Consultation on Irish Language Act

Irish speakers are a growing and vibrant sector of the community of Northern Ireland. Between the censuses of 1991 and 2001, there was an 18% increase in the number of Irish speakers. The 2001 Census records the figure of 167,490 people, or 10.4% of the population, with knowledge of Irish. There is widespread and intense demand for Irish medium education. There are 79 Irish medium schools in the north and by 2010, there will be over 10,000 children being educated entirely through Irish.

For many years, Irish speakers have been raising the need for domestic legislation for the Irish language. In recent times, POBAL, the umbrella organisation for the Irish speaking community in the north, has been to the forefront of intensive work towards an Irish Language Act to extend appropriate Westminster protections to the language. Northern Ireland is the only part of these islands where the primary indigenous language has no significant protection under domestic law. In Wales, the Welsh language has been protected under the Welsh Language act for over twenty years, in Scotland, the domestic legal provision made some years ago for Gàidhlig has been further enhanced through the Gàidhlig Act 2005. In the south of Ireland, of course, the Irish language is the subject of constitutional protections as well as the Official Languages Act 2003. On 1st January 2007, the status of Irish as an Official Language of the European Union took force. It is clear that there is an urgent need to break the anomalous pattern of differential treatment of the Irish language in comparison with Welsh and Gàidhlig by the British Government and to change the legislative and policy environment in the north of Ireland.

The commitment to enact an Irish Language Act at Westminster, given by the British government in the St Andrews Agreement has moved the issue to centre stage and given the promise of an historic breakthrough. Maria Eagle, the Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), has published a consultation document on the Irish Language Act, and consultation will close on 2 March 2007. The Minister has said that following this date, legal draft persons will prepare the final bill, which will be introduced at Westminster on 19 March .

POBAL work to date.

The St Andrews commitment to enact an Irish language Act follows on the heels of several years of significant pressure and developmental work within the Irish speaking community to raise awareness around the issues relating to language legislation and language rights. POBAL has succeeded in attracting unprecedented support from internationally recognised experts in the field for their work in drafting and agreeing a set of proposals for the Irish Language Act. Renowned language and legal rights experts including Robert Dunbar (University of Aberdeen), Wilson McLeod (University of Edinburgh) and Fernand de Varennes (Murdock University, Australia) have given advice and lent their expertise to the work. Following a two year process, including significant consultation with the Irish speaking community, trade unions, human rights organisations and others, the proposals were launched in February 2006 by Dr Maurice Hayes, the former NI Ombudsman and Head of the NI Civil Service and now member of Seanad Éireann. Dr Hayes also wrote a foreward to the document. Professor Colin Williams of the University of Cardiff, and member of the Welsh Language Board contributed an introduction.

DCAL’s consultation paper on Irish language legislation recognises the model put forward by POBAL, and acknowledges the excellent work carried out by the organisation. However, it also includes other models, including the Welsh, Scottish and southern Irish legislation. This is in spite of the fact that the consultation process already conducted by POBAL indicated a very definite preference for a strongly rights-based approach to an Irish language Act. During the two-year community-based process, there was a wide consensus that the Irish Language Act in Northern Ireland had to be based on a strong set of core language rights. There was recognition that whilst all models have certain limitations, in the hostile policy context of Northern Ireland, models based on consensus, such as the Welsh, Scottish and southern Irish models are unlikely to prove feasible in NI. Even in the supportive and developed linguistic rights environment of Wales, there is a growing recognition of the need for a much stronger rights-based approach, to be enshrined in a new language act.

In Scotland, given the relatively small numbers of Gaelic speakers and the fact that, in spite of concentrations in parts of the Hebrides, they are spread out throughout the country, a different approach from that in respect of Irish in Northern Ireland is appropriate. As in Wales, there is also a significant measure of broad goodwill towards the language, as shown by the passage of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 without any opposition in the Scottish Parliament. If anything, the Scottish approach is even more co-operative than in Wales, and given that the legislation has just come into force, it is far too early to tell whether this model will be successful. There was a strong consensus in the POBAL consultation on the Draft Act that the Scottish approach was neither feasible nor desirable.

In the Republic of Ireland, Irish has significant status under the constitution, and the Official Languages Act 2003 enhances this by creating a wide range of rights. It is a much more rights-based model than either the Welsh or Scottish ones. Although it does draw on the Welsh approach in some respects, notably with respect to the creation of language schemes by public bodies, once again, the context in the Republic of Ireland is much different: the language enjoys broad public support, and cross-party support within the Dáil. Indeed, even in such a supportive environment, it was considered necessary to ensure certain basic rights to Irish speakers; in the less supportive environment of NI, the need for a rights-base approach is even more compelling.

In NI, the Irish language is, sadly, still an emotional and hotly contested issue, and too many confuse, most inappropriately, the treatment of the Irish language and its speakers with other issues. In such a climate, therefore, there was strong consensus that the sort of co-operative administrative planning-based approach favoured in Wales would simply not work—it would not sufficiently respond to the needs and aspirations of Irish speakers, and it would too easily result in the sort of frustrations that would damage rather than improve cross-community relations. Instead, a relatively strong rights-based approach would be preferable. Irish speakers would have a much clearer idea of their rights, and the wider community would be clear about those rights as well, reducing, in the longer-term confusion and the potential for misunderstanding and, with it, tension.

The public have until 2 March to respond to the DCAL consultation document. POBAL have been disappointed to see that the consultation document seems to be written from an institutional viewpoint rather than from that of the user entitled to services. We also note with some astonishment that the issue of broadcasting has been completely left out of the document, as has the use of the Irish language in the work place. We believe that POBAL’s agreed proposals should be the basis of the Irish language Act, and that the Act must:

• make Irish an Official language in NI
• be passed at Westminster within a published and agreed timescale
• be resourced from Westminster
• must take a rights-based approach
• must create a significant number and range of guaranteed rights in political institutions, local authorities, administration of justice, education and media
• outline the Irish language services that government and public bodies must provide and within what timescale
• establish the Irish Language Commissioner NI and
• the Bord um Chearta agus Phleanáil na Gaeilge to help manage the implementation and administration of the Act
• contain a Schedule attached to the Act listing the government, public bodies and privatised companies dealing with service provision who will have the greatest role in providing Irish language services. Other agencies will work with Bord um Chearta agus Phleanáil na Gaeilge to develop schemes that will put Irish language services in place within a stated timeframe

Clearly, the early enactment and resourcing by the UK Government of a comprehensive Irish Language Act for the north is an enabling action that will clarify the rights of Irish speakers and the responsibilities of Government and public bodies. It will make it easier for individuals to understand and protect their rights and it will enable those working in Government and public sectors to fulfill their duties. It will also assist in harmonising equality and language legislation in the jurisdiction of the UK and Ireland.

POBAL’s proposals for the Irish Language Act can be found on our website at www.pobal.org. We are available to help organisations and individuals who wish to support the Irish Language Act to write individual letters or submissions to the Consultation process. We can be contacted at eolas@pobal.org, or 028 9043 8132. There is also an online petition that can be accessed at www.petitiononline.com/acht