The Irish language is not part of our unionist culture

On October 31 Stephen Farry MP tweeted his ‘pleasure and relief’ that the ‘Identity and Language Bill is through the Commons’ and the Alliance Party tweeted that the Irish language is ‘part of our shared heritage’.

The Irish language is not a ‘shared heritage’ of the citizens of Northern Ireland for the simple reason that it is not a language that unionists hold to be part of their political or cultural identity – it is not a ‘marker’ of what distinguishes them as unionists.

Irish nationalists in NI cannot coherently claim that Gaelic is part of their cultural identity for the simple reason that in the 2021 census only 3.91% claimed to ‘speak, read and write and understand Irish’ – a figure that is probably a gross over-estimation because it is based on self-assessment.

The Continuous Household Survey for 2017/18 found that ‘almost half of people who claim an understanding of the Irish language know only the most basic terms’.

An individual cannot coherently claim that a language of which they know only the ‘most basic terms’ is part of their cultural identity.

But commitment to Gaelic is a core component of the Irish nationalist political identity regardless of whether or not they can speak the language.

The objective of the Identity and Language Bill is to use the status of Gaelic within the legislation as an ‘official language’ to promote the gaelicisation of Northern Ireland as part of the nationalist strategy for ‘Irish unity’ – the political objective that defines what it is to be an Irish nationalist.

In expressing his ‘pleasure and relief’ at the passing of the bill Mr Farry has identified himself and the Alliance Party with the nationalist commitment to the bill.

The deputy leader of the Alliance Party has made manifest to every unionist in North Down the now dominant nationalist orientation of the Alliance Party.

John Gordon, TUV North Down spokesperson