Queen's 'cold house for unionists' fear as Irish language campaign hit campus - group ignoring university unionists, says body
Queen’s University could become a ‘cold house for unionists’, fears a student body, if attempts are made to ‘force the issue’ of covering the campus in Irish language signs.
That’s according to QUB’s Young Unionists society, speaking in the wake of an campaign to build dual-language signs that’s been gathering speed at the university over the past few days.
The body argues the cost of new signs with both English and Irish would be better spent on bread-and-butter issues facing students, and have asked university leaders to make sure Queen’s is “a neutral and shared space”.
The group spoke out after a campus demonstration on Wednesday (9th) organised by An Cumann Gaelach, the university's Irish language association.
At the start of this week, the Irish association stated it had gathered 1,000 signatures from students and staff who want dual language signs on a “consultation” it put together.
According to An Cumann Gaelach, that amount shows “the support and the interest that the university community has for the Irish language”. It equates to slightly over 3% of the total number of students and staff at QUB.
Staging their demonstration outside the university's main gates on Wednesday afternoon, they called for Irish to be given more visibility around Queen’s.
But Jay Basra, vice-president of the young unionists society, says the campaigners haven’t tried to reach out to the other side of the divide.
“This initiative has effectively been sprung upon us,” he said. “It’s disappointing that this issue wasn’t conclusively addressed in 2019, when similar signage was declined.
“The cost of such signage is not something which we would want to see the university try to cover, especially when it is already facing cutbacks in some areas. If there is money to be spent, it should go to services which support students, such as expanding the accessibility of free period products across all schools. There are more pressing issues than cultural passion projects.”
He stated that attempting to force dual-language signs through would add to a growing perception that Queen’s is “a cold house” for unionists, adding that similar calls for Ulster-Scots signs are largely given short shrift on campus.
“Historically, the Irish language has been used by some as a political weapon, creating understandable unease among unionists,” he said. “Queen’s should strive to be a neutral and shared space, and we would urge the university to make this their priority. Forcing the issue could only play further into the idea that it is a cold house.
“There is already considerable support for the Irish language from both the university and the Students’ Union. In some cases, the same support is not afforded to Ulster-Scots, something which we in the Young Unionists have been campaigning for.
"We urge the Queen’s University administration to consider a balanced approach to language support, where all linguistic communities are heard and considered, and not just one language is given precedence over the other.”
QUB has issued media statements saying that university leadership will meet with An Cumann Gaelach next week to discuss the dual-language signs issue.