The Irish Language Act: Once Bitten, Twice Shy…

Readers may recall my recent article in which I speculated on what the initial media frenzy led us to believe was the upcoming ILA. This was written in the immediate aftermath of the initial announcement and was published on Slugger around a day or so afterwards – by which time greater detail had emerged, with certain speculations and predictions having been subsequently laid to rest. The current ILA saga is, of course, ongoing – and will in all probability be subject to further change in line with political developments.

The first, best demonstration of this fact of life – for which I am indebted to Mick Fealty and his digging – is that as opposed to any concrete, standalone ILA, the most likely outcome (for now) is a series of mere amendments to the existing Northern Ireland Act – purportedly the spirit of New Decade, New Approach (NDNA). The second, is that even this may be a bridge too far – with the Belfast Telegraph reporting today (Sunday 20th June) that the DUP may yet “force an Assembly election in the autumn unless there is significant change in the plans to bring in Irish language laws.” (N.B. No prizes for guessing what “change in the plans” they will be after). Both of these fast-moving and drastic developments point to that fact that whatever we end up with – be it an Act, any legislation, or mere amendments – is likely to diverge quite considerably from what we were imagining and expecting a couple of days ago, and indeed today.

In light of this – and based on conversations with Gaeilgeoirí over the past couple of days – I believe the initial euphoria among Irish language speakers, friends and advocates has now given way to an air of cynicism. Where I previously prescribed cautious optimism”, I would now argue that what we need is caution – full stop. There are several grounds for this caution and cynicism – the greatest of which can be found only a couple of years ago, with the introduction of Equal Marriage to the north of Ireland. Readers may recall that, during the ongoing political efforts to restore Stormont, there was a strong push for Irish language (and Ulster-Scots) legislation – concurrent with the push for same-sex marriage. In the end, however, the latter won out – giving rise to two competing narratives. The first, propagated widely and primarily by Sinn Féin: That same-sex marriage and an ILA (or equivalent legislation) were too big of an ask from the DUP in one ‘go’. The second, propagated largely by members of the Irish Language community: That the ILA (or equivalent legislation), and therefore the Irish Language community, were effectively thrown under the bus by a political party desperate to get Stormont back up and running (for better or worse). If ever Unionists (or others) needed a demonstration of the fact that Sinn Féin and the Irish Language community are not one in the same – which is not to say there aren’t varying degrees of inevitable overlap – bhuel, seo daoibh.

Nevertheless, and luckily for some, these competing narratives never came to a head – in large part, because the first narrative was so thoroughly believable, but also due to the underlying notion that the ILA would be one of ‘tomorrow’s battles’ – to be fought and won at a later date. The carrot of an inevitable – albeit delayed – victory, seemingly proved sweet enough to take away the bitter taste of waiting. Nevertheless, it would be wise to regard the Irish language community as having been “once bitten” in the aftermath of this – and now that the issue of an ILA has come to the fore again, they are “twice shy”.

Concubhar Ó Liatháin – a Gaeilgeoir who is far from ‘shy’ in the usual sense – provided me with his explanation as to why. Although he admits “[his] view is a dissenting view among Irish language activists” – I would argue it is all the more valuable for that. If the past few days have shown us anything, it is to not rest on our laurels and take an ILA – especially the sort of ILA many of us envisage and aspire to – for granted. Although I argued that “SF has no incentive to sign off on any Stormont-derived ILA if it is not at least on par with its Scottish/Welsh equivalents” – Concubhar argues that it is “not possible to overestimate [the] level of cynicism in SF” and that therefore “the weaker the better for SF” in respect of any ILA or equivalent legislation, as “they don’t want people to be happy with the status-quo as victory in a border referendum is their aim.”

Ultimately, in respect of the ILA (or mere amendments, as we now know are likely to be the case) as currently proposed, Concubhar fears this “could just empower the dead hand of bureaucracy to further stifle the growth of the language” – a far cry from what was achieved in Wales, or what could have been (or still could be?) achieved under the hypothetical ‘Welsh Language Act (1993)-NDNA’ hybrid Act I was myself envisioning.

Although I would be happy to be proven right, and for Concubhar to be proven wrong, the ball is ultimately – though not entirely – now in Sinn Féin’s court. Despite the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis, confirming that Irish language legislation will be taken through Westminster if not successfully taken through Stormont, this does not render Sinn Féin powerless to influence the final outcome. With the DUP threatening to force an Assembly Election unless the mere amendments aforementioned are further watered down, Sinn Féin have little – if anything – to lose from playing hardball. What’s good for the DUP goose is good for the Sinn Féin gander, after all – and whether now or in the next year, Sinn Féin stand only to gain from the next Assembly Election. On the other hand, supposing Sinn Féin regard the ILA and Irish language as subservient to their broader constitutional aims – then they have little if any incentive to push hard for any ILA, legislation, or amendments, on par with its Welsh, or even Scottish, equivalents. The promise of an ILA at a later date worked once before – could the promise of a better ILA at a later date do so again? More importantly, can Sinn Féin afford to take that chance?

Superficially, it could. The Irish language community is a minority community, after all. Supposing they were to boycott Sinn Féin – that would hardly make a dent in their prospects. At a deeper level, however? As Concubhar himself puts it: “Provisions protecting the Irish language in NI are important symbolically more than substantially” (Emphasis added). The current ILA debacle is about the ILA – and more. Referring to the Union, but equally applicable to a United Ireland or any constitutional arrangement in between, he says it ultimately “depends upon the continuous consent of the people” – a consent that is often best secured via Parity of Esteem. One definition defines this as communities “[attempting] to negotiate a peaceful coexistence in a shared physical space despite their cultural differences” (Emphasis added). Fundamentally, if two communities cease negotiating a peaceful coexistence in a shared physical space because of cultural differences – such as a language – then not only is that consent called into question, but the constitutional arrangement itself. Given that it is the DUP, and swathes of Unionism more broadly, that are proverbially making the Irish language one of their “blood red lines” – are they therefore prepared to accept the risk this fundamentally poses to Northern Ireland’s increasingly fragile constitutional arrangement? And are Sinn Féin prepared to gamble and let them do so, in pursuit of their own constitutional ideal, further down the line? Or will they grant the ILA, the Irish language, and their constitutional goal the same kind of parity as aforementioned – fighting for the former as strongly as the latter, and refusing to let it be collateral damage in the pursuit of their other, constitutional goal?

Time will tell – but now is a time for cautious cynicism.

Photo by stux is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA


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