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(Seo alt ónár bhfoireann nua Gaeltachta. Is féidir an bunleagan as Gaeilge a léamh anseo.)
PÓL DEEDS HAS been in his new role as Irish Language Commissioner for Northern Ireland for just over a month but has been busy setting out his stall before the promised powers are delegated to him.
The appointment of Deeds, who was previously deputy chief executive of Foras na Gaeilge and manager of an Irish language centre in south Belfast, An Droichead, came just before the Oireachtas was held in Belfast in October but after a protracted recruitment competition.
He has no intention of falling into the trap of being a scapegoat for unionists who want to blame him among their voters for any progress achieved for the Irish language or for nationalist politicians who see him a delivery vehicle for Irish language measures they have been unable to implement.
Before his appointment there was a delay of almost five years before the start of the competition as the appointment of the Commissioner and the legislation that would protect the Irish language and Ulster Scots were part of the ‘New Decade, New Approach’ agreement at the beginning of 2020.
The political delay is a reflection of how controversial the Irish language issue is in the north because it is a political football played by both sides in the north.
The appointment of an Irish language commissioner has been a bone of bitter contention between unionist representatives who quote the old saying, every word of Irish equals a bullet in the struggle for Ireland, and nationalists who cite the repression of Irish as part of the old Unionist mindset.
Speaking to The Journal, Deeds expressed great optimism about what he could achieve during his five year term in the role with an annual salary of £88,000/€100,000. His optimism is tempered with realism as he currently spends a lot of his time ‘managing expectations’.
People in politics, especially among unionists, they want a scapegoat so that they can say that they are not in favour in seeing these progressive measures promoting the Irish language, but they feel that they have to put them in place because there is that devil of a commissioner.
Deeds said that politicians in nationalist parties such as the SDLP and Sinn Féin were hoping that the commissioner would be able to meet the demands of the Irish language community.
I will probably disappoint all of them at the same time because, number one, I am not here to be a scapegoat, the legislation does not belong to me.
“I will remind people that I am enforcing the law.”
He said that his role is neither to be a ‘savior’ of the Irish language nor a ‘representative of the Irish language community’.
“I am a representative of the State rather than a representative of the Irish language community.
“I will be helping the Irish language community insofar as I will be promoting the use of Irish in public life and, of course, that is a core demand of the Irish language community.”
Although his powers are not yet available to him, that is not stopping him from getting to work.
“The Department of Community Affairs has already asked me to have an input on the strategy. They have asked for that although some people on social media are currently saying that I have no powers.
‘While that is true to a certain extent in relation to the commencement orders, at the same time, the Department of Community Affairs is asking me to have an input into that strategy.
There is ongoing controversy over the bilingual signage being sought by Conradh na Gaeilge for Grand Central Station in Belfast city centre, with the Department of Community Affairs apparently supporting the position of unionist Jamie Bryson, who is challenging the decision of Sinn Féin Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins to order the transport company to erect bilingual signage, Irish/English, there.
Another hot potato before the courts is the Executive’s lack of an Irish language strategy. For the third time, Conradh na Gaeilge is taking the Department of Community Affairs to court for the lack of an Irish language strategy that the Executive has promised and is committed to providing.
While many Irish speakers suspect that the DUP’s resentment of the Irish language is the reason for the delay – and the DUP’s Gordon Lyons is the Community Minister – Deeds has a more nuanced view.
“I understand why people would say that and they are partly right but I can refute the main point you have there that other people have said about that.
The best example of that is that the Department of Community Affairs under Minister Lyons is the department that is most active in contacting me and seeking my advice.
The Minister for Infrastructure, Liz Kimmins, has also made contact with him and Deeds, who was responsible for educational services while at Foras na Gaeilge and spent time managing Scoil an Droichid while in that role, has a particular interest in educational matters.
“As Language Commissioner, I am concerned that the education system will not be as effective as it is in providing for many Irish-speaking people.”
This is a demonstration of his willingness to respond to the demands of the public. Of course, he is part of the Irish-speaking community in Belfast, so he understands the demands.
What would he like to have achieved by the end of his five-year term?
He said there were a few ways to answer the question but, speaking personally, he said he would be happy to “see no change until the fifth year”.
“And in the fifth year there will be a complete change in the face of public services here.
“That is to say, doing everything on as gradual a basis as possible, I will bring as many people with me as possible.”
He said that it was not his intention, for example, to have the standards of good practice published even within his first year in the role.
“We are talking about the end of next year before those are ready and the reason I am doing that is that I want to build relationships with people.
“I am trying to get as much tension out of the minority language issue here as possible.
“But at the end of that year, we will have the standards of good practice, the standards of best practice that are in the legislation.”
I want standards of best practice.
He said he knew what the best standards were internationally and those were the standards he was looking for as well.
That is certainly an ambitious goal for the new Irish Language Commissioner and Deeds understands that well. He would not have applied for the job if he didn’t think he could bring about a fundamental change.
That monumental work is now underway.
The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
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