I looked it up. According to their census, 41% of people reported speaking Irish. However, there was no data about their level of proficiency or what language was used in their childhood home. If you’re learning Irish (or Cherokee) as a testament to your heritage, that’s very nice, but it’s not your “first language.”
I’m sorry but many people in Ireland speak Irish in their homes and on the street among themselves; they don’t learn it in school, they learn it at home the way Americans learn English. (Much of this is because they were denied the language by the Brits for centuries. Almost all road signage is in Gaelic making it difficult for foreigners to navigate roads!) I don’t care about statistics or polls. And what Cherokee has to do with it...
Have you ever been to Ireland? They speak Gaelic, it’s taught in school and there’s several TV channels that are in Gaelic, including a children’s cartoon channel. People spoke Gaelic to me and when they realized that I didn’t understand what they were saying, they switched to English.