More than 1.5 million people in the Republic can speak Irish, it was revealed today.
The figure represents an increase on the 1.43 million Irish speakers identified in 1996, although there was a slight decrease in percentage terms of the total population of 3.9 million, according to the new figures.
Ability to speak the language was highest among women, at almost 46 per cent, while just under 40 per cent of men could use it regularly, the 2002 census figures disclosed.
Despite fears for the future of the language, the survey found the school-going population was most comfortable with Irish, with two-thirds of 10- to 19 year-olds recorded as being able to speak it.
Dingle in County Kerry was crowned the Irish-speaking capital of the State, with 62.4 per cent of its population able to use the language.
There were fewer Irish speakers in urban areas, at only 40.8 per cent, compared to 45.7 per cent in rural areas.
Irish speakers accounted for 73 per cent of the population of Gaeltacht areas in 2002, down from 76 per cent in 1996. All Gaeltacht areas, except for Meath, experienced a decline in the proportion of Irish speakers between 1996 and 2002, the figures released by the Central Statistics Office confirmed.