2006 – that’s the year an Irish Language Act was agreed upon by the British Government, the Irish Government, Sinn Fein, the SDLP, Alliance, the Green Party, the DUP and the UUP in the St. Andrews Agreement. 15 years of the DUP telling us they didn’t commit to it and Unionism telling us they won’t legislate for it – they signed for it though. They may not have signed the Good Friday Agreement or supported it but the same can’t be said for the St. Andrews Agreement. It was also agreed to in the New Decade New Approach deal in 2020 which got Stormont back up and running. These same language rights are afforded to every other part of ‘these islands’. Wales, Scotland even the South of Ireland have their own respective language acts yet we in the North don’t. We are the only part of Ireland and the UK which have failed to usher in our own language act simply because the language is Irish. The one and only element preventing us from having one, is Unionism.
On this occasion Edwin Poots, as many other DUP leaders have, accused Sinn Fein of using an Irish Language Act for political gain. This, the language of our country, both North and South, being used for political gain? No, we have a right to this language act. It has been agreed to for years and Unionism has refused to allow it. That word ‘allow’ denotes exactly what this Irish Language Act would mean to Unionism. It would mean an end to Unionist rule, it would mean English is no longer the only officially recognised language in ‘Northern Ireland’. It would mean that if required, the Irish language could be read aloud in a Northern Irish courtroom…can you imagine Jim Allister standing in a courtroom listening to that?
The problem with the DUP’s stance on an Irish Language Act is that Sinn Fein had received assurances from incoming Edwin Poots that he intended to deliver Irish language legislation and all other outstanding elements of the deal that restored power sharing also known as New Decade New Approach. However, soundings from the DUP since those assurances have led many, including Sinn Fein to determine that once again, the DUP assurances were nothing but more empty promises. Promises made to get Stormont back without actually delivering anything and now the DUP want Sinn Fein to agree to work with them, ratifying a new First Minister. So…more of what we’ve been subject to in the past? Unionist promises to secure a seat of power only to quite literally kick that proverbial can filled with every deal they made to secure that seat, down the road for years to come.
Colum Eastwood appeared, once again, from…somewhere, who knows where (no he hasn’t stopped Brexit yet), to attack Sinn Fein for, God forbid, standing up for Irish language rights – something which has been ignored for decades and has been used as a bargaining chip by Unionism to get what they want while simultaneously delivering nothing. It’s almost as if political Unionism’s only job continues to be the suppression of Irish rights while attempting to force us to stay within the United Kingdom. Ironically, Colum Eastwood then went on to sign a letter along with Sinn Fein, The Alliance Party, the Green Party and People Before Profit calling on the Irish and British Governments to implement an Irish Language Act over the heads of the DUP. So our Colum had a pop at Sinn Fein…even though, technically, he actually agrees with what they are doing.
It says a lot when even Brandon Lewis states it is “vital that cross-community commitments to culture and language made in the New Decade New Approach deal are honoured.” Is the British Government finally, after all this time, starting to get to the point where they see the DUP and Unionism are the reason the Executive is so precarious? The constant diminution of rights of any other person other than those of a Unionist persuasion surely can’t have gone unnoticed. We’re seeing the final throes of a Unionism which has held ultimate power in the North for generations and is once again digging its heels in and forcing other powers to legislate in the North so it doesn’t have to.
Parties may criticise Sinn Fein for taking the stance they have, in this case on the Irish Language Act or for making the political moves they have but if the biggest Unionist party refuses, once again, to legislate on agreements they have made and signed off on, then what other choice is there? Irish language speakers have rights too, it is the native language of our country and yet isn’t protected under law like the native languages of Wales and Scotland and indeed Southern Ireland and without the consent of the DUP there will be no Irish Language Act. Ironically, if anything, it is Unionism who have weaponised the Irish Language, it is the SDLP who are using it as a political point-scoring vehicle and a way to have a pop at Sinn Fein, and it is now Brandon Lewis’s duty as British Secretary of State for ‘Northern Ireland’ to legislate for Irish speaking citizens in the North…and no, Ulster Scots is not a language but it will be protected under any cultural deal or act.
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