Conradh na Gaeilge warmly welcomes the Official Languages Act 2021 (Amendment) as enacted with the signature of the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins
The Official Languages (Amendment) Bill 2019 was enacted on 22 December 2021. A copy of the new Act is available by clicking here.
The provisions in the new legislation include:
The new provisions will be implemented over a period of time.
This marks the end of 10 years of community campaigning with politicians and a significant achievement, in particular the provision proposed by the Conradh that by 2030 20% of those recruited to the public sector will be proficient in the Irish language.
Below is a helpful breakdown of the timeline in achieving this great recognition of the Irish language:
Date | What happened |
03/11/2011 | The Minister of State for the Gaeltacht announced the commencement of a review of the Official Languages Act 2003 |
17/11/2011 | The Government announced its intention to close the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga as an independent statutory office, and to bring all its functions under the Office of the Ombudsman as part of its public sector reform plan |
11/2011 | Conradh na Gaeilge and Guth na Gaeltachta began campaigning to save the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga and to ensure that the review resulted in a satisfactory Language Act. A target was set to elicit a 1,000 surveys and 100 submissions from the public for the review |
01/12/2011 | Local meetings organised in the community and a major meeting in Galway were organised by the Conradh & Guth na Gaeltachta with Irish language, Gaeltacht and other organisations to agree a plan |
13/12/2011 | Protest organised outside the Dáil regarding the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga and language rights |
21/01/2012 | Seminar organised between Trinity College and the Conradh on strengthening the legislation |
31/01/2012 | The review received 1,466 survey responses plus 262 submissions from the public, including hundreds of suggestions for improvement |
11/01/2014 | Major Public Meeting - Rights & Equality for the Irish Language - organised by the Conradh in Liberty Hall, Dublin, following An Coimisinéir Teanga's announcement that he was to resign |
01-02/2014 | Meetings were organised throughout the country to prepare for An Lá Mór and to discuss Irish language and Gaeltacht rights |
15/02/2014 | 10,000+ people from all over the country marched on the streets of Dublin during AN LÁ MÓR to promote the Commissioner's case and to look for Irish language and Gaeltacht rights |
24/02/2014 | An Coimisinéir Teanga resigned, due to the Government in the south of Ireland not listening to what he had to say |
01/04/2014 | The Government finally publishes the results of the review which began on 03/11/11. Of the 60 suggestions, although they received hundreds of suggestions from the public, only 2-4 were of any merit |
05/2014 | Heads of the Official Languages (Amendment) Bill, 2014 were published. They were very weak and there was a danger of a weaker Act if they were passed |
2014-2015 | Ongoing lobbying of various politicians and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment, Culture & the Gaeltacht who supported our position against the regressive proposals in the Heads of Bill and were in favour of the Conradh's proposed amendments to the Bill |
27/01/2015 | Report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the general scheme of the official languages (amendment) bill 2014 published |
2016 | In the 2016 General Election we called for a Standing Joint Oireachtas Committee for Irish Language and Gaeltacht matters, such as the rights of the Irish language and the Gaeltacht community. The Joint Oireachtas Committee was set up after the general election and this Joint Oireachtas Committee has had a major influence on the subsequent Official Languages Bill process |
01/2017 | Draft Conradh na Gaeilge Bill agreed with the opposition, including provisions such as 20% public sector recruitment, advertising in Irish, services in the Gaeltacht, etc.. |
30/05/2017 | Government decided not to go ahead with the Heads of the Bill of the Official Languages (Amendment) Bill, 2014 and they adopted new Heads of Bill as a result of the pressure put on them |
05/2017 | Following the rejection of the 2014 Heads of Bill and the adoption of new Heads of Bill, which included the 20% recruitment target for proficiency in Irish, it was decided to work with the Government, the Department of the Gaeltacht and the opposition to promote the provisions in the draft Conradh Bill and other provisions in this new process |
05/2018 | Report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands on the general scheme of the Official Languages Bill 2017 was published. Support for the recommendations of the Conradh as well as further recommendations were included |
2019 | The Official Languages Bill 2019 was published and the community lobbied to strengthen the Bill |
2020 | The 2020 General Election was used to ensure political party support for the strengthening of the Official Languages Bill 2019, in particular to add a target year of 2030 to the provision that 20% of candidates recruited to the civil service be proficient in Irish. This was agreed to by Fianna Fáil, the Green Party, Sinn Féin and People Before Profit |
2020-2021 | Lobbying and public pressure on politicians to strengthen the Bill as the Bill progressed through the various stages in the Houses of the Oireachtas at SEAS, individual meetings with politicians, seminars, meetings with the Department and Ministers, meetings with the Language Commissioner, presentations to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community, and many many other methods |
22/12/2021 | Official Languages Act 2019 (Amendment) signed by the President of Ireland |