asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the funds, if any which are made available for the teaching of the Irish language in Northern Ireland.
Written Answers. - Teaching of Irish in North.
29.
Funding for the teaching of Irish in Northern Ireland is provided for within the overall education budget: separate figures are not readily available. I am seeking further information for the Deputy.
Irish is taught in a number of primary schools, and education through the medium of Irish receives official funding at the Bunscoil Ghaelach in Belfast and at Steelstown primary school in Derry. I do not have accurate information on the number of pupils studying Irish at primary level at present.
In secondary schools there are some 20,000 students studying Irish in about 110 schools. Irish is taught as a university subject at Queen's University, Belfast, and at the University of Ulster at Coleraine. Irish is taught also at St. Mary and St. Joseph's Teacher Training College in Belfast and there is some provision for Irish at adult level in the local education system.
As the Deputy will be aware, Article 5 of the Anglo-Irish Agreement provides that the Inter-Governmental Conference will consider measures to foster the cultural heritage of both traditions. At the meeting of the Inter-Governmental Conference on 10 January 1986 I put forward views and proposals on the position of the Irish language in Northern Ireland. The British side have undertaken to consider these views and proposals before decisions are taken. I am aware of the growing demand in Northern Ireland for classes in the Irish language at every level and for education through the medium of Irish. Some of those concerned with the position of the language there have recently been in touch with my Department and I will be taking their views into account in our future work within the Inter-Governmental Conference.