The latest figures from Census 2016 released by the Central Statistics Office show that the number of young people in the Gaeltacht who speak Irish on a daily basis outside the education system has decreased since the previous census in 2011.

The percentage amount shows a slight increase, however.

Of the 20,586 daily speakers, 1,923 (9.34%) are under 20. The figures for 2011 were 23,175 and 2,132 (9.2%) respectively.

This tallies with the figures issued last April which show that the total number of daily speakers in the Gaeltacht has decreased by 11%.

April's figures also show that the population in Gaeltacht areas where the language is strongest has decreased by about 4%.

Today's figures show that 20.2% of those that speak Irish on a daily basis outside the education system throughout the country live in Dublin city.

Last April's figures show that 73,803 people, or 1.7% of the entire population, speak Irish daily.

Today's figures show that 14,903 of them live in Dublin. 6,034, or 8.2%, live in the cities and suburbs of Cork, Galway and Limerick.

Today's figures also show that the three towns within the Gaeltacht with the largest percentage of daily Irish speakers are Mín Lárach in Donegal (73.3%), Rann na Feirste, also in Donegal (66.6%) and An Cheathrú Rua, Co Galway (61.6%).

The three towns outside the Gaeltacht with the largest percentage of daily Irish speakers are Letterkenny in Co Donegal (2.9%), Maynooth (2.3%) and Leixlip (2%), both in Co Kildare.

These are towns with a population of less than 10,000.