Northern Ireland 2125?

I honestly dont think the Irish language or street signs in Belfast will be a big factor in a unification vote. People will decide based on more important topics.

This thread is about N. Ireland. The language died there. As someone else said,

"Nobody has contradicted the fact that the last native speaker died out in the 1980s. Now, there has been a great job at revival done, much better than Ulster Scots, but they were both dead languages up there."

The vast majority of people in Ireland do not speak it either. There is little or no demand for an Irish language version of boards.ie for example. That despite the fact it is drummed in to us at school and the government spends hundreds of millions on it.

No, putting up signs giving equal prominence to Irish, while at the same time bragging that every word of Irish is a bullet for Irish freedom, is taunting. Especially when the community the taunt is directed at suffered probably more than its fair share of bullets, given Republicans killed 60% of people killed during the troubles.

In linguistics, a dead language is (usually) defined as a language that some people still use, even if there are no native speakers left. . Latin is probably the most widely known dead language. No one speaks it as their everyday language anymore.

If it is true that the last native speaker died out in N.I. the 1980s, then the language in N.I. was dead then , or as good as.

The language was dead in Northern Ireland, that is a FACT, 

It was not. A dialect died out.

No, it wasn't.

Irish dialects have always intermixed and been used all over the island.

A handful of people possibly doing it as a hobby in the 70s or 80s does not mean the language was in good health in the 70s or 80s. It was never illegial to speak a cupla focail. 99.9% of people though could'nt be bothered in everyday conversation. Even here in the Republic in 2025 it is extremely rare to hear anyone speaking in Irish in the streets, shops, businesses.

Why not have a third line of signage on the train station in Ulster Scots so? Why discriminate in favour of the Irish language if you want a second line added?

If you go to Sydney airport, should there not be aboriginee on it too in equal size letters? And native American in equal size letters beside the sign for John F. Kennedy International airport?

You link says:

"The Ulster-Scots language was established in Ulster in the early 1600s…."

Yes, some of the vocabulary has been adopted in spoken English in the region, as it say, but so has a cupla focail been adopted in spoken English by some people too.

In my opinion, having Irish language in large letters on the train station, in equal size and font to English, is only confusing for people who are not fluent in either language. There is a very good reasonwhen you go to Sydney airport, you do not see aboriginee on it too in equal size letters. Or native American in equal size letters beside the sign for John F. Kennedy International airport.

It is more than just the SF slight majority taunting the unionists in N.I. : I would say the same thing (about stupid ugly confusing unecessary words / language on signs ) if someone proposed the same size / font lettering in Irish as in English at Dublin airport for example.

Common sense. Ask any graphic designer if you are unsure. Whenere there are 2 languages on a sign, there is a reason why one is usually smaller / different font.

It means you can read the signs more easily at a glance.

Of course the republicans in N.I. want them the same size / font, for obvious reasons.

There is not a clear consensus on whether Scots itself fits the bill of a sister language to English or whether it is just a dialect itself, Blanch.

Curious that Ulster Scots, a dialect descended from a language or dialect from Scotland fits your criteria for native.....but Ulster Gaeilge, descended primarily from Donegal Gaeilge doesn't.