The Irish Times: Several thousand students are opting not to sit the Leaving Cert Irish exam every year, latest official figures show.
The study of Irish is mandatory at second level, and schools are required to teach the subject in order to be eligible for State funding.
There is, however, no obligation on students to sit the actual subject in the Leaving Cert exam.
A Department of Education report shows that in 2016 almost 9,500 students did not take the Leaving Cert Irish exam out of a total of 58,500 Leaving Cert students. Read article