Two infants per week are born Deaf in Ireland and 90% of Deaf children are born to hearing parents.

Being Deaf does not affect a person's intelligence or ability to learn.

It's a myth that Irish Sign Language affects normal speech ability.

Deaf children can develop with the right support to live full, normal healthy lives.

Deaf people just want to get on with their business as normal as possible like everyone else and really can do anything except hear.

Everyone experiences deafness differently. It is usually harder for someone who has been Deaf from birth, or a very young age, to learn to listen and speak, than it is for someone who acquires their hearing loss later in life. 

Most Irish Deaf people communicate via Irish Sign Language. British Deaf people use British Sign Language, American Deaf people use American Sign Language and so on. Sign language varies as much from nation to nation as spoken language does.

About

...Irish Sign Language

Irish Sign Language, commonly know as ISL by the Deaf Community, is the indigenous language or mother tongue of the Irish Deaf Community.  The Irish Deaf Community takes great pride in its language which has been passed down through many generations. Irish Sign Language is not a signing version of English but is a unique language which is very spatial and has its own specific grammar working the hands, face and body to communicate.

Irish Sign Language unites the Deaf community through culture, history and community.  There are approximately 6,000 Deaf people in Ireland whose first and preferred language is Irish Sign Language, however, there is a further 60,000 hearing people who also use the language to communicate with Deaf friends and family.

For more information about learning ISL go to the 'Learn' section of the website