Fri May 11 15:41:56 UTC 2018

 Belfast City Council advertises for Irish language officer
By Robbie Meredith BBC News NI Education Correspondent

   - 11 May 201

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Image caption The move was agreed by a majority of councillors in October
2017

Belfast City Council has advertised for its first dedicated Irish language
officer.

The move was agreed by a majority of councillors in October 2017.

A second language officer responsible for Ulster-Scots, sign language and
"languages for new communities" is also being appointed.

They will develop and promote their respective languages within the council
and to the public.

The posts both carry salaries of between £29,909 and £32,333 per year and
are permanent jobs.

Among the Irish language officer's responsibilities is to encourage the use
of written and spoken Irish in the Belfast City Council area.

They are also asked to improve access to council information in Irish.
'Political sensitivity required'

The post is being part-funded by Foras na Gaeilge, the cross-border Irish
language body.

Both officers are also expected to have "political sensitivity skills,"
according to the job descriptions.

That is defined as: "The ability to deal with sensitive issues, using
political awareness and sensitivity, when working with elected members,
senior managers and representatives of outside organisations."

In an amendment which went before council in October 2017, unionist
councillors had proposed that one officer for all languages in Belfast be
appointed.

However, that proposal was defeated by 33 votes to 20 in favour of two
separate language officers.

Lee Reynolds, DUP group leader on Belfast City Council, said his party
"haven't accepted the need for the two language officers".

He said: "There was a political decision by the council and that is now
being implemented but, on the basis of what was identified as the needs of
the language groups in Belfast and how those would best be serviced, we
still believe that one officer would have been sufficient and could have
addressed the concerns of all the various language communities in Belfast."

But Deidre Hargey, who leads the Sinn Fein councillors, said it was "a good
day for the council".

She added: "There's a language framework that has now been agreed, which
has Irish language and Ulster Scots policies and also minority policy. It's
within the context of rolling out those frameworks that these posts have
been created."

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 Harold F. Schiffman

Professor Emeritus of
 Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
Dept. of South Asia Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

Phone:  (215) 898-7475
Fax:  (215) 573-2138

Email:  haroldfs at gmail.com
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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