Culture war about Irish "doesn't help Unionists"

Culture war about Irish "doesn't help Unionists" - former aide to David Trimble

Unionists opposing dual language signage including Irish in Belfast are told it won’t help their cause by leading unionist commentator.

Foireann nua Gaeltachta The Journal a chuir an scéal seo ar fáil. Tá leagan as Gaeilge anseo.

UNIONISTS SHOULD NOT be fighting a culture war because Irish identity, culture and history are “part of the fabric of Northern Ireland” and votes will be needed when there is a vote on Irish unification, a leading Unionist commentator has told The Journal.

The warning from Unionist commentator Alex Kane comes after information was revealed by Conradh na Gaeilge that a large majority of Belfast residents were in favour of bilingual signage on the city’s streets.

According to the figures, which come from information provided to the City Council for its street surveys, only 2.9% of residents who responded to the surveys were against bilingual signage, and that there was no opposition whatsoever in 409 of the 536 streets where signs in Irish and English were permitted.

Kane, who was an advisor to David Trimble, the leader of the Ulster Unionists during the Good Friday Agreement negotiations, was speaking as unionist politicians were still grappling with the decision to adopt a new bilingual policy for Belfast.

Elected members of Belfast City Council voted 42-17 in favour of dual language street signage, signs on buildings and facilities, stationery, communications, a new logo in Irish and English and simultaneous translation at Council meetings.

According to Kane, it is not that unionists hate the Irish language but that they see the growth and promotion of the language as a sign that the North is no longer theirs.

“Unionism is a minority in Belfast and it is also an electoral minority in Northern Ireland, it no longer has a majority in the Assembly, unionists are not the largest party and it can only nominate the Deputy First Minister.

“It all adds to the narrative that everyone who is not a unionist is against unionism – and that puts London, Dublin and the EU against them and that the Windsor Framework and the sea border in the Irish Sea have made NI a colony as far as many unionists in the DUP/TUV/UUP are concerned.

All of which leads them to fight battles—an exhausting process—which they cannot win. They need to take stock of the wider political/electoral realities and, collectively, create a strategy for survival.

“And that demographic includes the small-u unionists I mentioned earlier, along with small-n nationalists who might still prefer the UK to the uncertainties and potential upheaval of Irish unity.

“So, turning the Irish language issue into a cultural war doesn’t help. Irish culture/history/identity et al is part of the fabric of NI—and shouldn’t be dismissed by unionists. Especially when they are presently an electoral minority and will require new votes for a border poll at some time.”

At the weekend, loyalists attacked a bilingual sign in Shandon Park in the city and had the Irish part of the name removed from the sign with an angle grinder. The vandalism is being investigated as a hate crime by the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The previous week there were reports of threats by a loyalist paramilitary group, the UVF, to set fire to Council buildings and vehicles with bilingual signage.

DUP Assembly Members have confirmed that they will be proposing resolutions condemning the decision of the councillors in Belfast.

According to Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin, President of Conradh na Gaeilge, the results of the surveys carried out in 536 streets show support for bilingual signs and the Irish language in general.

In total, only 2.9% of all residents across the 536 streets that were approved opposed a sign.
On 76% of the 536 streets, no more than one resident opposed (409 out of 536 streets).
There was no street on which a majority of the residents opposed dual language signage. 0/536)
On average, there was an average street opposition of 1.7% across the 536 streets.

Mac Giolla Bhéin gave his own advice to politicians who are opposing the Council’s policy. “The DUP and others would be better off spending their time and energy implementing the commitments made by their Ministers to the Irish language, including the appointment of the Irish Language Commissioner and the implementation of the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language, which has been promised in law since 2006.”

This belies the long-standing complaints made by the DUP and others, who have long claimed that there is massive opposition to the Irish language as part of their efforts to dismantle this policy.

While it has been publicly reported for some time that the posts of Commissioners for Irish and Ulster-Scots have been offered to two candidates, concerns have been raised that the appointment process is being delayed. These posts were agreed between Sinn Féin and the DUP as part of legislation which was introduced as part of a deal to restart powersharing after its most recent collapse.

This week a spokesman for the Executive Office in the Northern Ireland government said that the “appointment process was nearing completion”.

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The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme