134-555: The University of Galway ( Irish : Ollscoil na Gaillimhe ) is a public research university located in the city of Galway , Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) ( Irish : Coláiste na hOllscoile, Gaillimh ) from 1908 to 1997 and as "National University of Ireland Galway" (NUI Galway) ( Irish : Ollscoil na hÉireann Gaillimh; OÉ Gaillimh ) from 1997 to 2022. In September 2022, it changed its name to "University of Galway". The University of Galway
268-474: A Liverpool -born fellow student, whom FitzGerald married in 1947. Their children were John , Mary, and Mark. Following his university education, in 1947, he started working with Aer Lingus , the state airline of Ireland, and became an authority on the strategic economic planning of transport. During this time, he wrote many newspaper articles, was the Irish correspondent for British magazine The Economist , and
402-523: A constituent college of the new National University of Ireland, together with University College Dublin (UCD), and University College Cork (UCC). Queen's College, Belfast, became an independent university, called the Queen's University of Belfast. University College, Galway (UCG), was given special statutory responsibility under the University College Galway Act 1929 with respect of the use of
536-540: A unique dialect of Irish developed before falling out of use in the early 20th century. With a writing system , Ogham , dating back to at least the 4th century AD, which was gradually replaced by Latin script since the 5th century AD, Irish has one of the oldest vernacular literatures in Western Europe . On the island, the language has three major dialects: Connacht , Munster and Ulster Irish . All three have distinctions in their speech and orthography . There
670-617: A ventilator . On 19 May, after suffering from pneumonia , he died at the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin, at the age of 85. In a statement, Irish president Mary McAleese hailed FitzGerald as "a man steeped in the history of the State who constantly strove to make Ireland a better place for all its people". Taoiseach Enda Kenny paid homage to "a truly remarkable man who made a truly remarkable contribution to Ireland". Henry Kissinger ,
804-697: A bargaining chip during government formation in Northern Ireland, prompting protests from organisations and groups such as An Dream Dearg . Irish became an official language of the EU on 1 January 2007, meaning that MEPs with Irish fluency can now speak the language in the European Parliament and at committees, although in the case of the latter they have to give prior notice to a simultaneous interpreter in order to ensure that what they say can be interpreted into other languages. While an official language of
938-512: A better future for Ireland and all her citizens." The Strategy was produced on 21 December 2010 and will stay in action until 2030; it aims to target language vitality and revitalization of the Irish language. The 30-page document published by the Government of Ireland details the objectives it plans to work towards in an attempt to preserve and promote both the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It
1072-577: A collapse of the coalition for more than four years, despite tensions between other Ministers, and enabled the government to survive. Fine Gael wanted to revive the economy by controlling public spending and imposing cutbacks to reduce the public budget deficit. The measures proposed by FitzGerald's Minister for Finance, Alan Dukes , were utterly unacceptable to the Labour Party, which was under enormous pressure from its support base to maintain public services. The two parties in government found themselves in
1206-472: A cultural and social force. Irish speakers often insisted on using the language in law courts (even when they knew English), and Irish was also common in commercial transactions. The language was heavily implicated in the "devotional revolution" which marked the standardisation of Catholic religious practice and was also widely used in a political context. Down to the time of the Great Famine and even afterwards,
1340-541: A degree course in the NUI federal system to pass the subject of Irish in the Leaving Certificate or GCE / GCSE examinations. Exemptions are made from this requirement for students who were born or completed primary education outside of Ireland, and students diagnosed with dyslexia . NUI Galway is required to appoint people who are competent in the Irish language, as long as they are also competent in all other aspects of
1474-469: A few years of the start of the university's sponsorship of the Connacht Rugby Academy, the team had won, what was then the 2015–16 Pro12 title, for the first time by defeating Leinster in the 2016 Pro12 Grand Final . Seven players from the Connacht Rugby Academy played 55 times for their team during that campaign, with others in that squad also graduates of the Connacht Rugby Academy. The deal
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#17330940194511608-460: A fully recognised EU language for the first time in the state's history. Before Irish became an official language it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU were made available in Irish. The Irish language was carried abroad in the modern period by a vast diaspora , chiefly to Great Britain and North America, but also to Australia , New Zealand and Argentina . The first large movements began in
1742-481: A good performance in a pre-election debate with the then Minister for Finance George Colley . However, the position went to Richie Ryan , with FitzGerald becoming Minister for Foreign Affairs . FitzGerald's father had held that same post in a government led by Liam Cosgrave's father W. T. Cosgrave , fifty years earlier. His appointment to Iveagh House (the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs ) would have
1876-497: A government dependent on Independent TDs support. However, the second budget introduced by John Bruton led to the government's defeat in the Dáil on the evening of 27 January 1982. In light of this loss of supply , FitzGerald went to Áras an Uachtaráin to request an immediate dissolution of the Dáil from the president, Patrick Hillery . When he got there, he was informed that senior opposition figures (and some Independent TDs), including
2010-539: A new ministerial car, the first and only one to be purchased by the state since an economic recession hit Ireland in 2008. In 2010, FitzGerald appeared on RTÉ's " Top 40 Irishmen " list. He was vice-president of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland for his last 20 years. In early 1999, it emerged that some six years earlier, Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and Ansbacher Banks wrote off debts of almost IR£ 200,000 owed by FitzGerald, following
2144-574: A paper suggested that within a generation, non-Gaeltacht habitual users of Irish might typically be members of an urban, middle class, and highly educated minority. Parliamentary legislation is supposed to be available in both Irish and English but is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25.4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" of any law in one official language be provided immediately in
