FAMILY SUPPORT CENTRES
This area is critical for the future of Irish, particularly though not exclusively in the Gaeltacht. Such centres would provide support services for families who wish to bring up their children through Irish and for those families who while not normally speaking Irish at home recognise the crucial importance of the very earliest period in the life of a child for the development of linguistic skills and wish their children to have a native speakers command of the language from the beginning. Such centres would provide a wide range of support services including:
- Crèche facilities
- An all-Irish playgroup
- After school facilities
- Bringing parents with young children together
- Advice service for parents thinking of bringing their children up through Irish
- An advice service and language support service for parents who are bringing their children up through Irish and for parents who would like to change from being English speaking to Irish speaking. This service would include home viisits by suitably qualified language advisors
- Irish classes for parents
- Liaison with other organisations that make parental and child support services available
- Contact with parents in other areas and in the Gaeltacht who are bringing up their children through Irish or in other minority languages
- Liason with other family support services such as those provided by the Health Service Executive
- That the staff would be fully qualified, the staff of both the Naíolann and the Naíonra in particular and would understand the importance of and be trained in early infant education
- That the staff would have a very high linguistic competence in Irish
- The the accomodation would be suitable and spacious
- That it would be situated with proper regard to accessability and with sufficient parking
- That the overall design would suit children with special needs
- That modern learning facilities would be provided such as for the development of craft, music and computer skills
- That it sould be situated close to other services already being provided through Irish, schools in particular
- That the local primary all-Irish schools- outside the Gaeltacht areas- would recognise in their educational policies the particular linguistic and educational needs of children arriving in the schools as native Irish speakers or with a native speaker’s competence
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