There’s a letter in the Irish Times this morning by Dr Niall Comer, who lectures in Irish at the Ulster University. He’s also the president of Chonradh na Gaeilge, so it’s fair to assume he’s worth reading when he writes about an Irish Language Act here in the north.
Dr Comer rejects Edwin Poots’s assertion, made in a speech at the McGill Summer School in Donegal, that the Irish language is being used as a political weapon. Dr Comer concludes his letter by stressing the need for a stand-alone Irish Language Act “as recommended by the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Dáil, and a majority of our own elected MLAs.”
That’s a pretty powerful argument from someone who knows about such things. However, Dr Comer is appealing to the DUP and Mr Poots to respond to the exhortations of the UN, etc. But as we know to our cost, the DUP aren’t particularly susceptible to exhortation. Martin McGuinness urged Arlene Foster to step aside as First Minister while the RHI scandal was explored. We all know her response, to our cost.
But why, I wonder, has Dr Comer not pointed out in his letter the bleeding obvious: that an Irish Language Act was part of the St Andrews Agreement, signed up to by Sinn Féin, the DUP, and the British and Irish governments?
Here’s what the St Andrews Agreement said, back in 2006:
“The [British] Government will introduce an Irish Language Act reflecting on the experience of Wales and Ireland and work with the incoming Executive to enhance and protect the development of the Irish language.”
It’s good to prompt the DUP to do the right thing. It’s even better to point out that the DUP, Sinn Féin, the British and Irish governments are all co-signatories to this international Agreement.
If the DUP – or the British government – is now reneging on that Agreement, the other signatories should have the courage to point this out, preferably from the roof-tops. Because this is not a case of persuading the DUP that they should agree to an Irish Language Act. They already have.
as recommended by the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Dáil, and a majority of our own elected MLAs.
This is what happens when unionism is afforded too much political genorosity and outreach by Nationalism, they were duped into believing the unionists would have consented to what was agreed over a period of time.
It is legally and morally incumbent on the british government to implement an Irish Language Act, and having been signatories to the St Andrews Agreement, the unionist parties can have no veto over it.
How can an Act that doesn’t exist be ‘implemented’?
Given that it is unlikely that nationalists will be in no rush to share power with the DUP anytime soon, unless that party have a collective lobotomy or are hypnotised into remembering what they agreed in the first place, there will be no Executive ever again ,or at least for a generation, the British government will then have ample time in the next twenty years or so to introduce all the bits and pieces that were agreed…an equality agenda and all the rest…without any hiccups from the DUPI’d imagine that the tories will not be in power forever either and their junior partners will be left in the desert to remember past glories.
paddy
I think it unlikely we will be without an executive for anything like that length of time. Bringing it down was a tactical decision which in a way suited both the big parties.
When it no longer suite them a deal will be made.
Do SF want to remain on the sidelines until such times as demographics bring a referendum?
I doubt it.. They will be hoping for a collapse of the tory/DUP alliance and possibly a new Labour led government.
It might happen but it is a strangely passive position for them to be in.
Patrick , it’s also incumbent on the Irish government to ” persuade “, in the strongest possible way , the British government to honour all that they’ve signed up to and promised….their days of perfidy and underhand treachery should be over. The GFA is under serious threat , not only from Britain’s inept and clueless handling of Brexit but also because of the duplicitous shenanigans between that teetering government and the DUP, The Irish side ( co-guarantors ) twiddle their thumbs and sheepishly look on….their minds being completely fixated on avoiding anything that may , even indirectly , assist Sinn Féin even if it was to the advantage of the whole Irish populace.
Just a few questions before I comment properly…..
1/ Forgive my ignorance, but isn’t it spelt “Conradh na Gaelige”?
2/ When did the UN declare it’s support for a “standalone Irish Language Act” through Stormont – I would have thought that these matters would be well below the pay grade of the United Nations to make such recommendations, but I’m happy to be corrected?
3/ Similarly, when did the Council of Europe state their support for a “stand alone Irish Language Act”?