2278-554: A pass in Leaving Certificate Irish or English, and receive lessons in Irish during their two years of training. Official documents of the Irish government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, enforced by An Coimisinéir Teanga , the Irish language ombudsman). The National University of Ireland requires all students wishing to embark on
2412-495: A personal message, the Queen offered her sympathies and said she was "saddened" to learn of FitzGerald's death. British prime minister David Cameron , who was also in Ireland, paid tribute to FitzGerald's "huge contribution to the peace process bringing reconciliation for all that had happened in the past". On his visit to Dublin, US president Barack Obama offered condolences on FitzGerald's death; he spoke of "someone who believed in
2546-558: A rapid rise in support and popularity. After the November 1982 election, it held only five seats fewer than Fianna Fáil (the parties' closest-ever margin until 2011; at times Fianna Fáil was far larger, on one occasion well over twice as large), with Fine Gael in the Oireachtas (i.e. including the Seanad) larger than Fianna Fáil, which had been the dominant force in Irish politics for 40 years. By
2680-611: A religious context. An Irish translation of the Old Testament by Leinsterman Muircheartach Ó Cíonga , commissioned by Bishop Bedell , was published after 1685 along with a translation of the New Testament. Otherwise, Anglicisation was seen as synonymous with 'civilising' the native Irish. Currently, modern day Irish speakers in the church are pushing for language revival. It has been estimated that there were around 800,000 monoglot Irish speakers in 1800, which dropped to 320,000 by
2814-416: A second time, FitzGerald advocated a liberalisation of Irish society to create what he called the non-sectarian nation of " Tone and Davis ". The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution , which "[acknowledged] the right to life of the unborn", was approved in a referendum against the recommendation of FitzGerald. A proposal to allow divorce was defeated in a 1986 referendum; however, the law on contraception
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#17330940194512948-458: A second time, heading a Fine Gael–Labour coalition with a working majority. Deep economic recession dominated FitzGerald's second term as well as his first. Pursuing "fiscal rectitude" to reduce a high national debt required a firmer control of public spending than Labour found easy to accept. The harmonious relationship the Taoiseach developed with his Tánaiste , Dick Spring , successfully avoided
3082-456: A senior figure on the pro-treaty side of Ireland's political divide, FitzGerald senior had remained friendly with anti-Treaty republicans , such as Belfast man Seán MacEntee , a minister in Éamon de Valera 's government and father-in-law of Conor Cruise O'Brien . The families of Patrick McGilligan and Ernest Blythe were also frequent visitors to the FitzGerald household. FitzGerald's mother,
3216-417: A significant effect on FitzGerald's career and the future of Fine Gael. Cosgrave was suspicious of FitzGerald's liberal ideas and believed that he had designs on the leadership. During his period at Foreign Affairs, FitzGerald developed a good relationship with Liam Cosgrave, and all the tension between them in opposition disappeared. The minister's role had changed substantially since his father's day. Ireland
3350-468: A stalemate position. They stopped the financial crisis from worsening but could not take the decisive action that would generate economic growth. With negligible economic growth and large-scale unemployment, the FitzGerald government was deeply unpopular with the public. When FitzGerald attended a Bilderberg meeting in 1985, his rival Haughey suggested it had links with NATO , thus contravening Ireland's official position of neutrality . As Taoiseach for
3484-471: A student-run drama society. Cumann Staire is one of Europe's oldest history societies, and is a member of Comhaltas na gCumann Staire and the International Students of History Association . The university's Fianna Fáil branch, Cumann de Barra, was founded in 1954, making it the oldest university political party branch in Ireland. Fine Gael 's youth wing was founded in the university in 1973 during
3618-504: A thinly disguised Galway and telling the story of student life over four days in April 1949, has featured on the secondary school Leaving Certificate syllabus. Tom Curtin's novel Melting Pot: An Irish Odyssey tells the story of three lads from University College Galway who leave Ireland for New York in 1969. The university has also faced the legal consequences of gender inequality after a number of female lecturers starting proceedings against
3752-537: A wider meaning, including the Gaelic of Scotland and the Isle of Man , as well as of Ireland. When required by the context, these are distinguished as Gaeilge na hAlban , Gaeilge Mhanann and Gaeilge na hÉireann respectively. In English (including Hiberno-English ), the language is usually referred to as Irish , as well as Gaelic and Irish Gaelic . The term Irish Gaelic may be seen when English speakers discuss
3886-539: Is a member of the Coimbra Group , a network of 40 long-established European universities. The university was established in 1845 as Queen's College, Galway, together with Queen's College, Cork , and Queen's College, Belfast . It opened for teaching on 30 October 1849 with 68 students. In 1850, it became part of the Queen's University of Ireland , and its degrees were conferred in the name of that university. Located close to
4020-511: Is a member of the Goidelic language group of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous to the island of Ireland . It was the majority of the population's first language until the 19th century, when English gradually became dominant, particularly in the last decades of the century, in what is sometimes characterised as a result of linguistic imperialism . Today, Irish
4154-448: Is also An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , a standardised written form devised by a parliamentary commission in the 1950s. The traditional Irish alphabet , a variant of the Latin alphabet with 18 letters , has been succeeded by the standard Latin alphabet (albeit with 7–8 letters used primarily in loanwords ). Irish has constitutional status as the national and first official language of
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4288-511: Is divided into four separate phases with the intention of improving 9 main areas of action including: The general goal for this strategy was to increase the number of daily speakers from 83,000 to 250,000 by the end of its run. By 2022, the number of such speakers had fallen to 71,968. Before the partition of Ireland in 1921, Irish was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. Between 1921 and 1972, Northern Ireland had devolved government. During those years
4422-515: Is only in Gaeltacht areas that Irish continues to be spoken as a community vernacular to some extent. According to data compiled by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media , only 1/4 of households in Gaeltacht areas are fluent in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology , described
4556-481: Is still commonly spoken as a first language in Ireland's Gaeltacht regions, in which 2% of Ireland's population lived in 2022. The total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022 was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within the education system. Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on
