asked the Minister for Education whether he is aware that there are 62,000 native Irish speakers in Donegal alone; and, if so, whether he proposes to have primary school certificate examination papers set in Ulster Irish for Ulster children in future.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Primary School Certificate Examination Papers.
I am aware that there are a substantial number of native Irish speakers in County Donegal. It would not, in my opinion, be in the best interests of the preservation and the wider use of the language to accentuate dialectic differences by setting a special version of examination papers for a particular area as suggested. To do so would, in fact, be to deny what I am not prepared to deny, that is, the perfect unity of the language as it is spoken throughout the Irish-speaking districts generally. It would be to accept as the mark of mere dialectic differences qualities which, on the contrary, mark the richness and the flexibility of the language.
It is true that owing to a long period in which the language was not generally used for literature and writing certain differences in use became exaggerated and create a difficulty for young persons and for those who do not speak the language normally.
It has, therefore, been the practice in setting papers for the primary school certificate examination to lean to some extent towards basing the paper in Irish as far as possible on the trends of expression in one of each of three fairly well defined districts in consecutive years. When it is considered necessary alternate words and phrases in more general use in the other two districts are given in parenthesis on the paper.
This practice is considered to meet adequately the difficulties of the moment, which are only temporary, and, at the same time, to foster the development of the language and to lead to the natural adoption of common forms which would render more practicable the achievement of that development.