Acht na Theangacha TÉ/NI Languages Act

deise go deo

An Assembly bid to protect the Irish language in Northern Ireland has failed.
The Human Rights Commission wrote to Culture Minister Nelson McCausland in August this year and said the minister's failure to introduce Irish language legislation was not human rights compliant.
A Sinn Fein motion called on the minister to bring forward proposals for a strategy to protect the development of the language.

Belfast Telagraph

I cant see why they dont just put an act in place, The UK is obliged in agreements with the EU to promote Minority Language(Including Irish)

In a Related matter of Unionist obstructionism to the promotion of the Irish language.

The DUP has pledged to block plans by Regional Development minister Conor Murphy to provide for Irish language and Ulster-Scots road signs in the North.

The Sinn Féin minister announced a public consultation on allowing council welcome signs in towns or villages, plus signs at schools or tourist sites, to be in English as well as either Irish or Ulster-Scots.
But the DUP objected and claimed councils already had similar powers, accusing the minister of seeking to extend it to other sites.
Mr Murphy said the measure would help his department meet commitments under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

“The policy is intended to facilitate the introduction of a number of certain bilingual traffic signs in Irish or Ulster-Scots for the specific purpose of promoting minority languages,” he said

Irish Times

The Main argument them is that they would supposidly 'Gettoise' areas as each area would be marked out by its signs.

I cant agree with the notion that a people promoting its own culture and having their own identity would have the effect of 'Gettoising' an area, If that was the case then the European Idea of Unity through Diversity would be meaningless.

Bottle_of_Smoke

I think SF are out of their minds to be pushing this. And DUP out of their minds to be against it. The state rejection of the Irish language is what's keeping it going!

deise go deo

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

I think SF are out of their minds to be pushing this. And DUP out of their minds to be against it. The state rejection of the Irish language is what's keeping it going!

Thats an interesting position, I think you might find that the language has been growing since the state started supporting it more, since the end of the troubles, Funding the Cultúrlanns and Gaelscoileanna etc.

What is clear is that the language is growing in NI, All parties agreed to promote the language in the GFA,(Hence Foras na Gaeilge)
But now the DUP are dragging their feet, Far from mad, it is the best way to block the continued growth of the language, which is what they want to do it seams, despite commitments they made in the past.:(

Eliot Rosewater

deise go deo wrote: »

I cant agree with the notion that a people promoting its own culture and having their own identity would have the effect of 'Gettoising' an area, If that was the case then the European Idea of Unity through Diversity would be meaningless.

On the point of gettoising, it's worth noting that one of the reasons Jews are considered to be such a separate people is the historical ghettos they had in cities, which came about because they wanted to be culturally distinct from the rest.

Introducing Irish language signs obviously runs the risk of increasing cultural tensions. From your position I'd be arguing that the risk is worth it, rather than just denying it.

On the point of "Unity through Diversity", I think it's just a soundbite. Us Europeans work together because of our common interests, not our divergent ones. Cultural diversity is a good argument for tourism, but not so much for governance, in my opinion.

deise go deo

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

On the point of gettoising, it's worth noting that one of the reasons Jews are considered to be such a separate people is the historical ghettos they had in cities, which came about because they wanted to be culturally distinct from the rest.

Introducing Irish language signs obviously runs the risk of increasing cultural tensions. From your position I'd be arguing that the risk is worth it, rather than just denying it.

On the point of "Unity through Diversity", I think it's just a soundbite. Us Europeans work together because of our common interests, not our divergent ones. Cultural diversity is a good argument for tourism, but not so much for governance, in my opinion.

Celebrating our Cultural differences and treating cultures as equals is a good exercise in tolerance, and will build unity in my opinion rather than tension.
As for the Jews, I think a large factor to their cultural gettoisation was political animosity to them, very much the same(though arguably to a lesser degree) as what happened to nationalists in NI. I think that the continuance of political animosity like blocking a community from expressing its identity is far more likely to lead to gettoisation and cultural tension.

Oasis_Dublin

Unionists block Irish Language Act, what a surprise!

I don't care what anyone says though, the Unionist community of Ireland is a progressive, open-minded and non-bigoted one...!