The Irish language for or against

I fail to understand why political parties like Labour and Fine Gael are so dead set against the Irish language. Their idea of reducing Gaeilge to a mere choice subject on the Leaving Cert is akin to the State saying that the language is of no use any more.If Enda Kenny and Brian Ó Shea think that this policy will encourage more pupils to learn it they are chronically misguided. The same method has recently been employed in England where foreign languages were reduced to choice subjects for O and A level  students. The result was that 60% of students didn't bother doing the exams at all.
This fall off has so shocked MPs that they are scrambling to make foreign Languages compulsory again.
Demoting a language can only have a negative effect. Whereas retaining the compulsory element and implementing methods to improve the teaching of Gaeilge in English medium schools will have the required positive effect.