NI GFA CHALLENGES Irish Language and Ulster-Scots

A prominent loyalist claims in January 2021 that the BBC NI are trolling him by using a picture of a Belfast street sign in English and Irish (the Irish is similar to his surname).

Just a sign of how this issue, like so much in NI, isn't really fully resolved notwithstanding the deal struck in January 2020 to get Stormont up again.

The DUP are making noises about how upset they are at a policy which means that if any one resident or local councillor objects to an application for Irish (or Ulster-Scots!) street signage, 'just' 15% of local residents can approve it. That may be a low number, but activating that number isn't necessarily so easy! See Belfast Telegraph.

You can read more in an RTE article shortly after the 2020 deal was struck:

The Stormont proposals for legal protection for the Irish language in Northern Ireland are significant because they amount to the first piece of domestic legislation recognising the language north of the border. Irish is mentioned in general terms in the Good Friday Agreement and is also protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, but campaigners have long fought for more specific and robust legal provisions at local level.

While recognising the historic advance represented by the agreement, campaign groups such as An Dream Dearg and Conradh na Gaeilge are nonetheless disappointed that the deal covers broader linguistic and identity issues and does not amount to a standalone Irish language act. This stands in contrast with legislation for Irish in the Republic, as well as acts covering Welsh and Scottish Gaelic. However, the legacy of conflict in Northern Ireland meant a similar approach was unlikely to work. 

The Wiki is also useful:

On 11 January 2020, Sinn Féin and the DUP re-entered devolved government under the New Decade, New Approach agreement with DUP leader Arlene Foster appointed Northern Ireland's first minister, and Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill appointed deputy first minister.[21] As part of the agreement, there will be no standalone Irish Language Act, but the Northern Ireland Act 1998 will be amended and policies implemented to:

grant official status to both the Irish language and Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland;[22]

establish the post of Irish Language Commissioner to "recognise, support, protect and enhance the development of the Irish language in Northern Ireland" as part of a new Office of Identity and Cultural Expression (alongside an Ulster Scots/Ulster British Commissioner);[6]

introduce sliding-scale "language standards", a similar approach to that taken for the Welsh language in Wales, although they are subject to veto by the First Minister or deputy First Minister;[23]

repeal a 1737 ban on the use of Irish in Northern Ireland's courts;[6]

allow members of the Northern Ireland Assembly to speak in Irish or Ulster Scots, with simultaneous translation for non-speakers,[24] and

establish a central translation unit within the Northern Ireland government.[24]

NI New Decade New Approach Jan 2020

 

WILL DEAL COLLAPSE OVER DUP BLOCK ON LANGUAGES ACT?

The DUP getting angry at the idea of the British government legislating is not new - but Sinn Fein asking a Tory government to use the Commons to pass an Irish Languages Act, as agreed under the 2020 deal to revive the Assembly ... that's pretty weird! See June 2021 Guardian report.

MAY 2021 REVIEW - 500 DAYS LATER...

See BTele.

So, having broken records for non-governance, the DUP and SF finally brokered a deal to relaunch the Assembly in December 2019, signed and finalised in Jan 2020. SF had been insisting on DUP resignations in the light of the Cash For Ash scandal, and made an Irish Language Act their absolute red-line.

The DUP had been set to agree to a language act years before ... only to get a strong message from loyalists that this would be unacceptable and they would lose much of their support base. 

The smart solution - SF quietly dropped the resignation insistence and the DUP agreed to a bill that would give Irish ... AND Ulster-Scots legal parity!

While the Assembly remained shuttered (it requires the support of a portion of both unionist and nationalist blocs to function: it is a power-sharing executive!) the UK gov passed acts to legalise gay marriage and abortion in NI - to the fury of the DUP, who attempted to reopen Stormont early to block this. The more left-wing Sinn Fein blocked that attempt.

Here are some articles to read more:

Official UK gov paper.

BBC summary Jan 4th; and a later more detailed look (Jan 10th).

How the Daily Mail covered it.

A critical opinion piece (Suzanne Breen) in the Belfast Telegraph + an analysis piece.

The Wiki!!!

Guardian editorial (opinion piece); background on how the deal was made; analysis of priorities for the restored Assembly.

Here's a video from the Assembly itself:

Here's a BBC Newsnight video

...