Gaeltacht

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Gaeltacht, plural Gaeltachtaí, is an Irish word for an Irish-speaking region. In Ireland, The Gaeltacht, or An Ghaeltacht, refers to any of the regions in Ireland where the Irish language is officially the major language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home. These regions were first officially recognised during the early years of the Irish Free State after the Gaelic Revival as part of government policy to restore the Irish language. The Gaeltacht boundaries have not been changed since they were set in the 1950s, though the Irish-speaking population has seriously decreased from what it was then. In most Gaeltacht areas, Irish speakers are now in the minority.

The current population of the Gaeltacht regions is approximately 85,000 with major concentrations of Irish speakers in the western counties of Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Kerry, and Cork. There are smaller concentrations in the counties of Waterford in the south and Meath in the east. The Meath Gaeltacht came about when the government provided a house and 22 acres for each of 41 families from Connemara and Mayo in the 1930s, in exchange for their original lands. It was not recognised as an official Gaeltacht area until 1967.

The Department of Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs, under the leadership of the Minister for Community, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs, is responsible for the overall Irish Government policy with respect to the Gaeltacht, and supervises the work of the Údarás na Gaeltachta and other bodies. Raidió na Gaeltachta is the RTÉ radio station serving the Ghaeltacht and Irish speakers generally. TG4 is the television station which is focused on promoting the Irish language and is based in the County Galway Gaeltacht.

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In March of 2005, Irish Gaeltacht Affairs Minister Éamon Ó Cuív announced that the government of Ireland would begin listing only the Irish (Gaelic) versions of place names in the Gaeltachts as the official names, stripping the official Ordnance Survey of their English equivalents, to bring them up to date with roadsigns in the Gaeltacht, which have been in Irish only since 1970.

Ireland has also negotiated with other European Union member states and made Irish an official language of the EU. This will come into effect on 1 January 2007, but with a derogation.

Gweedore, in County Donegal is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland, which is home to regional studios of Raidió na Gaeltachta and world-class musicians, such as Proinsias Ó Maonaigh, Altan, Enya and Clannad, who were all brought up with Gaelic as their first language.

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