Will arguments over Irish-language legislation topple the government in Northern Ireland?

By Christine Quigley

This week, new First Minister of Northern Ireland Paul Givan MLA should be taking up his post, following nomination by his party’s new leader Edwin Poots. However, a storm over the DUP’s position on a potential Irish Language Act has put this accession in doubt and could potentially collapse the government of Northern Ireland in the coming days.

Under the power-sharing process, the first minister is nominated by the largest party in the Assembly, which for some years has been the DUP. A nomination process for the first minister must be accompanied by a nomination process for the deputy first minister, a position held by Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill MLA. With previous First Minister Arlene Foster MLA standing down today, a seven-day window has been triggered within which both roles must be re-nominated. If this doesn’t happen, the UK Government must dissolve the Assembly and call a snap election.

Sinn Féin is currently refusing to engage in this renomination process in protest at what the party sees as a lack of faith from the DUP in honouring a pledge to legislate for rights for Irish-language speakers in Northern Ireland.

One of the most well-known Irish seanfhocail, or proverbs, is “Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam” – a country without a language is a country without a soul. The Irish language is the official language of the State in the Republic of Ireland, with English the official second language, but Irish does not have parity with English in Northern Ireland. 

The proposed Acht na Gaeilge, or Irish Language Act, would give Irish equal status with English in Northern Ireland. In practice, this would provide Northern Ireland residents for the right to use Irish within the judicial system, in the Northern Ireland Assembly and engaging with public sector services. It would also enable Irish-medium education and bilingual signage, which already exist in the Republic, and would appoint an Irish language commissioner. The legislation is supported by Sinn Féin and the SDLP and by Irish-language body Conradh na Gaeilge, and has an active grassroots campaign called An Dream Dearg calling for action now.

The St Andrews Agreement of 2006 mooted plans for the UK Government to introduce an Irish Language Act, but instead it implemented a language strategy to “ensure the enhancement and protection of Irish and Ulster Scots”, rather than an Act to introduce the powers being called for by nationalist groups. This has allowed the DUP to claim that it never agreed to an Irish Language Act, as the responsibility under the St Andrews Agreement was on the UK Government rather than Stormont. Nationalist and republican parties have interpreted this inaction over fifteen years as a slap in the face for Irish language rights. This tension has been exacerbated by several high-profile incidents in which DUP politicians mocked the Irish language, notably MP and MLA Gregory Campbell’s 2014 “Curry my yoghurt” comments in the Assembly chamber, while DUP voters continue to oppose an Irish Language Act by two-to-one, reinforcing their party’s stance.

More recently, the New Decade, New Approach deal agreed in January 2020 by the five largest parties in Northern Ireland, as well as the British and Irish governments, included a promise to legislate specifically to create an Irish language commissioner and to provide official recognition of the status of the Irish language in Northern Ireland, as well as to repeal legislation from 1737 which prohibits any language apart from English from being used in Northern Irish courts. A report published in April 2021 by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts criticised these proposals as not being comprehensive enough, saying that “Even once the measures contained in the January 2020 agreement are enacted, there remains a need for a comprehensive Irish language act.” 

The eighteen months between the agreement of New Decade, New Approach and the resignation of the First Minister have seen no action to bring forward legislation as promised, and Sinn Féin made clear over the weekend that the party would only engage in this week’s renomination process if accompanied by tabling of an Irish Language Act ahead of the summer recess. 

While new DUP leader Edwin Poots MLA has repeatedly confirmed that he is committed to implementing all outstanding elements of the New Decade, New Approach deal, frustrations among Irish-speakers and the broader nationalist community on the delays and limited scope of legislation mean that this may not go far enough. Expect a tense week of negotiations in Stormont, and potentially intercessions from both Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis MP and Foreign Minister Simon Coveney TD in the coming days, before we know whether the deadlock can be resolved or whether Stormont is facing another set of elections.