asked the Minister for Justice if he will state in respect of each of the last five years for which the figures are available the number of cases heard by the several Courts of Justice in which the proceedings were conducted entirely in the Irish language, distinguishing as nearly as possible between those which took place in the Gaeltacht and in the rest of the State.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Irish in the Courts.
General statistics on the lines indicated in the question have not been collected and the figures asked for are, accordingly, in general, not available. Inquiries were, however, made as regards the use of Irish in the District Court in two districts in which Irish is commonly spoken, viz., North Donegal and West Galway. The inquiries covered a period of 22 months, viz., 1st August, 1939, to 31st May, 1941.
The figures obtained as a result of these inquiries were:—
North Donegal:
Total cases heard |
5,134 |
Number heard wholly in Irish |
824 |
Number heard partly in Irish |
548 |
Number heard in English |
3,762 |
West Galway:
Total cases heard |
10,065 |
Wholly in Irish |
5,101 |
Partly in Irish |
994 |
In English |
3,970 |