Editing Language revitalization (section)

==== Irish ====
{{Main|Status of the Irish language}}
One of the best known European attempts at language revitalization concerns the [[Irish language]]. While English is dominant through most of Ireland, Irish, a [[Celtic languages|Celtic language]], is still spoken in certain areas called ''[[Gaeltacht]]aí'',<ref name=autogenerated2>Carnie, Andrew. "Modern Irish: Modern Irish: A Case Study in Language Revival Failure." (1995).</ref> but there it is in serious decline.<ref>This decline was noted in 2002. {{cite web|url=http://www.ahg.gov.ie/en/20YearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage/Publications/Report%20of%20Coimisi%C3%BAn%20na%20Gaeltachta.pdf |title=Report of the Gaeltacht Commission |year=2002 |access-date=20 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017090003/http://www.ahg.gov.ie/en/20YearStrategyfortheIrishLanguage/Publications/Report%20of%20Coimisi%C3%BAn%20na%20Gaeltachta.pdf |archive-date=17 October 2013 }}</ref> The challenges faced by the language over the last few centuries have included exclusion from important domains, social denigration, the death or emigration of many Irish speakers during the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Irish famine]] of the 1840s, and continued emigration since. Efforts to revitalise Irish were being made, however, from the mid-1800s, and were associated with a desire for Irish political independence.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> Contemporary Irish language revitalization has chiefly involved teaching Irish as a compulsory language in mainstream English-speaking schools. But the failure to teach it in an effective and engaging way means (as linguist Andrew Carnie notes) that students do not acquire the fluency needed for the lasting viability of the language, and this leads to boredom and resentment. Carnie also noted a lack of media in Irish (2006),<ref name=autogenerated2 /> though this is no longer the case.

The decline of the Gaeltachtaí and the failure of state-directed revitalisation have been countered by an urban revival movement. This is largely based on an independent community-based school system, known generally as [[Gaelscoil]]eanna. These schools teach entirely through Irish and their number is growing, with over thirty such schools in Dublin alone.<ref>Gaelscoileanna Teo – Statistics: http://www.gaelscoileanna.ie/en/about/statistics/</ref> They are an important element in the creation of a network of urban Irish speakers (known as Gaeilgeoirí), who tend to be young, well-educated and middle-class. It is now likely that this group has acquired critical mass, a fact reflected in the expansion of Irish-language media.<ref name="gaelport">http://www.gaelport.com/default.aspx?treeid=37&NewsItemID=3726: ‘Schism fears for Gaeilgeoirí,’ Brian Ó Broin, 16 January 2010, ''The Irish Times''.</ref> Irish language television has enjoyed particular success.<ref>See the website of TG4: http://www.tg4.ie/.</ref> It has been argued that they tend to be better educated than monolingual English speakers and enjoy higher social status.<ref>‘Language and Occupational Status: Linguistic Elitism in the Irish Labour Market,’ The Economic and Social Review, Vol. 40, No. 4, Winter, 2009, pp. 435–460: https://ideas.repec.org/a/eso/journl/v40y2009i4p435-460.html</ref> They represent the transition of Irish to a modern urban world, with an accompanying rise in prestige.