The growing Gaeilge opportunity

What is driving the growth in Irish language?

Since 1991, there has been a 71% increase in the amount of people living in Ireland who can speak Irish. It appears that this growth has been driven by three major educational trends.

The first major driver at play is the growth of Gaelscoileanna, these are Irish medium schools which have become increasingly commonplace across the country over the last 50 years. In 1990, 15,990 students were being educated fully through the medium of Irish on the island of Ireland. By 2021, that number had grown to 55,787.

Secondly, changes to the way Irish is taught in English medium schools are starting to make an impact. A much greater emphasis is being placed on spoken Irish particularly at second level, which is leaving many students with a greater ability and grá for the language.

Finally, the growth in online learning platforms like Duolingo has democratized language learning and made learning or re-learning Irish accessible for countless people both in Ireland and abroad. According to Duolingo stats, roughly 1m are actively learning Irish at any given time. While, staggeringly, more than 5 million people have started learning Irish outside of Ireland using Duolingo alone.

While for a long time, the ills of the Irish language were placed squarely at the feet of the education system, the numbers are telling a clear story. The education system is producing large volumes of people who can speak the Irish language and who want the language to play a more vibrant role in their lives. What does this mean for businesses?

Growing Revenue Opportunity

Businesses are starting to see the emergence of a Euro Gaelach. Recent research by Amárach in conjunction with Gaelchultúr, found that 41% of those surveyed were more likely to purchase products or services that use Irish in their marketing, with 26% of respondents indicating that they would pay more for a product or service that uses the Irish language. Interestingly consumer willingness to pay more was higher in younger demographics.

Over the last 12 months BÁC le Gaeilge have launched a pilot scheme, working with Dublin retailers to help them capitalise on the growing interest in the Irish language. The scheme, which helps Irish speaking consumers identify Irish speaking staff members in retail environments, has been rolled out across 10 pilot locations. Many of the participating retailers are reporting upwards of 1,000 extra customers a year, in some cases for simply putting up a poster with a headshot of Irish speaking staff members. Bearing in mind that just over a third of people in Ireland can speak Irish to some level, it is highly likely that most high-volume retail environments have numerous staff members who can help their employer capitalise on the Euro Gaelach. Retail isn’t the only environment which is benefitting from the surging interest in the Irish language. Tourism is beginning to feel a real bounce too. There are more than 50 universities offering Irish language courses outside of Ireland. More and more, these learners are coming to Ireland, and they expect to see the Irish language play a more central role in their experience.

Recognising this, Dublin City Council recently teamed up with BAC le Gaeilge to launch TurasÓir, a support scheme to help tourism businesses develop new experiences which bring the Irish language and the history of the language to life for tourists. Examples of the sort of projects we are seeing in this space are City Kayaking’s Hidden Language Tour, which sees tourists kayaking up and down the Liffey learning basic Irish phrases and the history of the Irish language in Dublin. 

Excellence driving excellence

One interesting thing about the Gaelscoileanna is that they regularly are recognised as the best performing non fee-paying schools in the country. For example in 2022, of the top 10 schools in the country in relation to third level progression rates, four of the schools were non-fee paying Irish medium schools, with only one non-fee paying English medium school on this list. Irish medium schools are producing large volumes of highly skilled students who are going on to excel across a wide range of fields. For many of these students the Irish language is remaining closely aligned to their value sets. Many of these people are looking to set up businesses which strengthen the Irish language, for example entrepreneur Diarmaid Ó Mathúna, whose PÓTA Café has won recognition as one of Ireland’s finest cuisine experiences. In many other cases, these students are taking more traditional career paths, moving into positions of influence in society. However, what is true in many cases is that these people are interested in working for employers who value the Irish language and who create opportunities for them to positively impact the future of the language. Big Tech have been real leaders in this space in recent years ensuring that Irish language provision is to the forefront of many of their products. This is driving affinity among Irish speakers but potentially more importantly sending out a beacon to talented Irish speakers that these companies are places which value the Irish language and in turn provide opportunities for Irish speakers to progress their careers and the Irish language at the same time.

From retail to recruitment, tourism to tech, the Irish language is becoming a bigger part of doing business in Ireland agus nach iontach sin!

Daithí de Buitléir, Programme Manager, Gaeilge365

Gaeilge365 is Dublin City Council’s Irish Language Innovation Unit delivered in partnership with Conradh na Gaeilge.