High Court finds the DUP and Sinn Fein government in breach of promise over Irish strategy…

I saw this story tweeted when I was in the count centre in Belfast, and only how have a chance to blog it. The journalist I was sitting next to did think it was relevant to the business in hand (he had copy to file, and thanks to Gary on the live blog I didn’t).

Irish language group Conradh na Gaeilge took the last administration to court over their failure to bring forth an Irish language strategy as agreed via the St Andrews Act. Mr Justice Maguire held them in breach of decade-old legislation:

“It cannot have been the intention of Parliament that, after nearly 10 years from the coming into force of the Act in 2007, this obligation would remain unfulfilled.”

When you look at the detail however, the breach is failure to bring forward an Irish language strategy, not an Act. And there was no sign of one emerging from OFMdFM in almost ten years largely because SF’s on acceptable strategy was an Act.

Between 2011 and 2016, although public opinion was sought, no proposals were forthcoming from the SF Minister of Culture Caral Ni Chuilin. In its place came Liofa, which began as a public campaign and eventually became a modest bursary scheme.

 

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