4/ And moat peculiarly , when did a majority of MLAs express their support for a “standalone Irish Language Act” – and if this is true, why don’t we have already have one?
1. No it isn’t. Conradh na Gaeilge.
I’m fairly sure that’s how I spelt it, no?
Oh no, I’ve seem what you done there.
Thanks.
Forgive my spelling but wast “most” always spelt with an “s” 😉
Yes Sean.
But predictive text can often run amok, can’t it.
Ps. But I’d say that the name of an Irish Language group wouldnt have that problem, and deserves to be spelt correctly, no?
As an aside I notice that the Ulster Bank is going to issue new plastic bank notes and that they are in the final stages of design. I hope they will remember that the majority of people in the province of Ulster are nationalist and that this will influence the design and wording of the new notes. They could enlist the help of those who designed the new RUC badge which has every symbol in the six counties incorporated. People using the UB or considering switching should bear this in mind.
The DUP has indeed agreed to Gaelic language legislation in the recent negotiations. It is SF that is blocking this by its refusal to countenance the inclusion of some provisions relating to Ulster Scots.
How do you know that the DUP have agreed or what they have agreed to?
By having following the news, political analysis and having a twitter of wit.
A link? The last I heard was Queen Arlene saying there would be no ILA on her ‘watch’. But maybe you know different. With your twitter of wit.
That was before the Assembly election in March. Things have moved on. Maybe you’ve been away.
Hi Tam
Big difference between a Language and dialect . Ulster- Scots, I don’t believe it’s a Language
in of itself, but it is a dialect of Scots spoken in ulster.
That’s very interesting, Daithi
What has Scots Irish to do with SF or the Irish language?
Tam , you undoubtedly know the difference between an act and a piece of legislation and your attempt to put the onus away from the duplicitousness and obstinacy of the DUP fails miserably. Everyone knows who and what collapsed the executive and it’ll take more than an ILA to restore it. Please don’t endeavour to equate a regional dialect with the indigenous language
of our country…..there is no equivalence or comparison
I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make, but my point remains.
And your point is?
What I said it was at 5.11pm yesterday.
Give us all a link to what you ‘indeed’ know. The DUP have not agreed to a stand alone ILA no matter about what you think. They have been told by the Orange bigots that it will not happen.
I never said they’d agreed to a ‘stand-alone’ Gaelic act.
So how have we moved on,then?
There have been two elections and many weeks of negotiations, during which, as I already said, the DUP has agreed to Gaelic legislation with Ulster Scots included. SF turned this down .
Ok,Tam, what you really mean is a comprehensive Culture Act. You say that the DUP have agreed to this. Where is the evidence of this apart your incisive political nous?
You might find this helpful.
http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/arlene-foster-will-back-irish-language-act-claim-activists-35968279.html
If you don’t believe me, maybe you’ll believe Gaelic activists.
Ah ,the machinations of the mind Tam…… The DUP agreed to procrastinate…. that’s all…. they never agree to anything unless instructed by the arch-bigots in the OO or their private drug-dealing army… the UDA….. however, it’s immaterial now…..we’ve had enough….. we tried compromise with equality and civility…. it won’t be rejected again….. believe me!
Gan meas, Gan A.n.G, Gan Stormont.
Why has an Irish Language Act, a construct that lay gathering dust for so long on McGuinness’ watch suddenly become the deal-breaker?
I would say MMcG didn’t want to rock the boat. He hoped that things would settle down and thorny items between SF and the DUP would sort themselves out. He finally realised that this was not going to happen, that he was being played for a fool. Either that or he had become so far removed from his voter base that he didn’t realise how bad things were until it was forcibly brought home to him. Now we will see who wants Stormont most.
10 years of non-delivery on anything is a long time for the penny to drop that Stormont was/is/will always be a dysfunctional pantomime, no?
Is this the “rollover republicanism” that the Dissies refer to?
Tá sé críochnaithe , raimh arís…. sin é agus sin sin