4690-412: Is still spoken daily to some extent as a first language . These regions are known individually and collectively as the Gaeltacht (plural Gaeltachtaí ). While the fluent Irish speakers of these areas, whose numbers have been estimated at 20–30,000, are a minority of the total number of fluent Irish speakers, they represent a higher concentration of Irish speakers than other parts of the country and it
4824-659: The Fíor-Ghaeltacht (true Gaeltacht ), a term originally officially applied to areas where over 50% of the population spoke Irish. There are Gaeltacht regions in the following counties: Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair ), County Donegal, is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Irish language summer colleges in the Gaeltacht are attended by tens of thousands of teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged. The Act
4958-457: The 1992 general election . His wife, Joan, predeceased him in 1999 after a long illness. After that, FitzGerald wrote a weekly column every Saturday in The Irish Times and lectured widely at home and abroad on public affairs. He came out of retirement to campaign for a "yes" vote in the second Irish referendum on the EU's Treaty of Nice , held in 2002. He held the post of Chancellor of
5092-564: The Galway & District League , the CUFL (Colleges and Universities Football League), Collingwood Cup and Harding Cup (Freshers). The campus is home to a wide range of sport facilities. Facilities include Dangan Sportsground, where the university's GAA teams compete, and the Kingfisher, where Moycullen Basketball Club play their games. In 2013, the university announced it would sponsor Connacht Rugby ,
5226-617: The Irish language as a working language of the university. Members of the Franciscan Order from St. Anthony's College would have studied for degrees in UCG, similarly members of the Society of African Missions at their House of Philosophy, at Cloughballymore, Kilcolgan, Co Galway, studied for degrees in UCG. St. Anthony's is now used by the economics department. Several new buildings were constructed on
5360-543: The Liam Cosgrave -led Fine Gael/Labour Coalition government, with Enda Kenny and Madeleine Taylor-Quinn among those behind its establishment there. Official Sinn Féin were also influential in campus politics in the 1970s, and Students Union Presidents Eamon Gilmore and Johnny Curran were party members. CompSoc (the university's computer society) is the oldest of its kind in the country, established in 1977. Most of Ireland's main political parties have active societies at
5494-585: The National Coalition of Fine Gael and Labour suffered a disastrous electoral defeat in the general election . Liam Cosgrave resigned as party leader, and FitzGerald was chosen by acclamation to succeed him. In his new role as Leader of the Opposition and party leader, he set about modernising and revitalising Fine Gael. He immediately appointed a General-Secretary to oversee all of this, a tactic copied from Fianna Fáil. Under FitzGerald, Fine Gael experienced
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5628-577: The National University of Ireland from 1997 to 2009. In March 2000, FitzGerald was on the board of directors of Election.com , when it conducted the world's first public election ever held over the Internet, the Arizona Democratic primary ; in that primary, voter turnout increased more than 500% over the 1996 primary. FitzGerald took a leading part in the campaign for a second referendum on
5762-486: The Provisional IRA hunger strikers, and the first to die on this strike, along with the sister of Raymond McCreesh , who had died on 21 May. During the meeting, two of Thomas McElwee 's sisters, Mary and Nora, broke down and left. Mary McElwee told the media outside that "he's doing nothing, he's asking for suggestions". FitzGerald then ordered Gardaí to remove the families from the meeting. FitzGerald's response was, in
5896-619: The Republic of Ireland , and is also an official language of Northern Ireland and among the official languages of the European Union . The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island. Irish has no regulatory body but An Caighdeán Oifigiúil , the standard written form, is guided by a parliamentary service and new vocabulary by a voluntary committee with university input. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official [Written] Standard ")
6030-524: The Universities Act 1997 , the name of University College, Galway, was changed to National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway), and it became a university in its own right, as a constituent university of the National University of Ireland (NUI). The university had hoped to change its name to University of Galway, but had received legal advice that this was not possible under the provisions of
6164-653: The University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 , and was replaced by the Royal University of Ireland (RUI), which had been established on 27 April 1880. Under the Irish Universities Act 1908 , the RUI was dissolved and was replaced by the National University of Ireland (NUI) and Queen's University of Belfast (QUB). The name of Queen's College, Galway, was changed to University College, Galway (UCG), and it became
6298-498: The "University of Galway". This change took legal effect in February 2024. Up until 2007, the university was divided into seven faculties (Arts, Celtic Studies, Commerce, Law, Medicine and Health Sciences, and Science), which were further subdivided into some 69 departments. In 2007–2008, the university transitioned from the faculties and departments structure to a structure of five colleges divided into various schools. The following are
6432-611: The 17th century, largely as a result of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland , which saw many Irish sent to the West Indies . Irish emigration to the United States was well established by the 18th century, and was reinforced in the 1840s by thousands fleeing from the Famine . This flight also affected Britain. Up until that time most emigrants spoke Irish as their first language, though English
6566-769: The 1998 Good Friday Agreement , the language gradually received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, and then, in 2003, by the British government's ratification in respect of the language of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . In the 2006 St Andrews Agreement the British government promised to enact legislation to promote the language and in 2022 it approved legislation to recognise Irish as an official language alongside English. The bill received royal assent on 6 December 2022. The Irish language has often been used as
6700-403: The 6th century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. During this time, the Irish language absorbed some Latin words, some via Old Welsh , including ecclesiastical terms : examples are easpag (bishop) from episcopus , and Domhnach (Sunday, from dominica ). By the 10th century, Old Irish had evolved into Middle Irish , which
6834-563: The Act all detailing different aspects of the use of Irish in official documentation and communication. Included in these sections are subjects such as Irish language use in official courts, official publications, and placenames. The Act was recently amended in December 2019 in order to strengthen the already preexisting legislation. All changes made took into account data collected from online surveys and written submissions. The Official Languages Scheme
