Irish language

Irish (Gaeilge), a Goidelic language spoken in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the USA, is constitutionally recognised as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland. On 13 June, 2005, EU foreign ministers unanimously decided to make Irish an official working language of the European Union. The new arrangements will come into effect on 1 January, 2007.

Related Topics:
Goidelic language - Republic of Ireland - United Kingdom - USA - Constitutionally - 13 June - 2005 - Working language - European Union - 1 January - 2007

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According to statistics released by the Government of Ireland in 2004, there are 1,570,894 speakers of Irish in the Republic. Of these, 339,541 use Irish every day, 155,039 weekly, 585,300 less often, 459,657 never and 31,357 didn't state how often. However, these statistics are often disputed, by Irish language activists and their opponents. 65,000 people has been quoted as the amount of people in the Gaeltacht who use the language as their first, daily language1. Other data states that 167,487 can speak Irish in Northern Ireland and 25,870 in the USA

Related Topics:
Government of Ireland - Gaeltacht - 1 - Northern Ireland - USA

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