The Minister for Education has expressed concern at the grades attained by students who sat the Junior Certificate Irish examination this year.
Mr Martin said last night the performance of candidates who took Irish at ordinary and foundation level was "relatively poor". He said he would establish a high-level group to address the problem and would ask them to bring forward proposals as soon as possible to arrest the decline.
More than 63,000 students will receive their Junior Certificate results this morning. Almost 60 per cent of those who sat the Irish exam took it at ordinary or foundation level.
The percentage of Junior Cert candidates receiving a Grade C or higher in Irish at ordinary level has dropped from 62.8 per cent in 1997 to 58.8 per cent in 1998 and 51.3 per cent this year. The proportion attaining A, B and C grades at foundation level fell from 62.4 per cent in 1997 to 49.5 per cent this year.
Mr Martin said it was "essential in the interest of maintaining Irish as a living language that we ascertain the root causes of this decline". Earlier this year the Minister, a fluent Irish-speaker, , announced that most secondary school teachers would no longer be required to pass an Irish-language test, a move greeted with dismay by Bord na Gaeilge.
Junior Certificate results in other subjects were consistent with the results of previous years in most subjects, the Minister said. He congratulated students, parents and teachers on their achievement and advised students to put their results in perspective and to see them as one step in their educational career.
The president of the National Youth Council of Ireland, Ms Jillian Hassett, said 15 per cent of students who received their Junior Certificate results today would not return to school. The council called on the Government to reduce class sizes so disadvantaged students could get more individual attention.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State at the Department, Mr Willie O'Dea, has asked publicans not to serve alcohol to students celebrating their results and urged parents to ensure children had a safe means of transport home.
