An Irish language school in East Belfast has caused a certain amount of consternation among not only the Unionist and Loyalist community of East Belfast, but also with Loyalism further afield. Naíscoil na Seolta, translated to English, ‘Nursery of the Sails’, is East Belfast’s first Irish-medium integrated nursery school. What a time for the Irish language, a language once thought, by the very same Loyalists to be the language of Nationalists and Republicans. Naíscoil na Seolta will strive to achieve a religious balance of pupils, staff, both teaching, non-teaching, and governors and acknowledge and respect the cultural diversity they represent.
Ironically the person pushing this change within Unionism is the self-proclaimed Unionist and sister-in-law of David Ervine, Linda Ervine. Linda is also project leader of the “Turas” Irish language project which aims to connect people from Protestant communities to their own history with the Irish language. If Loyalists so much as peeked into their not so anti-Irish and anti-Catholic corner of their ‘culture’, they would find a deep and meaningful connection to the Irish language. Linda Ervine realised the Irish language was not a threat and is attempting to impart that fact on others within the Unionist community.
I admire Linda Ervine for having the courage and dedication to the language she loves to stand up to those within her own community who would seek to demonise the language she holds dear. She teaches the language through the history of the language, through Presbyterianism and Protestantism and rightly so. Personalities such as Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin from Conradh na Gaeilge have always maintained the Irish language belongs to all of us on this little island. However, the likes of David McNarry once said he was normally a law-abiding man, but if anyone erected an Irish language road sign in his neighbourhood he would take it down, irrespective of any Irish language act. And he couldn’t care less if the signs were trilingual to include Ulster Scots – there would be no Irish sign on his street. He said – “What I am advocating is Unionism taking a stand, saying that enough is enough; we don’t need Irish language signs at the bottom of my road. I know the name of my road”.
Gregory Campbell is another political personality who likes to demean and slur the Irish language. Sad little quips such as “Curry my yoghurt” may get a few laughs at a DUP conference or from Stephen Nolan while interviewing Niall O’Donnghaile, but many within the Nationalist and Republican community and even Unionism’s Irish language community see the Irish language as a deal breaker. An Irish Language Act is enshrined within the black ink of the Good Friday Agreement and the New Decade New Approach document, yet it has still to be realised. While Linda Ervine is at the forefront of Irish language revival and emancipation within Loyalism and Unionism, she has spoken little of an Irish Language Act nor has she spoken much about legislation enshrined in the GFA or the NDNA.
Some people simply will not accept an Irish Language Act for no other reason than it was enshrined in the GFA and NDNA, ratified by both the British and Irish governments and by the USA and the EU. They can link it to Republicanism, to Nationalism, to Sinn Fein and any other group or party they wish, but in the end the Irish language belongs to Ireland, both North and South and its people. How can a language belong to any one group of people? The oldest remains of the ancient Irish language we have, are inscriptions on Ogham stones from the 5th and 6th centuries. Old Irish was first written in the Roman alphabet before the beginning of the 7th century which makes Irish the oldest written vernacular language in Europe, much older than the English language. Not only is the Irish language the best part of a millennium older than English, with English not spoken in any large measure in Ireland, until the 1400s and did not become the main language of Ireland until the 1860s, having gained its dominant position by over a million fluent Irish speakers dying due to An Gorta Mór. By 500AD, the Irish language had begun to spread through Scotland, the west coast of Britain and the Isle of Man. In fact, the Gaelic spoken in Scotland today descends from the Gaeilge of Ireland.
According to the 2011 census, 1.77 million people can speak some form of Irish. However, just because they can speak it doesn’t mean that they do. Only 82,000 people in that same census said they spoke Irish outside of school. When you consider that 119,526 said they spoke Polish on a daily basis, it doesn’t say much for Gaeilge’s standing as an official language which makes a recognised Irish Language Act more of a necessity than ever. You’ll also be surprised to hear Irish is spoken in a specific part of Ontario, Canada. Here, you’ll find Gaeltacht Thuaisceart an Oileáin Úir, translated to English, the ‘North American Gaeltacht’. It’s the only Gaeltacht that exists outside of the island of Ireland. Irish emigrants fleeing An Gorta Mór settled there and managed to keep their language alive, eventually going so far as to declare themselves a Gaeltacht in 1994.
We need to start being proud of our native language because there is still a shyness surrounding it, especially in the North of Ireland. We need to start promoting it and learning it. I achieved my Fáinne Airgid when I was in primary school in Carrickfergus, but sadly I have forgotten much of what I learned of a beautiful language I held dear. I have made the decision, and taken it upon myself to work toward fluency in my Irish and achieve my Fáinne Óir. The Irish language is versatile, infinitely more descriptive and stirring than the English language ever can be. Embrace it, learn it and wear your Fáinne Airgid or Fáinne Óir with pride. In that way people will see you are learning Irish and will speak it to you and with you. It’s the best way to keep our beautiful language alive and thriving, in the very country it originated and ironically, the very country it almost died out in, thanks to British Unionist suppression of it through legislation and anti-Irish learning in schools. Let’s not allow it to die out again.
Éirinn go Brách. Ár dTeanga Do Rogha.
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