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#17330940194516968-482: The Act. Visiting the university in 2003, on what was to be his last visit to Ireland, Nelson Mandela condemned U.S. foreign policy and received an honorary doctorate from the NUI Chancellor, Garret FitzGerald . In 2008, Éamon Ó Cuív , Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs , and a student became involved in an altercation on the grounds of the university. In 2009, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
7102-551: The Anglo-Irish agreement and his strong personal dislike for FitzGerald. Haughey was elected Taoiseach on the casting vote of the Ceann Comhairle . FitzGerald retired as leader of Fine Gael immediately after the Dáil elected Haughey as Taoiseach; the parliamentary party elected Alan Dukes in his place. His autobiography All in a Life appeared in 1991, immediately becoming a best-seller. He retired completely from politics at
7236-437: The Dáil to nominate someone else for the post—presumably Haughey. Hillery is said to have angrily rejected such pressure, regarding it as gross misconduct. He granted FitzGerald the dissolution. In the subsequent general election in February 1982, Fine Gael lost only two seats but was out of office. However, a third general election within eighteen months in November 1982 resulted in FitzGerald being returned as Taoiseach for
7370-563: The EU's Treaty of Lisbon in 2009. He argued for Ireland to continue with European integration. FitzGerald had been scathing of the record of the Fianna Fáil–led government since 1997 on the economy and the national finances. In his Irish Times column, he was a frequent critic of the loss of competitiveness and the inflation caused by the tax cuts and excessive public spending increases of the Celtic Tiger era. In 2009, FitzGerald received
7504-463: The European Union , only co-decision regulations were available until 2022, due to a five-year derogation, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The Irish government had committed itself to train the necessary number of translators and interpreters and to bear the related costs. This derogation ultimately came to an end on 1 January 2022, making Irish
7638-568: The Extradition Act 1987, which ended the long-standing defence against extradition of suspects who could plead that an act of violence in Northern Ireland or Britain was a political offence. While the agreement was repudiated and condemned by Unionists, it was said to become the basis for developing trust and joint action between the governments, which in time would ultimately bring about the Downing Street Declaration of 1993 and
7772-536: The Irish language policy followed by Irish governments as a "complete and absolute disaster". The Irish Times , referring to his analysis published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse , quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but
7906-625: The Just Society programme written by Declan Costello . FitzGerald was elected to Seanad Éireann for the Industrial and Commercial Panel in 1965 and soon built up his political profile. FitzGerald was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1969 general election , for the Dublin South-East constituency, the same year he obtained his PhD for a thesis later published under the title "Planning in Ireland". He became an important figure almost immediately in
8040-532: The Labour Party members of the government withdrew from the government over disagreements due to budget proposals. Lacking a parliamentary majority, FitzGerald sought a dissolution of the Dáil, which was granted, continuing to lead a minority Fine Gael government until after the election. In the 1987 general election , Fine Gael stood on the proposed stringent budgetary cutbacks that Labour had blocked for four years. Fianna Fáil returned to office in March 1987 after Fine Gael
8174-618: The Lambe Institute and the O'Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, and the Human Biology Building. In 2014, the Equality Tribunal ruled in favor of Dr Micheline Sheehy Skeffington, granddaughter of the famous Irish feminist couple Hannah Sheehy Skeffington and Francis Sheehy Skeffington , who claimed she had been discriminated against on the grounds of gender during 2009. The university "unreservedly" accepted
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#17330940194518308-420: The Opposition leader (and ex-Taoiseach) Charles Haughey, Brian Lenihan and Sylvester Barrett , had made a series of telephone calls demanding that Hillery refuse the dissolution, as he was constitutionally allowed to do when it was advised by a Taoiseach who has "ceased to retain the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann." Had Hillery done so, it would have forced FitzGerald's resignation as Taoiseach and enabled
8442-654: The Republic had been enshrined in the constitution until the Referendum of December 1972. FitzGerald, in 1973, met the Cardinal Secretary of State , Agostino Casaroli , and proposed to modify the Republic's Constitution further to remove laws with overtly Catholic foundations, such as the bans on divorce and contraception, as well as to relax the public stigmas in Northern Ireland towards mixed religious marriages and integrated education. Casaroli initially seemed receptive, and
8576-546: The Republic of Ireland ), new appointees to the Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland , including postal workers , tax collectors , agricultural inspectors, Garda Síochána (police), etc., were required to have some proficiency in Irish. By law, a Garda who was addressed in Irish had to respond in Irish as well. In 1974, in part through the actions of protest organisations like the Language Freedom Movement ,
8710-537: The Republic were rejected outright by British prime minister Margaret Thatcher , the Forum provided the impetus for the resumption of serious negotiations between the Irish and British governments, which culminated in the Anglo-Irish Agreement of November 1985. This agreement provided for a mechanism by which the British government could consult the Republic of Ireland regarding the governance of Northern Ireland, and
8844-399: The academic to artistic and performing, lifestyle and wellbeing, religious and political, social action and volunteering, social and cultural, and special interest. The oldest society on the campus is the Literary and Debating Society , founded in 1846. The university's drama society, Dramsoc, was founded in 1914 after the earliest recorded student production in 1904 demonstrated the need for
8978-577: The beginning of the following academic year. For a number of years there has been vigorous debate in political, academic and other circles about the failure of most students in English-medium schools to achieve competence in Irish, even after fourteen years of teaching as one of the three main subjects. The concomitant decline in the number of traditional native speakers has also been a cause of great concern. In 2007, filmmaker Manchán Magan found few Irish speakers in Dublin , and faced incredulity when trying to get by speaking only Irish in Dublin. He
