Advancing STEM and Irish
Year Awarded
2025
Amount
€268,597.93
- Organisation:University of Galway
Project Summary
Though it is the official first language of Ireland, Irish is a minority language, with only about 75000 daily speakers outside the education system. Areas in which the concentration of Irish language speakers is strongest are called Gaeltachts, and the largest of these is situated just west of University of Galway. There has been a resurgence in interest and support for Irish in recent years, with about 10% of schoolchildren studying in all-Irish schools, and the government having mandated that 20% of all hires within the public sector should have Irish by 2030, but there is virtually no current STEM provision after post-primary level.
This proposal will promote STEM through Irish with a number of initiatives. Its aims are to:
– Ensure the Irish-speaking public has access to discourse on modern technological and medical developments, for example, through videos and social media produced in Irish by researchers [1,2,3,4,6,8].
– Engage the Irish-speaking community, historically underserved in terms of STEM, with a range of local and national outreach events [1,2,3,4,5,7,8].
– Develop connections between university and Gaeltacht-based employers, such as biomedical companies, and assist in fostering pathways for Irish-language speakers after post-primary level [2,3,5,6].
– Educate STEM workers and researchers in how to engage with Irish speakers, from pupils in Irish-medium schools to medical patients, and journalists on engaging with STEM content [2,4,6,8].
– Increase interest in STEM roles for Irish-speakers, following role model theory, to surmount the systemic inertia of a circular lack of third-level students, educators, opportunities and resources [1,2,3,4,5,7,8].