Minister McEntee launches ‘Foraois’ pilot project to bring Irish language to life outside the school gates
- Published on: 29 May 2025
- Last updated on: 30 May 2025
Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee today launched the ‘Foraois’ pilot project at Gaelscoil Cholmcille in Coolock. Foraois, the Irish word for a forest, will work with students and school communities to build vibrant projects outside the classroom that will give young people an opportunity to use Gaeilge as an everyday community language.
Five schools are participating in the pilot phase of the project:
- Gaelcholáiste Reachrann, Donaghmede (post-primary)
- Gaelscoil Cholmcille, Coolock (primary school)
- Gaelscoil Ghráinne Mhaol, Donaghmede (primary school)
- Gaelscoil Míde, Kilbarrack (primary school)
- Scoil Neasáin, Harmonstown (primary school).
Launching the project, Minister McEntee said:
"I’m delighted to launch this innovative and exciting project, which gives young people meaningful, natural and fun ways to use the Irish language outside of school. Irish-medium education gives pupils and students a unique opportunity to build a lifelong connection with the language. My department is developing a new policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht, and an Action Plan for Irish in English-medium schools. In this context, our goal is to build and support Irish-speaking communities around our Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí. This project will play an important role in achieving this aim. I would like to thank Dublin City Council and Conradh na Gaeilge for partnering with us on this initiative.”
Speaking at the launch, Richard Shakespeare, Chief Executive of Dublin City Council, remarked:
“Dublin is changing in front of our eyes, thousands of young people in our city want to use Irish as a community language. With Foraois, we are excited to catalyse the community structures which will support this for children who can speak Irish fluently. This pilot project will provide opportunities for immersive experiences that will support young language learners to embrace Irish in their local communities.”
The project is being co-funded by Dublin City Council, in line with their Local Economic and Community Plan, and the Department of Education and Youth, under the Policy on Irish-Medium Education outside of the Gaeltacht, which is due to be published by the department later in the year.
The pilot will be supported by Conradh na Gaeilge who, with support from the department and the council, will employ a programme manager to work with the schools and local organisations to create and promote the community networks and structures.
As the pilot project was announced, Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin, President of Conradh na Gaeilge, said:
“We in Conradh na Gaeilge are delighted to be part of this pioneering initiative. It’s clear from recent consultations that young people are eager and able to use Irish in their everyday lives — not just in the classroom, but in the community as well. Through Foraois, we are building the structures that will support natural, lifelong use of the language among a new generation of speakers. This vision is vital to the revival of Irish and to the vibrant, community-based future we are working towards together.”
During the Department of Education and Youth's consultation on the development of a policy for Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht, it became clear that young people in Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí are looking for more opportunities to use Irish beyond the classroom. The Foraois project seeks to addresses this need by working with pupils and students to set up clubs, societies and development programmes that support language use in everyday life. Irish-medium education plants the seeds of this lifelong connection — Foraois aims to provide the structure and support needed to help those seeds grow into a thriving forest.
Conradh na Gaeilge are now recruiting a Programme Manager for the Foraois pilot project. Further details are available at bit.ly/CBForaois.