9112-421: The cabinet. Two fundamental problems faced FitzGerald during his first period: Northern Ireland and the worsening economic situation. A protest march in support of the H-Block hunger strikers in July 1981 was harshly dealt with by FitzGerald. On one occasion where he met with relatives of the hunger strikers, he refused to meet the family of Bobby Sands , an MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone and O/C of
9246-415: The city centre, the university campus stretches along the River Corrib . The oldest part of the university, the Quadrangle with its Aula Maxima , was designed by John Benjamin Keane in a Tudor Gothic architectural style and was constructed from local limestone; it is a replica of Christ Church , one of the colleges at the University of Oxford . The Queen's University was dissolved on 3 February 1882 under
9380-400: The collapse of the aircraft leasing company, Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA), in which he was a shareholder. The chairman of AIB at the time, Peter Sutherland , was also a former director of GPA and had served as Attorney General under FitzGerald, prior to FitzGerald appointing him as Ireland's member of the European Commission . The Moriarty Tribunal investigated this matter, and compared
9514-436: The current colleges and schools of the university: Since 2015 the Shannon College of Hotel Management has been fully incorporated into the university — becoming part of the College of Business, Public Policy & Law at Galway — formally marked by the then Minister for Education and Skills Jan O'Sullivan at an event held in Shannon College on 9 November 2015. All staff of Shannon College of Hotel Management became staff of
9648-408: The decision that the "hiring process was flawed". In 2015 with "widespread concern" among staff, mandatory unconscious bias training was introduced for senior staff, including heads of school and interview boards. In 2017 Dr Elizabeth Tilley was deemed to have exceeded qualifications for senior lectureship following a Labour Court hearing and promoted. In 2017, the gender ratio of senior lecturers in
9782-571: The decision was unjustified, citing the more than €20,000 raised for charities that year. RAG Week continued unofficially until 2024, when the fundraising event returned with support from the Students' Union. International students make up over 12 percent of the student population at the University of Galway. University of Galway is the setting for, and is referred to in, numerous works of fiction. Breandán Ó hEithir 's novel Lig Sinn i gCathú , set in
9916-525: The divisions within Fianna Fáil. It struck an immediate chord with many disenchanted Fine Gael supporters who had tired of the failure to address the economic crisis fully and who yearned for a coherent right-wing policy from FitzGerald. Seeing their party's support base under attack from the right only strengthened the resolve of FitzGerald's Fine Gael colleagues to break with the Labour Party approach, despite their leader's close empathy with Labour. Stymied by
10050-530: The economic crisis, FitzGerald tried to rescue some of his ambitions to reform the state, and he proposed, in the middle of 1986, a referendum to change the constitution to allow for divorce. The proposed amendment was mired in controversy, and the many accompanying legal changes needed were not clearly presented. Haughey skilfully opposed the referendum along with the Roman Catholic Church and landed interests worried about property rights. In January 1987,
10184-468: The end of the famine, and under 17,000 by 1911. Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). Despite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English. In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde , was inaugurated as
10318-545: The first President of Ireland . The record of his delivering his inaugural Declaration of Office in Roscommon Irish is one of only a few recordings of that dialect. In the 2016 census, 10.5% of respondents stated that they spoke Irish, either daily or weekly, while over 70,000 people (4.2%) speak it as a habitual daily means of communication. From the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see History of
10452-535: The former US secretary of state who served as an opposite number to FitzGerald in the 1970s, recalled "an intelligent and amusing man who was dedicated to his country". His death occurred on the third day of Queen Elizabeth II's state visit to the Republic of Ireland , an event designed to mark the completion of the Northern Ireland peace process that had been "built on the foundations" of FitzGerald's Hillsborough Agreement with Margaret Thatcher in 1985. In
10586-400: The former Mabel Washington McConnell, was a nationalist and republican of Ulster Protestant descent, although later in life she converted to Catholicism. Her son would later describe his political objective as the creation of a pluralist Ireland where the northern Protestants of his mother's family tradition and the southern Catholics of his father's could feel equally at home. FitzGerald
10720-460: The government formally submitted the proposal to the Vatican . FitzGerald's vision caused great consternation among the church's hierarchy, however, and in 1977, Pope Paul VI personally met with FitzGerald to tell him that "Ireland was a Catholic country – perhaps the only one left – and it should stay that way. Laws should not be changed in any way that would make the country less Catholic." In 1977,
10854-698: The language family, is derived from the Old Irish term. Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge [ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg / Gaeilic / Gaeilig [ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster , Gaelainn / Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster , as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation. Gaeilge also has
10988-410: The language was in use by all classes, Irish being an urban as well as a rural language. This linguistic dynamism was reflected in the efforts of certain public intellectuals to counter the decline of the language. At the end of the 19th century, they launched the Gaelic revival in an attempt to encourage the learning and use of Irish, although few adult learners mastered the language. The vehicle of
11122-425: The language. For most of recorded Irish history , Irish was the dominant language of the Irish people , who took it with them to other regions , such as Scotland and the Isle of Man , where Middle Irish gave rise to Scottish Gaelic and Manx . It was also, for a period, spoken widely across Canada , with an estimated 200,000–250,000 daily Canadian speakers of Irish in 1890. On the island of Newfoundland ,
11256-563: The mid-18th century, English was becoming a language of the Catholic middle class, the Catholic Church and public intellectuals, especially in the east of the country. Increasingly, as the value of English became apparent, parents sanctioned the prohibition of Irish in schools. Increasing interest in emigrating to the United States and Canada was also a driver, as fluency in English allowed
11390-708: The most popular Irish field sports of association football , Gaelic football , hurling , and rugby union , as well as cricket , hockey , and lacrosse . NUI Galway GAA compete in the Sigerson Cup (Gaelic football) and the Fitzgibbon Cup (hurling). They are the second most prolific winners of the Sigerson Cup. NUI Galway RFC compete in the Connacht Senior Cup , and are the competition's most successful side with 34 wins. University of Galway FC compete in
