Tensions have arisen between the Coalition partners over comments by Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton that there are no plans to open any new Irish-language primary or secondary schools until at least 2032. Her Cabinet colleague, Minister for Social Protection and the Gaeltacht Dara Calleary, has said he is “not happy” with the comments, especially the absence of a plan to open a single Gaelcholáiste (secondary school) over the next five years. He and Fianna Fáil colleagues, including the Taoiseach, have said they intend to take the matter up with the Fine Gael minister.“It would be a key priority for me to expand the availability of education through Irish,” Calleary said on Sunday. Naughton confirmed to Sinn Féin’s Aengus Ó Snodaigh last month that no new Irish-medium schools were planned for the period 2026 to 2031. A spokeswoman for the department pointed out there were no English-medium schools planned either, other than new special schools.“This position is kept under constant review by the department. It is not therefore possible to be definitive at this stage on the need, or otherwise, for new schools over the next five years – it is just that there are none planned currently,” she said. The number of Gaelscoileanna (primary schools) in the State increased significantlyfrom the 1970s on when groups of parents began to establish Irish-language schools in their communities, mostly in temporary accommodation and often in the face of opposition from the Department of Education. Between 1990 and 2000, 56 Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí were established. Between 2000 and 2010, a further 37 Irish-language schools came into being, most founded by parents.[ Inside a Quaker-ethos secondary school in Ireland: ‘There is a high expectation of good behaviour’Opens in new window ]However, the department changed rules in 2011 making it more difficult for parents to establish their own schools. Since then the number of new Irish-medium schools has declined dramatically. There was a total of 14 new Irish-medium schools in the decade between 2010 and 2020, a decline of 70 per cent compared to the late 1990s. Just five new Irish-medium schools have been established in the State in the past five years, one of which is a secondary school.Calleary has argued there is a need for more new Gaelcholáistí. “For those children who go to Gaelscoileanna, there should be a pathway to secondary school and indeed to third level through the medium of Irish,” he has said. However, that is unlikely in the short-to-medium term. The departmental spokeswoman said the general direction of travel on overall enrolments was downwards. “This creates significant capacity within existing schools to absorb increased demographics arising from housing roll-out in most areas,” she said. The department has pointed to a falling birth rate since 2010 which will mean a reduction in the number of students in secondary schools over the next decade. Consequently, the need to establish new schools generally will be reduced with existing capacity meeting demand.There is a commitment in the Programme for Government to establish Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí where there is demand. The department also established a taskforce in November 2025 to examine the models for future Irish-medium education provision. Just four new Irish-medium post-primary schools have been founded since 2014: Coláiste Ghlór na Mara in Balbriggan, Gaelcholáiste an Phiarsaigh in Rathfarnham, Gaelcholáiste Charraig Uí Leighin in Cork and Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Nuad in Maynooth, Co KildareAidan Kinsella is secretary of Imeasc, a group that lobbies for Irish-medium education. He said the difficulty is that because these groups are in a minority, it means Irish-language schools will very rarely be favoured by the demographic surveys currently used by the department.Kinsella said this weekend that legislation was required to ensure Irish-language education was provided where there was demand for it. He said 60 per cent of children who go to Gaelscoileanna cannot continue Irish-medium education into secondary school. Kinsella said 13 of the 26 counties had no Gaelcholáiste.