Minister Naughton announces appointment of the new Board of An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaiochta including the addition of a student representative
- Published on: 30 March 2026
- Last updated on: 30 March 2026
Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton TD today announced the appointment of the new board of An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaiochta (COGG), including a representative of the Irish Second Level Students Union, which she has appointed to the Board for the first time, for a four-year term until 28 February 2030.
COGG plays an important role in delivering on a range of policies and action plans to support Irish, including the recently published Policy for Irish Medium Education outside of the Gaeltacht and the Action Plan for Irish in English-Medium Schools.
Minister Naughton also thanked the outgoing members of the COGG Board for their commitment and contribution over the last four years.
Minister Naughton said: “I would like to congratulate the new Board members on their appointment and thank them for giving their time and expertise to the important work COGG has ahead in relation to supporting Irish language learning, teaching and assessment”.
“I am committed to ensuring that the voices of children and young people are heard in relation to decisions made affecting them and so have also decided to add the student voice to the Board of COGG to ensure that learners have an equal voice at the table”.
The term of the Chair of the Board, Cathnia Ó Muircheartaigh, continues until 28th February 2027 and so remains in the post. The new Board is therefore as follows:
| Nominating Body | Name |
|---|---|
| Minster for Education and Youth | *Cathnia Ó Muircheartaigh (Chairperson) |
| Údarás na Gaeltachta | Máire de Báicéir |
| Údarás na Gaeltachta | Seán Mac Donnacha |
| Gaeloideachas | Cormac Ó Tuairisg |
| Gaeloideachas | Máiréad Ní Chatháin Uí Chonchúir |
| Foras Na Gaeilge | *Niamh Nic Cana |
| Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) | *Máirin Ní Chéileachair |
| Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) | *Lorraine Finn |
| Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) | *Gilbert de Búrca |
| National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) | *Bairbre Ni Thuairisg |
| Department of Education and Youth | *Fiona Ni Mheachair |
| Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) | *Eoin Ó Coisneacháin |
| Irish Second-Level Students’ Union, Irish Language Officer | Rónán Ó hÍcí |
*re-appointment
ENDS
Notes for Editors:
An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG)
The new COGG Board consists of seven re-appointments and 5 new appointments. The term of the current Chair continues until 28th March 2027.
The Minister has appointed the Irish Language Officer of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU) to the Board of COGG for the first time, putting the student voice at the center of discussions on the teaching and learning of Irish in our schools.
COGG was established under the Education Act 1998 and its functions are:
- to plan and co-ordinate the provision of textbooks and aids to learning and teaching through Irish
- to advise the Minister on policies relating to the provision and promotion of education through the medium of Irish in recognised schools generally and in schools located in a Gaeltacht area
- to provide support services to those schools through the medium of Irish, and
- to conduct research into any or all matters to which this paragraph applies, and
- to plan and co-ordinate the provision of textbooks and aids to the learning and teaching of Irish and to conduct research into and to advise the Minister on strategies which have as their objective the enhancement of the effectiveness in the teaching of Irish in recognised schools and centres for education
COGG currently has a full-time executive staff of 23, led by the Chief Executive.
COGG’s grant funding from the department in 2026 is in the amount of €4.816m.
The website of COGG is available at www.cogg.ie
Functions of the Board:
The Board is responsible for directing COGG’s activities, providing strategic guidance to the executive team and monitoring the effectiveness of management.
There are no fees payable to members of the Council.
Gender balance
In accordance with the Guidelines on Appointments to State Boards, the Minister has taken account of gender balance when making these appointments to the Board, aligned with the Government’s commitment to achieve a target of 40 per cent representation of each gender on all State Boards.
The new board complies with the gender balance requirement.
Appointment of nominated members to State Boards
The Guidelines on Appointments to State Boards specify that there are certain exemptions relating to the appointment of persons to state boards, including:
“Where an agreement or arrangement is in place under which Ministers seek nominations for appointment to State Boards from key stakeholder organisations (such as trade unions, employer organisations, farming representatives or voluntary bodies)”.