11524-771: The name of the language is Gaeilge , from the South Connacht form, spelled Gaedhilge prior the spelling reform of 1948, which was originally the genitive of Gaedhealg , the form used in Classical Gaelic . The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent ⟨dh⟩ in Gaedhilge . Older spellings include Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠəɡ] in Classical Gaelic and Goídelc [ˈɡoiðʲelɡ] in Old Irish . Goidelic , used to refer to
11658-467: The nearby professional Pro12 (now URC ) rugby union team, for the following three years and would put in place a "High Performance Education Partnership" that would give players from the Connacht Rugby Academy and age-grade teams the chance to educated there. At the time of the announcement 17 members of Connacht's squad were either attending the university as students or were graduates. Within
11792-463: The new immigrants to get jobs in areas other than farming. An estimated one quarter to one third of US immigrants during the Great Famine were Irish speakers. Irish was not marginal to Ireland's modernisation in the 19th century, as is often assumed. In the first half of the century there were still around three million people for whom Irish was the primary language, and their numbers alone made them
11926-639: The number now is between 20,000 and 30,000." In the 1920s, when the Irish Free State was founded, Irish was still a vernacular in some western coastal areas. In the 1930s, areas where more than 25% of the population spoke Irish were classified as Gaeltacht . Today, the strongest Gaeltacht areas, numerically and socially, are those of South Connemara , the west of the Dingle Peninsula , and northwest Donegal, where many residents still use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as
12060-619: The number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968. In response to the 2021 census of Northern Ireland , 43,557 individuals stated they spoke Irish on a daily basis, 26,286 spoke it on a weekly basis, 47,153 spoke it less often than weekly, and 9,758 said they could speak Irish, but never spoke it. From 2006 to 2008, over 22,000 Irish Americans reported speaking Irish as their first language at home, with several times that number claiming "some knowledge" of
12194-498: The other official language, if not already passed in both official languages. In November 2016, RTÉ reported that over 2.3 million people worldwide were learning Irish through the Duolingo app. Irish president Michael D. Higgins officially honoured several volunteer translators for developing the Irish edition, and said the push for Irish language rights remains an "unfinished project". There are rural areas of Ireland where Irish
12328-500: The parliamentary party, and his liberal ideas were seen as a counterweight to the conservative leader, Liam Cosgrave . The difference in political outlook and FitzGerald's ambitions for the Fine Gael leadership resulted in profound tensions between the two men. In his leadership address to the 1972 Fine Gael Ardfheis in Cork, Cosgrave referred to the "mongrel foxes" who should be rooted out of
12462-643: The party's leadership. His innovative views, energy and fluency in French won him – and through him, Ireland – a status in European affairs far exceeding the country's size and ensured that the first Irish Presidency of the European Council in 1975 was a noted success. FitzGerald's policy towards church-state relations, however, brought him into a confrontation with the Roman Catholic church, whose "special position" in
12596-499: The party, a reference seen by many as an attack on FitzGerald's efforts to unseat him as leader. FitzGerald was an opponent of the US bombing of North Vietnam . After the 1973 general election , Fine Gael entered office in a coalition government with the Labour Party , with Liam Cosgrave as Taoiseach. FitzGerald hoped that he would take over as Minister for Finance, particularly after
12730-402: The period 2020–2025) in 2020. Also in 2020, the university was awarded €4 million from the EU's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme to support its Solar2chem project. In April 2022, it was announced that NUI Galway would be renamed "Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway" in summer 2022, amid confusion over its proper title. On 1 September 2022, the university changed its name to
12864-539: The political party holding power in the Stormont Parliament , the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), was hostile to the language. The context of this hostility was the use of the language by nationalists. In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and Irish was excluded from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the previous devolved government. After
12998-487: The relationship between the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Gaelic is a collective term for the Goidelic languages, and when the context is clear it may be used without qualification to refer to each language individually. When the context is specific but unclear, the term may be qualified, as Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic or Manx Gaelic. Historically the name "Erse" ( / ɜːr s / URS )
13132-432: The requirement for entrance to the public service was changed to proficiency in just one official language. Nevertheless, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools in the Republic of Ireland that receive public money (see Education in the Republic of Ireland ). Teachers in primary schools must also pass a compulsory examination called Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge . As of 2005, Garda Síochána recruits need
13266-625: The revival was the Gaelic League ( Conradh na Gaeilge ), and particular emphasis was placed on the folk tradition, which in Irish is particularly rich. Efforts were also made to develop journalism and a modern literature. Although it has been noted that the Catholic Church played a role in the decline of the Irish language before the Gaelic Revival, the Protestant Church of Ireland also made only minor efforts to encourage use of Irish in
13400-427: The subsequent republican and loyalist cease-fires. FitzGerald attempted to reshuffle his cabinet in February 1986, but certain ministers resisted – notably Barry Desmond , who refused to move from his Health and Social Welfare portfolio. The eventual outcome of the cabinet changes further undermined FitzGerald's authority. The new Progressive Democrats party was launched later that year by Desmond O'Malley out of
13534-420: The time of the 1981 general election , Fine Gael had a party machine that could easily match Fianna Fáil's. The party won 65 seats and formed a minority coalition government with the Labour Party and the support of several Independent TDs. FitzGerald was elected Taoiseach on 30 June 1981. To the surprise of many, FitzGerald excluded Richie Ryan, Richard Burke and Tom O'Donnell , former Fine Gael stalwarts, from
13668-404: The treatment by AIB of FitzGerald with their treatment of Charles Haughey. They found evidence that he had worked to compromise his indebtedness with AIB and no evidence of any wrongdoing. On 5 May 2011, it was reported that FitzGerald was seriously ill in a Dublin hospital. Newly elected Fine Gael Taoiseach Enda Kenny sent his regards and called him an "institution"; on 6 May he was put on
