Editing Republic of Ireland (section)

===Languages===
{{Main|Languages of Ireland|Irish language|Hiberno-English|Mid Ulster English}}
[[File:Percentage stating they speak Irish daily outside the education system in the 2011 census.png|thumb|Percentage of population speaking Irish daily (outside the education system) in the [[2011 census of Ireland|2011 census]]]]
The Irish Constitution describes Irish as the "national language" and the "first official language", but English (the "second official language") is the dominant language. In the [[2016 census of Ireland|2016 census]], about 1.75 million people (40% of the population) said they were able to speak Irish but, of those, under 74,000 spoke it on a daily basis.<ref>{{cite web |title=Irish Language and the Gaeltacht (within Census of Population 2016 – Profile 10 Education, Skills and the Irish Language) |url=https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cp10esil/p10esil/ilg/ |website=Central Statistics Office |publisher=Government of Ireland |access-date=10 January 2022 |archive-date=8 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208225214/https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-cp10esil/p10esil/ilg/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Irish is spoken as a community language only in a small number of rural areas mostly in the west and south of the country, collectively known as the [[Gaeltacht]]. Except in Gaeltacht regions, road signs are usually bilingual.<ref>{{cite ISB |year=1970|type=si|number=164 |name=Road Traffic (Signs) (Amendment) Regulations 1970 |date=16 July 1970 |access-date=4 February 2020 |archive-date=3 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503221548/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1970/en/si/0164.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Most public notices and print media are in English only. While the state is officially bilingual, citizens can often struggle to access state services in Irish and most government publications are not available in both languages, even though citizens have the right to deal with the state in Irish. Irish language media include the TV channel [[TG4]], the radio station [[RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta]] and online newspaper [[Tuairisc.ie]]. In the [[Irish Defence Forces]], all foot and arms drill commands are given in the Irish language.

As a result of immigration, [[Polish language|Polish]] is the most widely spoken language in Ireland after English, with Irish as the third most spoken.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0329/315449-divorce-rate-up-150-since-2002-census/|title=Irish is third most used language – Census|date=29 March 2012|publisher=Raidió Teilifís Éireann|access-date=30 July 2017|archive-date=30 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230185533/https://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0329/315449-divorce-rate-up-150-since-2002-census/|url-status=live}}</ref> Several other Central European languages (namely Czech, Hungarian and Slovak), as well as [[Baltic languages]] (Lithuanian and Latvian) are also spoken on a day-to-day basis. Other languages spoken in Ireland include [[Shelta]], spoken by Irish Travellers, and a dialect of [[Ulster Scots dialects|Scots]] is spoken by some [[Ulster Scots people]] in Donegal.<ref>[http://www.ulsterscotsagency.com/what-is-ulster-scots/language/ An introduction to the Ulster-Scots Language] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901151749/http://www.ulsterscotsagency.com/what-is-ulster-scots/language/ |date=1 September 2011 }}, Ulster-Scots Agency.</ref> Most secondary school students choose to learn one or two foreign languages. Languages available for the Junior Certificate and the Leaving Certificate include French, German, Italian and Spanish; Leaving Certificate students can also study Arabic, Japanese and Russian. Some secondary schools also offer [[Ancient Greek]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Latin]]. The study of Irish is generally compulsory for Leaving Certificate students, but some may qualify for an exemption in some circumstances, such as learning difficulties or entering the country after age 11.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.education.ie/robots/view.jsp?pcategory=17216&language=EN&ecategory=42741&link=link001&doc=38941 |title=Pupils exempt from the study of the Irish language (per ''Circular M10/94 – Revision of Rule 46 of the "Rules and Programme for Secondary Schools" in relation to exemption from Irish'') |publisher=Department of Education and Skills |access-date=27 October 2010 |archive-date=24 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121124031052/http://www.education.ie/robots/view.jsp?pcategory=17216&language=EN&ecategory=42741&link=link001&doc=38941 |url-status=live }}</ref>