Donegal’s Gaeltacht Gardaí Irish fluency lags behind national Gaeltacht levels

Correspondence from the Office of the Commissioner in An Garda Síochána reveals that less than 20% of Donegal Garda members in Gaeltacht stations have a Level 4 competency in Irish proficiency.

The Inspector of the Office of the Commissioner in An Garda Síochána released the data, which shows the Irish language proficiency of Donegal’s Gaeltacht Garda members lags far behind their colleagues in Kerry and Galway.

Of the Gaeltacht Garda stations in Donegal, which include Falcarragh, Bunbeg, Dungloe, Carrick, and Burtonport, only five of the 26 garda members (19%) stationed in those stations had an Irish proficiency status of Level 4 or Level 5 under the competency framework.

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In comparison, in Kerry, 75% of their Gaeltacht-stationed Garda members had an Irish proficiency status of Level 4 or Level 5 under the competency framework, and Mayo was even more proficient at 89%.

For all Gaeltacht-stationed Garda members in Donegal, Kerry, Mayo, Cork, and Waterford, there was a proficiency level of 47%, more than double the figures seen in Donegal.

In Belmullet, Mayo, only one Garda member of 20 stationed there had a level four or above competency in Irish, whereas in Carraroe, Galway, all six Garda members had a proficiency in Irish.