13802-606: The university and all students of Shannon College of Hotel Management became students of the university. There are five designated Research Institutes and a number of Research Centres and Units at the University of Galway. Designated Research Institutes at the university are characterised by significant interdisciplinary (generally cross-College) and high-quality research activity, including extensive collaboration nationally and internationally. Examples of mould-breaking research include sugar coating devices and how spider bites can lead to hospitalisation. Galway University Foundation (GUF)
13936-403: The university as gender as a grounds of discrimination is prohibited by Irish law. University of Galway has been awarded the full five QS stars for excellence, and is ranked among the top 1 per cent of universities according to the 2018 QS World University Rankings . These rankings marked the sixth consecutive year that the university's ranking improved by these standards. In 2016 and 2017,
14070-577: The university as its "University of the Year" on three occasions. It won the Times' s inaugural title in 2002–2003. A second title followed in 2009–2010. Galway won its third title in 2018. Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish : Gaeilge ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family . It
14204-500: The university campus in the 1970s and were designed by architects Scott Tallon Walker . The 1990s also saw considerable development, including the conversion of an old munitions factory into a student centre. Under the early 21st-century Presidency of Iognáid G. Ó Muircheartaigh , the university announced details of plans to make the university a "campus of the future" at a cost of around €400 million. Ó Muircheartaigh's successor James J. Browne continued and implemented that plan. Under
14338-673: The university including Fianna Fáil , Fine Gael , Green , Labour , People Before Profit , Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats . Flirt FM is a community radio station located on campus, spearheaded by the Radio Society. GUMS, the university musical society, hosts annual musicals in the Dubhlann/Black Box Theatre. In 2014, the Christian and LGBT societies were involved in a showdown over same-sex marriage . The incident
14472-565: The university was 60:40 in favour of men. The ratio of professorships, the most senior academic grade, was 87:13 in favor of men. In 2018 the university achieved bronze status in the Athena SWAN recognises a commitment to advancing gender equality in higher education and research careers. In 2018 a further four female lecturers who had also applied for promotion in 2009 were promoted having settled their cases "amicably". The university launched its Strategic Plan "Shared Vision, Shaped By Values" (for
14606-575: The university was ranked ahead of University College Dublin (UCD) and Queen's University Belfast (QUB) in the Academic Ranking of World Universities ( ARWU ), placing it second among Irish universities — behind only Trinity College Dublin (TCD). Likewise, in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings , Galway was ranked ahead of UCD and behind only TCD. The Sunday Times University Guide has named
14740-977: The university's main Irish language societies, following the demise of the Cumann Craic. One of the main events of the Cumann Gaelach is the yearly celebration of Seachtain na Gaeilge . The society was awarded the Best New Entry Award at the Glór na nGael awards in 2011. University of Galway has more than 40 sports clubs based on campus, ranging from indoor sports (such as archery , badminton , fencing , weightlifting , table tennis , and squash ), to water sports (such as rowing , kayaking , sailing , windsurfing , and scuba diving ), as well as martial arts (such as judo , karate , aikido , Muay Thai , kendo , and taekwondo ), plus equestrian , triathlon , athletics, and snow sports. The university also competes in
14874-633: The vacancy to which they are appointed. This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). In 2016, the university faced controversy when it announced the planned appointment of a president who did not speak Irish. Misneach staged protests against this decision. The following year the university announced that Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh , a fluent Irish speaker, would be its 13th president. He assumed office in January 2018; in June 2024, he announced he would be stepping down as president at
15008-437: The words of Eamonn Sweeney, to "lay all the blame for the hunger strikers on the republican movement and to suggest an immediate unilateral end to their military campaign". The economic crisis was also much worse than FitzGerald had feared. Fine Gael had to scrap its plans for tax cuts in the run-up to the election, and a draconian mid-year budget was introduced almost immediately. The July Budget seemed exceptionally austere for
15142-594: The work of such writers as Geoffrey Keating , is said to date from the 17th century, and was the medium of popular literature from that time on. From the 18th century on, the language lost ground in the east of the country. The reasons behind this shift were complex but came down to a number of factors: The change was characterised by diglossia (two languages being used by the same community in different social and economic situations) and transitional bilingualism (monoglot Irish-speaking grandparents with bilingual children and monoglot English-speaking grandchildren). By
15276-458: Was a Senator for the Industrial and Commercial Panel from 1965 to 1969. He was the son of Desmond FitzGerald , the first foreign minister of the Irish Free State . At the time of his death, FitzGerald was president of the Institute of International and European Affairs and a columnist for The Irish Times , and had made occasional appearances on television programmes. Garret FitzGerald
15410-523: Was also sometimes used in Scots and then in English to refer to Irish; as well as Scottish Gaelic. Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD, a stage of the language known as Primitive Irish . These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish underwent a change into Old Irish through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from
15544-408: Was an Irish Fine Gael politician, public intellectual, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach , serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987 and was twice Leader of the Opposition between 1977 and 1982; he was previously Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1973 to 1977. FitzGerald served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1969 to 1992 and
15678-638: Was bitterly opposed by Unionists in Northern Ireland, whose MPs all resigned their seats in the British Parliament in protest. New elections were required to be held in Northern Ireland, in which the unionists lost the seat of Newry and Armagh to Seamus Mallon of the SDLP. During this period, on 15 March 1984, he was also invited to address a joint session of the United States Congress , the fourth Irish leader to do so. His government had also passed
