6th Monitoring report on European Charter for Regional Minority Languages echoes consistent criticism of lack of progress on core Irish language obligations
The Council of Europe’ Committee of Experts (COMEX) have today published their 6th Monitoring Report regarding the compliance of the United Kingdom with its undertakings under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (‘the Charter’). The Charter was ratified by the UK Government on 2001 for Irish up to and including the provisions set out in Parts II and III. The ratification and compliance with the Charter were key outputs from the Good Friday commitment “to take resolute action to promote the language”.
In their 5th monitoring report published in July 2020, shortly after the return of the Executive on the basis of the implementation of Irish language legislation, COMEX concluded the ‘resolute action’ commitment defined in Article 7.1c, Part II of the Charter remained ‘not fulfilled’. More than 4 years on, in their 6th monitoring report, published today, COMEX continues to regard this duty ‘not fulfilled’.
The core recommendations listed for “immediate action” on Irish prioritised in today’s report include:
- Adopt the Irish Language Strategy and allocate the adequate resources to fund its implementation.
- Implement fully the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022 without further delay.
- Develop and implement a strategy for the recruitment of teachers in co-operation with speakers, including the training of teachers for children with special needs within the Irish medium education sector.
The COMEX 6th UK Report contains 12 recommendations for action which call for action such as the ‘removal of prohibitive thresholds for bilingual signage’, long-term planning for Irish-medium education and actions relating to increased BBC provision.
Conradh na Gaeilge and the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) were amongst several organisations who met with the Council of Europe COMEX during their monitoring trip in February 2024.
Conchúr Ó Muadaigh, Advocacy Manager, Conradh na Gaeilge:
“This 6th monitoring report mirrors all previous COMEX reports since the Charter was ratified for Irish in 2001, criticising the consistent lack of progress on key Irish language policy development and, therefore, highlighting the lack of compliance with the provisions of the Charter. The three main recommendations for immediate action echo those legitimate expectations of the Irish language community, as guaranteed by the Good Friday and subsequent agreements. The Irish language strategy, a legal duty on the Executive, is almost 20 years overdue, with community experts locked into a 4 year co-design process, overseen by a Minister who appears to have little interest in bringing a draft before the Executive. This will, if not progressed, trigger a third Judicial Review since 2017 against the Executive for failing to fulfil that legal obligation. The Irish language Commissioner, the cornerstone component of the 2022 Irish Language Act, has not even been signed off to go out a public recruitment process, a delay which has crippled any effective implementation of the legislation. Finally, the Committee make a series of recommendations regarding the development of Irish Medium Education, the supply of teachers and SEN tools and resources that can be used in an immersive Irish language setting. Those recommendations show just how far behind the Department for Education actually is in implementing its statutory duty to to encourage and facilitate the development of Irish-medium education."
"All of this has been compounded by the exclusion by the Executive of these Irish language commitments from the draft Programme for Government, an absence which makes a mockery of the progress made to date and highlights the immediate need for a Commissioner and a Strategy."
Daniel Holder, Director of Belfast based human rights group CAJ said:
“We welcomed the opportunity to provide evidence to the Committee of Experts assessment process and value their report. Compliance with the Charter is an international legal obligation. It is clear there are a range of obligations not being complied with, including on bilingual signage in particular with Irish placenames, and having no protections against discrimination on grounds of speaking a minoritized language. It's over to Ministers now to take these areas forward.”
Further information:
The 6th Monitoring report from the Council of Europe Committee of Experts (September 2024) can be accessed here: https://rm.coe.int/united-kingdomecrml6-en/1680b1a73f
The 5th Monitoring report from the Council of Europe Committee of Experts (July 2020) can be accessed here: https://search.coe.int/cm?i=0900001680948544
