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Galway Irish Language Plan, Source: Galway City Council

Galway City calls for public views on the Irish Language Plan

Galway City calls for public views on the Irish Language Plan

Irish language speakers, unite. There is one week left to give your opinion on the preservation of the language in Galway City

A research on the public views on the Irish Language Plan for Galway City is underway. It is being carried out with the objective to prepare a 7-years long language plan for Galway City under the Gaeltacht Act 2012 which has nominated Galway a Gaeltacht Service Town. Those 26 towns are defined as “situated in or adjacent to Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas and (having) a significant role in providing public services, recreational, social and commercial facilities for those areas”. As Galway has a status of bilingual city, the plan aims to gradually increase the usage of Irish in the city together with knowledge about it and turn its everyday communicative usage into a norm. Last year a steering group composed of public, private, community and voluntary representatives, was established to supervise the progress and the delivery of the language plan.

At the moment, an online research among Irish speakers is being carried out which collects data about knowledge and practice of the language, attitudes towards its usage around the city, whether promotion of the language is worth it, are there enough learning opportunities and social activities enabling to practice the language, or in other words: how important is it for the Irish to survive as a community language. Alongside the online surveys, interviews and focus groups with native speakers are held. This project is co-funded by Foras na Gaeilge through the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Galway City Council and it is previewed that the plan should be put into action this fall.

For questions and details about the Irish Language Plan 2019-2026, write to pleanteanga@oegaillimh.ie. To give your opinion on the practice and preservation of the local language, access the survey using this link, provided by Galway City Council. Deadline for submitting answers is next Friday, 12 April 2019.

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