Did you know that Irish families with school age children from the Gaeltacht region can be eligible for monetary grants if they can demonstrate a native speaking level of Irish Gaelic? For those of you not aware of what the Gaeltacht region in Ireland is, it's the small regions in the west of the country where Irish Gaelic is still spoken as a first language. For the 2006 through 2007 school year, 2,200 Irish families received the full government grant of 260 euros. This payment scheme is meant to encourage children to learn Irish Gaelic early on at a fluent or native speaker level, so that the Gaeltacht regions stop shrinking, as they have been. They call this reward scheme the Scéim Labhairt na Gaeilge, and it's thus far the only grant available in Europe where it's paid to citizens who speaks their country's official first language. We hope that you enjoyed reading through interesting Irish Gaelic fact, do come back again soon for another visit.
