Máire Treasa Ní Cheallaigh joins Pat to discuss the challenges she has been facing with Gaelscoil waiting lists.
Gaelscoil waiting lists are at an all-time high as renewed interest in the Irish language has put a strain on the education system.
Gaelscoil has a point system since demand is so high, where children who come from Irish-speaking homes are favoured for enrollment ahead of children with one or less parents who speak Irish.
In some cases, videos that prove the child does speak and understand Irish fluently are to be submitted to the establishment ahead of enrollment.
Ms Maire Treasa Ní Cheallaigh told The Pat Kenny Show her daughter had been immersed in the Irish language through fluent speaking at home and an Irish-speaking childminder but could still not get a place at a school.
She explained that when she tried to enroll her daughter into a gaelscoil, it became more challenging than anticipated.
“You're told as soon as that child is even less than a twinkle in your eye, you better go and get their name on the list”, she told Newstalk.
“[The school principal] I spoke to laid it out very simply to me: there's more children who want to get in here than they can facilitate.
“So there is a waiting list and there's a process and there's an enrollment policy.
“There's no guarantee she'll get a place because the first the children who get first dibs basically are children who already have siblings at the school.”
She explained that quotas were so reduced they would not be certain their daughter has a place until she turns 3 years old.
What do gaelscoil waiting lists mean?
Ms Ní Cheallaigh expressed her frustration with the long gaelscoil waiting lists, saying children should be “entitled to an education in the first official language of the state.”
“I feel an extra layer of stress, I feel this responsibility.
“I want my child to be able to speak my language. I want very importantly that when she goes home to her relatives in Connemara, that she can speak to them in their own language as well.”
The debate then focused on the sudden resurgence in interest in Gaeilge and the assumption that Irish-speaking students may have a chance at higher points in examinations.
Sign in Irish language welcoming visitors to the gaeltacht. Image: AlamyMáire Treasa Ní Cheallaigh reiterated that the interest to her did not come from “the address”.
“I just want my child to speak gaeilge”, she said.
“The vast majority of Gaeilge Scuilinna have been opened up because parents pull together, because teachers pull together.
“Communities built them from the ground up, like you said, parents, oftentimes maybe Irish speakers, people like myself who might have moved to other areas of the country.
“Policy is years behind where the people on the ground are working.”
Ms Ní Cheallaigh told The Pat Kenny Show that in order for things to change, gaeilge teachers needed to exhibit better proficiency in the Irish language.
Main Image: Gaeilge writing on a blackboard.
