Dublin City Council marks milestone with first meeting in Irish

“A chomhairleoirí, is é seo an chéad uair riamh a reáchtáladh an cruinniú míosúil i nGaeilge.”

With those words, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Daithí de Róiste (FF), announced the start of Dublin City Council’s first monthly meeting to be held entirely in Irish.

It was a significant milestone for the city’s Irish-speaking community and a departure for a council where English has always been the primary mode of communication, coming more than 100 years since independence and following the tenure of 354 previous lord mayors.

Citing the 2022 census that found 162,400 people (aged three years and over) could speak Irish in Dublin city, Mr de Róiste said demand for Irish language services is increasing. He said Dublin City Council has an important role to play in the provision of those services as a new generation of passionate Irish speakers emerges.

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“Feictear dom go bhfuil glúin nua de chainteoirí Gaeilge ag teacht chun cinn i mBaile Átha Cliath – is daoine iad a fhágann an córas oideachas le Gaeilge mhaith agus le paisean ar leith,” he said.

A bilingual agenda listed 22 items, including gnó an ardmhéara (Lord Mayor’s business), diúscairt réadmhaoine (disposal of property), nuashonrú míosúil ar sholáthar agus seachadadh tithíochta sóisialta (social housing supply and delivery monthly update report), deonú ceadúnais agus léasanna (granting of licenses and leases).

The main business of the evening was tuarascáil ón leas-phríomhfheidhmeannach – cur chun cinn na Gaeilge i gCathair Bhaile Átha Cliath (report of the deputy chief executive – promotion of the Irish Language in Dublin city).

Presentations were made on several Irish language initiatives, including community arts programme Spraoi na Sráide and Gaeilge 365, a DCC project that aims for a tenfold increase in opportunities to speak Irish by 2027.

[ Things you may not know about the Irish language ]

Welcoming the decision to hold the meeting in Irish, Conradh na Gaeilge’s Julian de Spáinn, said Dublin City Council had sent an important message to the Irish language community.

“We would hope that other city councils will take heed of what Dublin City Council is doing and maybe next year we might have many more local authorities doing the same thing,” he said.

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