15812-573: Was born in Ballsbridge , Dublin, in 1926, son of Desmond FitzGerald and Mabel McConnell Fitzgerald . His mother was involved in politics, and it was through her that his father also became political. He had three elder brothers, Desmond (1911–1987), Pierce (1914–1986), and Fergus (1920–1983). His father was born and raised in London and was the Minister for External Affairs at the time of his son's birth. He
15946-399: Was eager to enter politics. Despite his pro-Treaty roots, it was suggested by several members of Fianna Fáil , including Charles Haughey and Michael Yeats , that he should join that party. Ultimately, FitzGerald made his entry into party politics under the banner of Fine Gael, of which his father had been a founding member. He attached himself to the party's liberal wing, which rallied around
16080-761: Was educated at the Jesuit Belvedere College and University College Dublin (UCD), from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in history, French and Spanish in 1946, later returning to complete a PhD in economics which he obtained in 1968; his doctoral thesis was published the following year, titled Planning in Ireland . He was deeply interested in the politics of the Spanish Civil War and World War II . A bright student who counted among his contemporaries in UCD his future political rival, Charles Haughey , who also knew Joan O'Farrell (1923–1999),
16214-591: Was enacted 1 July 2019 and is an 18-page document that adheres to the guidelines of the Official Languages Act 2003 . The purpose of the Scheme is to provide services through the mediums of Irish and/or English. According to the Department of the Taoiseach, it is meant to "develop a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's Programme and to build
16348-516: Was encouraged to write on National Accounts and economics by the features editor in the Irish Times . He remained with Aer Lingus until 1958; the following year, after undertaking a study of the economics of Irish industry at Trinity College Dublin , he became a lecturer in economics at UCD. FitzGerald qualified as a barrister, from the King's Inns of Ireland, and spoke French fluently. FitzGerald
16482-582: Was established in 1998 with the intention of generating financial support for the university from private individuals and institutions. It nurtures relationships with donors for whom the university's approach to education appeals. The Foundation has many 'Priority Projects' in development. The main library building of the University of Galway is named the James Hardiman Library after the library's first librarian, James Hardiman . University of Galway has about 150 active student societies , ranging from
16616-561: Was establishing itself as the primary language. Irish speakers had first arrived in Australia in the late 18th century as convicts and soldiers, and many Irish-speaking settlers followed, particularly in the 1860s. New Zealand also received some of this influx. Argentina was the only non-English-speaking country to receive large numbers of Irish emigrants, and there were few Irish speakers among them. Garret FitzGerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 1926 – 19 May 2011)
16750-622: Was forced to flee from a public discussion at the university after being jostled by students opposed to the planned reintroduction of college fees. 21st-century developments include a state-of-the-art University Sports Centre ( Ionad Spóirt ), Áras Moyola, J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics, the Alice Perry Engineering Building, the BioSciences Research Building, the Life Course Institute,
16884-501: Was heavily defeated in the election. The Progressive Democrats won 14 seats, mainly from Fine Gael . Although Haughey did not have an overall majority, when it came to the Dáil vote on the nomination of Taoiseach , the Independent left-wing TD Tony Gregory voted against FitzGerald but abstained on Haughey, seeing Haughey as the "lesser of two evils". This was because of Gregory's opposition to
17018-590: Was liberalised under the Health (Family Planning) (Amendment) Act 1985 . FitzGerald set up the New Ireland Forum in 1983, which brought together representatives of the constitutional political parties in the Republic and the nationalist SDLP from Northern Ireland. Although the Unionist parties declined his invitation to join, and the Forum's conclusions proposing various forms of association between Northern Ireland and
17152-638: Was no longer a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , but had in 1973 joined the European Economic Community (EEC), the organisation which would later become the European Union (EU). FitzGerald, firmly ensconced as Foreign Minister, was free from any blame due to other Ministers' mishandling of the economy. If anything, his tenure at the Department of Foreign Affairs helped him eventually achieve
17286-465: Was passed 14 July 2003 with the main purpose of improving the number and quality of public services delivered in Irish by the government and other public bodies. Compliance with the Act is monitored by the An Coimisinéir Teanga (Irish Language Commissioner) which was established in 2004 and any complaints or concerns pertaining to the Act are brought to them. There are 35 sections included in
17420-529: Was provoked by the auditor of the Christian Society, running for the position of Equality Officer in that year's student union election. Earlier, in the late part of 2013, the university suspended the Legion of Mary Society after it failed to satisfactorily explain its connection to posters containing information on a Christian support group for homosexual persons. An Cumann Gaelach and An Cumann Drámaíochta are
17554-405: Was renewed in 2017, covering the period until 2019. The Students' Union's primary role is to provide a recognised representative channel between undergraduates and the university and college authorities. In February 2009, the university announced the Students' Union-run RAG Week would "no longer form part of the university calendar". The President of the Students' Union expressed the belief that
17688-678: Was spoken throughout Ireland, Isle of Man and parts of Scotland . It is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the Ulster Cycle . From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and into the Manx language in the Isle of Man . Early Modern Irish , dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland. Modern Irish, sometimes called Late Modern Irish, as attested in
17822-710: Was the son of a labourer who had emigrated from Skeheenarinky in County Tipperary, joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914, and fought during the 1916 Easter Rising . FitzGerald senior had been active in Sinn Féin during the Irish War of Independence and had been one of the founders of Cumann na nGaedheal . The party was formed to support the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which created the Irish Free State . Although
17956-442: Was unable to accomplish some everyday tasks, as portrayed in his documentary No Béarla . There is, however, a growing body of Irish speakers in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. Many have been educated in schools in which Irish is the language of instruction. Such schools are known as Gaelscoileanna at primary level. These Irish-medium schools report some better outcomes for students than English-medium schools. In 2009,
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