But the new figures will be a disappointment.
Even in most of the special so-called Gaeltacht areas, where dwellers receive extra grants and allowances for schools, homes, clubs, and festivals to encourage Gaelic speaking, the numbers are down.
Most of the Gaeltachts are scattered along the western seaboard.
Gaelic was the country's predominant language up until the middle of the 1800s.
British colonisers introduced English as the sole language of government and it became dominant in the bigger cities.
Source-AFP
LIN /J