Fine Gael National Press Office Press Release

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Gaeltacht Report Is A "May Day" Call

The long delayed publication of the Comprehensive Linguistic Study of the use of Irish in the Gaeltacht is a last ditch "May Day" distress call and unless there is an immediate and positive response we could witness, within a short number of years, the vanishing of areas where Irish is the every day spoken language.

"Those who have carried out the research who and came forward with such imaginative, constructive and sometimes controversial proposals are to be complimented for their courage and integrity and they have not shirked their responsibility. They have produced a genuine reality check.

"As a person born, bred and still living in a Gaeltacht area I cannot in all honesty disagree with any of their major findings.

"It is clear that policies implemented to date have totally failed to halt the decline of the language in Gaeltacht area and who can seriously dispute their assertion that even in the strongest areas where the language is spoken, it could well vanish within the next 15 to 20 years unless radical action is taken.

"It is disheartening that the Minister's response to a report commissioned in 2002 is to establish an Inter-Ministerial Committee that will consider these proposals over the next year or so. It simply procrastinates facing up to reality!

"We are here facing a serious national and cultural issue. Is the Gaeltacht to be rescued or allowed a slow lingering strangulation?

"We are still waiting the publication of the 20 year strategic Irish Plan promised last December at the Farmleigh Press Conference. We have had our Reports, Plans and Mission Statements. What is needed is immediate action."