Language chief suggests splitting Irish into two [Independent.ie]
- Published: 16 March 2011
IRISH could be taught as two separate subjects in the future, Language Commissioner Sean O Cuirreain has suggested.
Mr O Cuirreain said a huge investment was being made in the teaching of the language, with children receiving a total of 1,500 hours of tuition over 13 years of primary and secondary schooling.
"But they are not getting that basic ability in Irish," he said.
Speaking at the launch of his annual report in Galway yesterday, the commissioner pointed out that there was a school of thought that there should possibly be two Irish courses, along the lines of maths and applied maths.
"One would be a communications course, where the emphasis would be on writing, reading and speaking Irish -- and only on that. A second course would be for people with a natural interest in the language -- literature, poetry, drama and so on.
"The two courses would run the same way as we have maths and applied maths -- as two separate courses.
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