apr 2nd 2019, 4:40 PM

    @dowthebow: Well she said factory trawlers, which can have nets spanning close to 1km. So the point still stands.

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    Mute Pixie McMullen
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    Apr 1st 2019, 8:01 PM

    Don`t rule out Sonar from Submarines from the neighbours, especially in the present climate and friction between countries going on around the world

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    Mute Billy McNamara
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    Apr 1st 2019, 8:19 PM

    Could be just old age,and the animal knowing it’s end was near.Sperm Whales feed very deep on squid and unlikely plastic would be the cause in this instance.Many animals do die from old age,even in this polluted age.

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    Mute j4VEpUO8
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    Apr 1st 2019, 8:23 PM

    @Billy McNamara: I agree Billy but unfortunately plastic has been found recently at depths only a sub can dive. Was on BBC over the weekend. Still devastating for the whales.

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    Mute Paraic
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    Apr 1st 2019, 10:16 PM

    A lot of conspiracy theories floating about. Whales aren’t immortal y’know.

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    Mute Alan Christopher
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    Apr 2nd 2019, 4:42 PM

    @Paraic: Conspiracies, or just theories? Absolutely could have just been a old whale though, that is true.

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    Mute Alan Christopher
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    Apr 2nd 2019, 4:43 PM

    @Paraic: Scratch that. I see the conspiracy theories now!

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    Mute Johnny Conway
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    Apr 1st 2019, 9:23 PM

    So the royal navy is still patrolling our waters in the west killing Whales with there sonar again

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    Mute The Great Unwashed
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    Apr 2nd 2019, 2:17 PM

    @Johnny Conway:
    Were whales immortal before submarines were invented?

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    Mute Angry_Man41
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    Apr 1st 2019, 9:05 PM

    Ya, would b interesting to open this creature up and see how much plastic is in him. Would b shocked if it was very little.
    He may have died of natural causes, but plastic a curse for these creatures

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    Mute j4VEpUO8
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    Apr 1st 2019, 9:15 PM

    @Angry_Man41: I very much doubt that an autopsy will be carried out €€€

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    Mute Who cares?
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    Apr 1st 2019, 9:32 PM

    @T Jay O’Mea: I’ll go down and cut him open and have a look if someone pays my diesel!

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    Mute Sean O' Donovan
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    Apr 1st 2019, 10:11 PM

    @Who cares?: Time to set up a Go-Fund me page

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    Mute Denis McClean
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    Apr 2nd 2019, 12:26 AM

    There might be plastic and there might not. Fact is, a very distant mammalian cousin died but it’s a bonanza for those who will and should be free to feed on the carcass. Circle of life and hopefully nothing more. As the title says, nothing sinister, though they can pong for a while. Glorious creature.

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    Mute jamesdecay
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    Apr 1st 2019, 11:11 PM

    A stinking, rotting carcass washed up on the beach is a sad but fitting metaphor for Brexit.

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    Mute OpenLitterMap
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    Apr 1st 2019, 10:18 PM

    If you want to do something about plastic pollution, please share data on litter anywhere @ openlittermap.com – it’s like Pokémon Go for Tidy towns!

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    Mute GᗩᒪᒪEᖇY ᗩᑎᗪ ᗰᑌSEᑌᗰ ᑭᖇO-ᒪIᖴE STᗩᖴᖴ Iᑎ IᖇEᒪᗩᑎᗪ
    Favourite GᗩᒪᒪEᖇY ᗩᑎᗪ ᗰᑌSEᑌᗰ ᑭᖇO-ᒪIᖴE STᗩᖴᖴ Iᑎ IᖇEᒪᗩᑎᗪ
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    Apr 2nd 2019, 11:08 AM

    A pity. Such a majestic animal.
    Ireland has been suffering from a low Sperm Whale count for some time now.

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    Mute this_is_ireland
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    Apr 1st 2019, 11:01 PM

    Premature

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