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<h1 class="gmail-title entry-title">The DUP have a point about an Irish Language Act but it’s smaller than they think – and small minded too</h1> </header>
<div class="gmail-post-meta"><span class="gmail-author gmail-vcard"><span class="gmail-fn"><a href="https://sluggerotoole.com/author/brianwalker/" title="Posts by Brian Walker" rel="author">Brian Walker</a></span></span> <span class="gmail-small">on</span> <abbr class="gmail-date gmail-time gmail-published gmail-updated" title="2017-01-29T12:25:25+0000">29 January 2017</abbr> , <abbr class="gmail-time gmail-published" title="2017-01-29T12:25:25+0000">12:25 pm</abbr> <span class="gmail-post-comments gmail-comments"><a href="https://sluggerotoole.com/2017/01/29/the-dup-have-a-point-about-an-irish-language-act-but-its-smaller-than-they-think-and-small-minded-too/#disqus_thread">54 Comments</a></span> | <span class="gmail-view-count">1,173</span> views</div>
<p><a href="http://www.thejournal.ie/factcheck-irish-language-act-3209218-Jan2017/">The journal.ie</a>
have done a useful bit of fact checking over contradictory claims that
the St Andrew’s Agreement committed the DUP to “ an Irish Language Act.”
Their verdict:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>VERDICT</strong></p>
<p>The DUP’s claim that they never agreed to establish an Irish Language
Act as part of St Andrews Agreement is true, as the legislation refers
to the British government’s commitment to an Irish Language Act, not the
DUP’s.</p>
<p>Although they signed up to the St Andrews Agreement, this includes a
commitment by the UK government, and not the DUP. After devolution,
responsibility for a language policy was transferred to the Northern
Ireland Executive, but this did not include a commitment to establish an
Irish Language Act.</p>
<p>What was legislated for was a language <em style="font-weight:inherit">strategy</em>, which could include, but is not the same as, an Irish Language Act.</p>
<p>Apart from the St Andrews Agreement, there’s no evidence that they’ve ever agreed to establish an Irish Language Act.</p>
<p><strong>Claim: </strong>“The DUP at no point has ever agreed to
establish an Irish Language Act with the UK government, with the Irish
government, with Sinn Féin or anybody else.”</p>
<p><strong>Verdict: TRUE</strong></p></blockquote>
<p>Although this verdict will be disputed, I suspect it accords with
most people’s private assessment of the political position. I seem to
remember that St Andrews was followed up by demands for Westminster to
legislate , which rather gave the game away. Just now and in the
perhaps vain hope of avoiding zero sum comment , I’d like to stress
that this does not mean I’m in favour of the DUP position which is
philistine and as unhelpfully politicised as Sinn Fein’s.</p>
<p>I support dual language signage and the option of Irish in rites of
passage documents. But as for Irish in courts or the public sphere
generally, I have severe doubts . People have enough difficulty with the
small print in English, never mind Irish.</p>
<p>The limitations of the Victorian idea of a using an indigenous
language for nation-building have been shown in the Republic and more
recently in Wales. Yet there is a great civilising idea in there
somewhere which requires fresh and open debate leading to wider Irish
cultural provision including the language. We should build on the
rudiments of what we have already. I’m strongly in favour of learning,
beginning with far more about Irish music, stories ancient and modern,
the meaning of names for people and places and not least, the spelling
( though could that be simplified?). The Protestant tradition in the
language movement began to atrophy as it became more politicised ( and
dear old <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Douglas-Hyde">Douglas Hyde</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Y9oBMFLHw">Ernest Blythe</a>
whom I once interviewed at length elsewhere didn’t help). It’s not
quite dead and shows new signs of life. But it’s an uphill struggle
against politicisation.</p>
<p>Arguing for the existing statist model rigidly on the basis of
European minority language rights will get us precisely nowhere except
staying in deadlock.</p>
<p>An honest analysis of experience in the Republic and Wales would greatly assist objective debate.</p><p><a href="https://sluggerotoole.com/2017/01/29/the-dup-have-a-point-about-an-irish-language-act-but-its-smaller-than-they-think-and-small-minded-too/">https://sluggerotoole.com/2017/01/29/the-dup-have-a-point-about-an-irish-language-act-but-its-smaller-than-they-think-and-small-minded-too/</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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