Editing Gaeltacht (section)

==21st century==
A study in 2005 by the Educational Council for Gaeltacht and Irish-Medium Schools, said that Gaeltacht schools were facing a crisis. It forecast that, without support, few of them would be teaching in Irish in 20 years' time. This would threaten the future of the Gaeltacht. Parents felt that the educational system did not support their efforts to pass on Irish as a living language to their children. The study added that a significant number of Gaeltacht schools had switched to teaching in English, and others were wavering.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/number-of-gaeltacht-schools-using-irish-in-steep-decline-25979924.html|title=Number of Gaeltacht schools using Irish 'in steep decline'|newspaper=Irish Independent|date=11 June 2005|last=Walshe|first=John}}</ref>

In 2002 the third ''Coimisiún na Gaeltachta'' stated in its report<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ahg.gov.ie/en/20YearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage/Publications/Report%20of%20Coimisi%C3%BAn%20na%20Gaeltachta.pdf |title=Report of the Gaeltacht Commission |year=2002 |access-date=21 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017090003/http://www.ahg.gov.ie/en/20YearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage/Publications/Report%20of%20Coimisi%C3%BAn%20na%20Gaeltachta.pdf |archive-date=17 October 2013}}</ref> that the erosion of the use of Irish in the Gaeltacht was now such that it was only a matter of time before the Gaeltacht disappeared. In some areas, Irish had already ceased to be a community language. Even in the strongest Gaeltacht areas, current patterns of bilingualism were leading to the dominance of English. Policies implemented by the State and voluntary groups were having no effect.

The report recommended that a new language reinforcement strategy was required, one that had the confidence of the community itself. The Commission recommended, among many other things, that the boundaries of the official Gaeltacht should be redrawn. It also recommended a comprehensive linguistic study to assess the vitality of the Irish language in the remaining Gaeltacht districts.

The study was undertaken by ''[[Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge]]'' (part of the [[National University of Ireland, Galway]]). On 1 November 2007 ''Staidéar Cuimsitheach Teangeolaíoch ar Úsáid na Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht'' ("A Comprehensive Linguistic Study of the Usage of Irish in the Gaeltacht") was published.<ref>[http://www.pobail.ie/en/AnGhaeltacht/LinguisticStudyoftheGaeltacht/ pobail.ie] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117224402/http://www.pobail.ie/en/AnGhaeltacht/LinguisticStudyoftheGaeltacht/ |date=17 January 2008 }}</ref>

Concerning Gaeltacht boundaries, it suggested creating three linguistic zones within the Gaeltacht region:
* A – more than 67% daily Irish speaking – Irish dominant as the community language
* B – 44%–66% daily Irish speaking – English dominant, with large Irish-speaking minority
* C – less than 44% daily Irish speaking – English dominant, but with Irish-speaking minority much higher than the national average of Irish speaking

The report suggested that Category A districts should be the State's priority in providing services through Irish and development schemes. It also said that Category C areas that showed a further decline in the use of Irish should lose their Gaeltacht status.

The 2006 Census data shows that of the 95,000 people living within the official Gaeltacht, approximately 17,000 belonged to Category A areas, 10,000 to Category B, and 17,000 to Category C, leaving about 50,000 in Gaeltacht areas that did not meet the minimum criteria.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cso.ie/en/census/census2006reports/census2006-volume9-irishlanguage|title=Census 2006 – Volume 9 – Irish Language|publisher=[[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|CSO]]|year=2007}}</ref> In response to this situation, the government introduced the Gaeltacht Bill 2012. Its stated aim was to provide for a new definition of boundaries based on language criteria, but it was criticised for doing the opposite of this.

Critics drew attention to Section 7 of the Bill, which stated that all areas "currently within the Gaeltacht" would maintain their current Gaeltacht status, regardless of whether Irish was used. This status could only be revoked if the area failed to prepare a language plan (with no necessary relationship to the documented number of speakers).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/debate/flawed-gaeltacht-bill-in-need-of-brave-revision-1.528204|title=Flawed Gaeltacht Bill in need of brave revision|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=3 July 2012}}</ref> The Bill was also criticised for placing all responsibility for the maintenance of Irish on voluntary organisations, with no increase in government resources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beo.ie/alt-teorainneacha-na-gaeltachta-faoin-mbille-nua.aspx/ |title=Teorainneacha na Gaeltachta faoin mBille Nua |first=Donncha |last=Ó hÉallaithe |publisher=Beo |date=July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130108155554/http://www.beo.ie/alt-teorainneacha-na-gaeltachta-faoin-mbille-nua.aspx |archive-date= 8 January 2013}}</ref>

The annual report in 2012 by the Language Commissioner for Irish reinforced these criticisms by emphasising the failure of the State to provide Irish-language services to Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht and elsewhere. The report said that Irish in the Gaeltacht was now at its most fragile and that the State could not expect that Irish would survive as a community language if the State kept forcing the use of English on Gaeltacht communities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coimisineir.ie/downloads/Tuarascail_Bhliantuil_2012.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205082232/http://www.coimisineir.ie/downloads/Tuarascail_Bhliantuil_2012.pdf |archive-date=2013-12-05 |url-status=live|title=Tuarascáil Bhliantúil 2012 Annual Report|publisher=An Coimisinéir Teanga|year=2012}}</ref>

A report published in 2015, ''Nuashonrú ar an Staidéar Cuimsitheach Teangeolaíoch ar Úsáid na Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht: 2006–2011'', said that on present indicators, Irish will cease to be used as a community language in the Gaeltacht within ten years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.udaras.ie/media/pdf/002910_Udaras_Nuashonr%C3%BA_FULL_report_A4_FA.pdf|title=Nuashonrú ar an Staidéar Cuimsitheach Teangeolaíoch ar Úsáid na Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht: 2006–2011|publisher=Údarás na Gaeltachta|year=2015|access-date=5 June 2015|archive-date=14 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114064521/http://www.udaras.ie/media/pdf/002910_Udaras_Nuashonr%C3%BA_FULL_report_A4_FA.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> By the time of the 2022 census, the number of speakers using the language daily had declined to 20,261. The recent decline is in part attributed to the housing crisis, as young people who grew up within the Gaeltacht are unable to afford homes in the area and leave.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=James |title='A lot of work to do' - Census shows drop in Gaeltacht's Irish speakers |url=https://www.newstalk.com/news/a-lot-of-work-to-do-census-shows-drop-in-gaeltachts-irish-speakers-1625716 |website=Newstalk |language=en}}</ref>