The Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill has received royal assent. From the Irish News:
The Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill, which was introduced in the House of Commons back in May, completed its Westminster journey on Monday, receiving royal assent and officially repealing legislation from 1737 that among other outworkings banned the use of Irish in courts.
The new legislation grants Irish official status in the north and will lead to the appointment of Irish and Ulster Scots/Ulster British commissioners.
The posts are to be appointed by a Stormont first and deputy first minister, but the law allows for the appointments to be made by the Northern Ireland secretary in the absence of a Stormont Executive.
As always in Northern Ireland, the implementation is going to be the tricky part, still, it is a welcome victory for language rights activists.
'Paula Melvin, president @CnaG welcomed the move as “historic” and called for the new law to be “fully enacted and implemented”.
“This bill, however, is not our final destination, we now immediately enter the implementation phase of this legislation.”'https://t.co/z0GYUBXsnN
— Conradh na Gaeilge (@CnaG) December 7, 2022
I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism, I am not a member of any political party. Oddly for a member of the Slugger team, I am not that interested in daily politics, preferring to write about big ideas in society. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.
Discover more from Slugger O'Toole
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
