Secretary of State Hilary Benn MP to make announcement in House of Commons this week
It has been confirmed by the Secretary of State Hilary Benn MP that he will, this week, commence Section 4 of the Identity and Language act (2022) to “repeal the Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737”, a penal-law era piece of legislation that bans the use of Irish in courts here. Whilst the new Identity and Language Act was passed in December 2022, the clause triggering the repeal of the 1737 legislation has been awaiting approval by the SOS. Conradh na Gaeilge has been officially informed that the SOS will officially repeal the 1737 legislation this week. In the same correspondence, whilst confirming it is his role to repeal the ban, the SOS makes clear that “the implementation of the Act, including these provisions, is a matter for the Executive.” It will, therefore, fall to the Justice Minister, Naomi Long MLA, to bring forward the guidelines setting out the use of Irish in legal, court and tribunal settings following the removal of the ban.
Speaking today, Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin, newly elected President of Conradh na Gaeilge, said:
“This is an incredibly historic moment for the Irish language community here in the north, a major victory against centuries of exclusion and discrimination that is testament to the power and resolve of our community. Whilst similar legislation was repealed in Wales, Scotland and the south long, long ago, once again, Irish speakers here in the north were, as always, left behind, as an ongoing legacy of colonial policy designed to eradicate the Irish language from all vestiges of public life. Only the immense grass-roots campaign for language rights, which brought over 20,000 people onto the streets of Belfast, would bring us closer to a society where Irish speakers are afforded the same rights as everyone else.”
“The Irish language must have equal status in all of our public and shared spaces. That is what equality looks like. Now that this penal-era ban has finally been repealed, it is up to the Executive to ensure the provision underpinning Irish speaking rights in our legal arenas are based on best-practice and equality. We have written to the Justice Minister, who is, from this point on, responsible for setting out the new Irish language policy of our courts and legal systems, to ensure we the needs and expectations of our community are realised in full.”
Representing Conradh na Gaeilge, Niall Murphy from KRW Law, said:
“This announcement from the British Government is a major milestone in the ongoing journey towards comprehensive language rights for Irish speakers here in the north. It is now imperative that the Justice Minister brings forward robust guidelines that recognises the ever-growing community of Irish speakers across our society and facilitates their inclusion in our legal services and spaces. This watershed moment in the Irish language movement must have a real-life and practical impact on all of those people who chose to live their lives through the Irish language, ending centuries of marginalisation and exclusion from public life.”
The same legislation was repealed in the south of Ireland in 1962, whilst similar legislation was repealed in Wales, Scotland and England in 1863. The announcement via a commencement order is expected to be made by Hilary Benn MP in the House of Commons this week.
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