As a result, many feel that Irish is no longer spoken anywhere. Even the few who are aware of its continued existence in the West of the country assume that it is a relic of the past that is only kept alive for tourism purposes. There are no longer any people who speak only Irish. However, Irish is still spoken by several thousands of people in preference to English in some parts of Ireland. That s well over a million people.
Languages can be stubborn entities.
They form an intrinsic part of the culture of a group. Governments can fall because or their approach to this topic It would be wrong to underestimate the staying power of a language. There has been talk of the death of Irish for well over a century. Ever since the huge potato famine in the 1840 s, there has been a massive decline in the number of native speakers. Irish was associated with poverty and children were severely beaten for speaking it right through the 19th century.