PROMINENT West Belfast Irish language activist Jake Mac Siacais has been appointed to a five-member Expert Advisory Panel for Stormont's Irish language Strategy.
Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has appointed the panel to work on the strategy as part of commitments set out in the 2020 New Decade, New Approach Agreement.
The Minister has also established an Expert Advisory Panel for the government's Ulster Scots Language, Heritage and Culture Strategy.
Mr Mac Siacais is a lifelong political, community and language activist, and is the current Director of the Falls Road-based Irish language development agency, Forbairt Feirste. He is also a former Blanketman and was the one-time editor of the Andersonstown News' Monday edition.
Commenting on his appointment, Mr Mac Siacais said the panel will sit for an initial 10 weeks and will advise on the strategy's "thematic" focus. It will then make recommendations on the delivery of the strategy.
He said the strategy should focus on a number of "key" areas including "economy, infrastructural investment, capacity building, and addressing educational deficit" within the Irish sector.
"There are whole number of areas that need specifically looked at; capacity building in terms of Irish-medium education, resourcing of Irish-medium education, the solidification of the delivery of Irish-medium education," he said.
"All of those are particular areas that need addressed and that need firmed up.
"We also need to see a concrete approach to how you capacity build within the growing Irish language communities, both in urban and rural areas. For example, how would the strategy address the development, infrastructurally and organisationally, within the Gaeltacht Quarter in Belfast, and then in a rural context in areas like Rathcarn? It's so that you have a template that capitalises development.
"You also need to ensure that any expenditure within the Irish language strategy is cognisant of Section 75 requirements (equality legislation), so that you're addressing areas of particular need.
"We need to have a strategy around training, higher and further education, and job creation within the Irish-medium sector."
He added: "We need to see a strategy that is cross-departmental, so that you don't have departments acting in silos."
He said the strategy should look at "debunking the myth" about costly translation of government documents.
"An Irish language strategy should be very clear – we don't want public money spent on translating reams of documents from the English language, which nobody reads in English," he explained.
"But there needs to be a strategy so that core documents like birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, all of those fundamental things that people do are available to Irish speakers on demands."
Mr Mac Siacais, who once wrote a weekly Ulster-Scots language column for the Andersonstown News, expressed concern about the focus of Stormont's Ulster-Scots strategy.
He believes the strategy, which also focuses on culture and heritage, could see further public money spent on things like loyalist flute bands.
"From the outset it's looking at developing a strategy for Ulster-Scots language, culture, and heritage – that's a skewed idea," he explained.
"If they're talking about investing strategically in the Ulster-Scots language that's grand and that can be done in relation to wherever the language is at.
"The Ulster-Scots Agency is already spending reams of money on Scots dancing and Orange flute bands, and that's flawed.
"I will be making the point that the approach to the strategic development of Ulster-Scots is flawed.
"If they're going to go down that road then additional resources need to made available, not just in relation to Irish language, but Irish culture – that would cover sport, dance, and all of those areas. If they want to develop like with like, that's what they need to be doing."
