§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate she has made of the number of people in Northern Ireland who speak Irish. [50225]
§ Mr. Worthington[holding answer 14 July 1998]: The most reliable information is from the last Census in 1991 when a total of 142,003 people in Northern Ireland claimed some degree of ability in the Irish language with 131,974 indicating an ability to speak Irish. Revised figures will be available after the next Census in 2001.