asked the Minister for Education whether his Department has decided not to have an Irish course for teachers at Galway City this year, and, if so, if he will state what were the reasons which influenced him in coming to this decision.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - TEACHERS' IRISH COURSE.
It is proposed this year to include Galway in the list of Irish course centres which national teachers studying the intermediate and certificate grade programmes are at liberty to attend. There were ten classes, numbering about 250 students of this type in Galway last year.
In regard to teacher students attending the two highest classes at the course (Ard Teastas and bilingual grades), these are normally provided for at the Irish Colleges. Letters were addressed this year to the Irish Colleges which are situated in places in which Irish is not generally spoken, asking them, in connection with future summer courses held under the auspices of this Department, to make arrangements to transfer the work of the College to a district where Irish is the everyday language of the people. Amongst colleges to which such letters were addressed were the Spiddal College of Irish and the Pearse College of Irish a certain number of whose students received their instruction in recent years in the city of Galway.