"We won't be silenced, we celebrate Irish policy in face of UVF threats" - Conradh na Gaeilge

A WEEK ON from the vote by an overwhelming majority of Belfast city councillors to adapt a new Gaeilge policy, Irish speakers gathered at City Hall, formerly a cold house for the language, to celebrate a dramatic change in attitude from the local authority.

The 42-7 vote last week gave the green light for a policy which will see a substantial increase in the visiblity of Irish in the city to include more dual language signage, stationery and logos as well as simultaneous translation during meetings.

Language activist and President of Conradh na Gaeilge, Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin, explained that the city’s Irish-speaking community recognised that the vote in favour of Belfast’s language policy had been a historic milestone for the city, a vote that was supported by more than two-thirds of the city’s 60 elected councillors.

This week’s demonstration, billed as a celebration, came after much reporting on the vote focused on threats made by a loyalist paramilitary group, the UVF, to burn down Belfast City Council premises and vehicles if bilingual signage was displayed.

“There was broad support, 42 councillors were in favour of the policy, and we felt it was important to show that and to celebrate that,” said Mac Giolla Bhéin.

“At the same time we wanted to send a strong message to some of these people who are making threats and others, that we will not give in when these things are in hand, we will stand our ground, that we have a majority, that people are for this, that Belfast is increasingly becoming a bilingual city.

“The Oireachtas na Gaeilge festival is coming here, a lot of things are happening and we are not going to back down because of some of these extremist voices on the fringes.”

Many of the groups that were celebrating yesterday will be reliant on funding from Foras na Gaeilge and although a €2 million increase in funding for the cross-border language institution was announced on Tuesday, this is dependent on the Department of Communities in the north adding €25 funding to every €75 from the Dublin Government.

Last year Foras na Gaeilge faced a funding crisis because the organisation had commitments in terms of pensions and salary increases that could not be met without leaving a gap of up to €800,000 in the funding that would be available to distribute to various groups.

The Northern Ireland Department of Communities, which is headed by Minister Gordon Lyons of the DUP, refused to allow the Irish Government to give the Institute additional money

Gaeltacht Minister Dara Calleary said this week that efforts were underway to avoid the same crisis this year and that talks were underway with Minister Lyons and officials from his Department on the matter.

In response to our inquiry, the Department of Communities said that Department officials were in discussions with Foras na Gaeilge and the North-South Ministerial Council “on all matters”.