THE Stormont Executive must implement “all outstanding Irish language legal duties”, Conradh na Gaeilge have demanded.
The umbrella body for the Irish language made the call after the Executive published its Programme for Government this week.
As part of the Programme for Government there is a commitment that the Executive "will fulfil" their duties under the new language legislation, the Identity and Language Act (2022); in addition, the document states that "work is progressing on the development of the Executive’s Irish language strategy".
Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin, newly elected President of Conradh na Gaeilge, said that when the draft Programme for Government was published in September last year the Irish language community was angry that “we were completely excluded from that document”.
“We used that anger to encourage the public to participate in the consultation process and to advance the case of the Irish language and Irish-medium education. Whilst we have been able to push some references to the Irish language into the final version, there are clear shortcomings compared to what we would have expected.”
He added: “The very bare minimum that we should expect in any Programme for Government is a clear plan and a reasonable timescale for the implementation of the Executive’s outstanding legal duties in relation to the Irish Language Act, the Commissioner and the Irish-Language Strategy, all previously agreed in law. We recognise and welcome that there is a commitment to implement the 2022 Act. Those commitments, however, have remained outstanding for several years. It is very difficult for us to have confidence that this timely implementation is a priority for an Executive in which the DUP is actively vetoing Irish language issues."
Advocacy Manager with Conradh na Gaeilge, Conchúr Ó Muadaigh, said the DUP has delayed the implementation of legal commitments to the Irish language for years and “over the last few weeks we have not seen anything to tell us they are going to suddenly change those trends”.
“Given there is no clear commitment to completing the Irish Language Strategy, a legal duty dating back to 2016, especially when compared to the firm commitments to delivering other strategies in the same document, Conradh na Gaeilge will continue preparation for a third Judicial Review into the failure to comply with that law. We are also very concerned that there is no reference to Irish-medium education in this Programme for Government, at a time when national and international experts are urgently calling for strong support, interventions and policies for this ever-growing sector.”
