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<h1 class="gmail-story-body__h1">Council of Europe calls for Irish language act</h1>
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<span class="gmail-byline__name">By Robbie Meredith</span>
<span class="gmail-byline__title">BBC News NI Education Correspondent</span>
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Dr Aleksandra Oszmiańska-Pagett is the head of the delegation
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</figure><p class="gmail-story-body__introduction">The head of a delegation from the Council of Europe (CoE) has renewed calls for an Irish language act.</p><p>Dr Aleksandra Oszmiańska-Pagett was speaking during a visit to Belfast by a committee of language experts from the council.</p><p>They were finding out how the Irish and Ulster-Scots languages are being promoted and protected in Northern Ireland.</p><p>The council is Europe's top human rights watchdog with 47 member states.</p><p>The Strasbourg-based organisation reports on how states comply with the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.</p><p>However, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-42996006" class="gmail-story-body__link">the UK has failed to provide information on Irish and Ulster-Scots for the council's latest report.</a></p><ul class="gmail-story-body__unordered-list">
<li class="gmail-story-body__list-item"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-38601181" class="gmail-story-body__link">NI Assembly divided by Irish language </a></li>
<li class="gmail-story-body__list-item"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-43048025" class="gmail-story-body__link">DUP: 'No stand-alone Irish language act'</a></li>
<li class="gmail-story-body__list-item"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-43814029" class="gmail-story-body__link">Sign language act 'bigger priority' than Irish language? </a></li>
</ul><h2 class="gmail-story-body__crosshead">'Core and crux of the problem'</h2><p>Members
of the council's committee of experts, who write the language reports,
were in Belfast on Monday where they met a number of language activists.</p><p>They
also visited pupils at Bunscoil Phobail Feirste, the largest
Irish-medium primary school in the city with more than 350 pupils.</p><figure class="gmail-media-landscape gmail-has-caption gmail-full-width">
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The delegation visited Bunscoil Phobail Feirste on Monday
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</figure><p>Speaking there, Dr Oszmiańska-Pagett said language legislation was vital.</p><p>"That is the core and the crux of the problem," she said.</p><p>"To
have the legislation in place is one of the most important obligations
stemming from the charter, from just the legal point of view.</p><p>"But
from a practical point of view this is essential because then
education, culture and media are not held hostage to political
tensions."</p><p>She added: "If there is an Irish language bill then
catering for children who would like to learn through the medium of
Irish would be a statutory duty rather than a matter of atmosphere."</p><h2 class="gmail-story-body__crosshead">'Dysfunctional treatment'</h2><p>The Council of Europe had previously called for Irish language legislation in their 2014 report.</p><figure class="gmail-media-landscape gmail-has-caption gmail-full-width">
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Janet Muller said there was a "specific problem" between the Irish language and politics in Northern Ireland
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</figure><p>It called on the UK "to adopt and implement a
comprehensive Irish language policy, preferably through the adoption of
legislation".</p><p>Janet Muller from the Irish language organisation Pobal said she was frustrated that no progress had been made since then.</p><p>"The way that the Irish language has been treated here is dysfunctional," she said.</p><p>"And that's in comparison with all the other countries of Europe and all the other languages.</p><p>"There is a very specific problem here in relation to the political situation and the way that the Irish language is dealt with.</p><p>"I think that they want to see that resolved and they want to see the British government act to do that."</p><figure class="gmail-media-landscape gmail-has-caption gmail-full-width">
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Anne Smyth says there has been "precious little
progress" in terms of the progress of Ulster-Scots over the life of the
assembly
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</figure><h2 class="gmail-story-body__crosshead">'Not enough support'</h2><p>Anne
Smyth from the Ulster-Scots Language Society also met the visiting
experts and also expressed frustration at the lack of progress in
advancing Ulster-Scots.</p><p>"We have made precious little progress over the life of the assembly," she said.</p><p>"That's not for want of will from native speakers and organisations like my own.</p><p>"We're just not getting the support that we need in terms of capacity building or resources."</p><p>However,
the council cannot force the UK government or the Northern Ireland
executive to implement the recommendations in its reports.</p><p>That
has previously led some critics to accuse the council of being a talking
shop with little power, other than diplomatic pressure.</p>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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