Regarding the place (or lack thereof) of Irish in the new Hillsborough agreement, has Sinn Féin been outmaneuvered again?

Via http://sluggerotoole.com/index.php/weblog/comments/are-sinn-fein-supporting-an-g haeilge/

quote:

With 24 out of the 27 SF MLAs unable to converse in Irish but Gerry Adams sticking to the language like his raison d'être, there is no mention of an Irish Language Act post Hillsborough (they are now gunning for an Irish language ‘strategy’ to be devised by Nelson McCausland!).

Will this be detrimental to the future of the teanga?

SF seem to have gone back on their 2007 Irish language manifesto:[http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/8561]

We demand an Irish Language Act which is based on the following principles;

• Keep to the time-frame and spirit of the St Andrews commitment
• Place Irish speakers Rights at the heart of the Act
• Make available adequate resources to implement the Act
• Appoint an Irish Language Commissioner for the North.”

quote:

But as it says when you click the link for the website launched at the time (www.roinnanchuluir.ie) ‘Oops! This link appears to be broken’

Gerry Adams now says:

“There should be a draft strategy on the Irish language before long. The focus then will be to make this viable; with clear objectives and timeframes, and the inclusive involvement of Gaeilgeoirí to figger [SIC] all this out. “

quote:

We have a manifesto commitment against the introduction of an Irish Language Act. This was due to be introduced by Direct Rule. There will be no Irish language Act.

- Peter Robinson, First Minister, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)

Concubhar Ó Liatháin has a post on this. I also think he made the comment below of Gerry Adams' blog. Hopefully the folks up there will help him place such a topic on the front burner. But also, to defend him, you can't push too hard or you have nothing.

http://igaeilge.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/tuiltactical-use-of-irish-language-ar-a n-late-late-seo/

http://leargas.blogspot.com/2010/02/better-late-than-never.html

Quote:

A great deal of comment - fueled by your own statements on RTE and elsewhere on Monday for instance - focused on what specific pledges on Irish language provision would end up in the Agreement. An Irish Language Act? An Irish language strategy, previously promised in 2007 by Edwin Poots when he axed the Irish Language Act promised in the St Andrew's Agreement?
In the end, in the document I read, there was no mention at all of the Irish Language. No strategy? No Act? Nothing.
What's the deal? Is there a deal on the Irish language that hasn't been publicised in case it might discommode Unionist political leaders? Or is it merely that the language was overlooked entirely?
We've heard rumours about more money for the Irish Language Broadcast Fund (£15m?) and for Irish language projects on the ground (£8m?).
Can you outline in detail what's been secured for the Irish language in the latest negotiations?
If anything has been secured, has the DUP signed up to it and will we see an end to the sniping from the wings by DUP and UUP politicians, denigrating the Irish language and those who speak it?
Will there be, for instance, substantial funding to develop the Gaeltacht Quarter, on a par with the funding delivered for the Odyssey in East Belfast?
I believe these are fair questions which deserve specific detailed answers. In the past my experience that such questioning doesn't feature on this website and is not encouraged. Maybe I'm being unfair - but I'd like to have my expectations of non disclosure confounded. I will post this post on Slugger O'Toole and my own website in anticipation of your early and detailed response, Go raibh maith agat....

Re: Concubhar's post, part 2 is more pertinent:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4-BGX4OIw4

Yeah looks like a clear u-turn on an Irish Lanaguage Act which is unlikely to happen for a long time. A strategy falls far short of what was campaigned for.

This is interesting too:

http://www.sdlp.ie/index.php/newsroom_media/newsarticle/mcglone_irish_language_m ust_be_above_all_party_side_deals/

http://sluggerotoole.com/index.php/weblog/comments/are-sinn-fein-supporting-an-g haeilge/

An 'update' has been added to the blog on Slugger O'Toole since I first linked to it. Some have said I'm too hard on Sinn Féin and Gerry Adams. Well, I've yet to see anything to back up the claims being made on the blog. No links, no comments. So I won't rush to further criticise SF until I see something to back up the following statements:

quote:

Did SF support the Irish language when:

-its members on the foras na gaeilge board voted to close Lá Nua down, meaning 10 people lost their jobs

-its members on the board (Seanna Walsh, Lucilita Breathnach, Gino Gallagher and Mark Rodgers) refused to support a community ininiative called an Breadan Feasa at Springvale in Belfast

-the education minister opted to close down meanscoil dhoire in derry and refused to support coláiste na spéiriní in cookstown

-the 5 ministers will not respond to letters in Irish from the public

The Sinn Féin party likes to portray itself as the defenders of the Irish language. What have they achieved? Irish is not a priority for any political party north or south. Why pretend otherwise?

what way is your irish coming on danny?