IRISH language campaigners have welcomed the British government’s intention to repeal a 300-year-old law that bans Irish in the courts.
Secretary for State Hilary Benn confirmed in a letter that he will repeal the law this week which dates back to Penal times. He is set to address the issue in the House of Commons.
Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin, newly elected President of Conradh na Gaeilge, said it was
an "historic moment" and a "major victory" for the Irish language community in the north.
"Whilst similar legislation was repealed in Wales, Scotland and the south long, long ago, once again, Irish speakers here in the north were, as always, left behind, as an ongoing legacy of colonial policy designed to eradicate the Irish language from all vestiges of public life. Only the immense grass-roots campaign for language rights, which brought over 20,000 people onto the streets of Belfast, would bring us closer to a society where Irish speakers are afforded the same rights as everyone else.
“The Irish language must have equal status in all of our public and shared spaces. That is what equality looks like. Now that this Penal-era ban has finally been repealed, it is up to the Executive to ensure the provision underpinning Irish speaking rights in our legal arenas are based on best-practice and equality. We have written to the Justice Minister, who is, from this point on, responsible for setting out the new Irish language policy of our courts and legal systems, to ensure the needs and expectations of our community are realised in full.”
Representing Conradh na Gaeilge, Niall Murphy from KRW Law, said the announcement from the British Government is a "major milestone in the ongoing journey towards comprehensive language rights for Irish speakers here in the north".
"It is now imperative that the Justice Minister brings forward robust guidelines that recognises the ever-growing community of Irish speakers across our society and facilitates their inclusion in our legal services and spaces. This watershed moment in the Irish language movement must have a real-life and practical impact on all of those people who chose to live their lives through the Irish language, ending centuries of marginalisation and exclusion from public life.”
Welcoming the decision West Belfast MLA Aisling Reilly said: “This was one of many measures introduced into legislation in the Assembly to strengthen the Irish language and ensure it is accessible to all.
“For Irish speakers, this is another positive step in the right direction as the energetic revival of the language continues at pace.”
