Census: Number who speak Irish grows while more people pick up university degrees
Highest Pleted Qualifications There Level Ireland, Were Photo Third In Of With Increases 405,000 The Degree File Large Honours People People An Number By The Level With In
The number of people who indicated that they could speak Irish rose by 6% in the space of six years, the 2022 Census has found.
In all, 1.8 million people said they could speak the language with over half a million saying they speak Irish daily within the education system.
Just 10% of people said they spoke the language very well, with a further one-third (32%) saying they speak it well. Over half (55%) who said they spoke Irish said they did not speak the language well.
The proportion of those who said they spoke Irish well or very well was highest in the 15-19 age group, at 63%. This compared to 27% of Irish speakers aged 50-54 who said they spoke the language well or very well.
The proportion of people speaking Irish weekly is roughly the same as 2016, with 71,968 people speaking Irish daily outside of the education system. Of the people who said they could speak Irish, around one in four (around 472,000) said they never spoke it.
Turning to education, the age at which people are ceasing their full-time education continues to increase. In April 2022, there were 150,000 people who had ceased their full-time education before they were 15 years old. This was down 18% since 2016.
On the other hand, the number of people who finished their education when they were 25 and older was up 48% to just under 375,000. Collectively, more people in Ireland finished their stint in full-time education at the ages of 21 or 22 than the age of 18 when people would traditionally do their Leaving Certificate.
The proportion of the population who finished their full-time education with an ordinary or honours degree rose from 25% in 2011 to 34% in 2022.
And, between 2016 and 2022, there were large increases in the number of people with third-level qualifications in Ireland, with an honours degree the highest level completed by 405,000 people. This was up 36% since 2016.