Secretary of State Hilary Benn laid a Written Statement before the House of Commons earlier today formally laying commencement orders bringing into force outstanding Irish Language provisions of the 2022 Language Act.
Official commencement orders have been formally laid in Westminster today which bring into force for the very first time the legal status of the Irish language in the north. British Secretary of State Hilary Benn laid the commencement orders via a written statement in the House of Commons earlier today (attached below). The commencement orders legally bring into force outstanding Irish language provisions in the 2022 Identity and Language Act (2022) which prior to today had no legal effect. The commencement orders significantly bring into force the powers and functions of the Irish Language Commissioner which fully empower him to carry out his legal duties regarding the enhancement and promotion of the Irish language.
Amongst the provisions legally commenced today were Articles 78J, which confers legal Status to the Irish Language; 78L which provides legal functions for the Irish Language Commissioner and the development of best-practice standards; 78M / 78N which requite those standards to be prepared, published and reviewed; 78Q identifying over 100 public authorities which will come under the remit of the Commissioner’s standards. Article 78K, which related to the establishment of the Office of the Commissioner, had been commenced previously, which allowed the Commissioner to legally appointed.
The new Commissioner will be tasked with developing new ‘best practice’ Irish language standards to guide public authorities on their duties to promote the Irish language. The public authorities which come under the scope of the Commissioner are set out in Schedule 3 of the 2016 Public Services Ombudsman Act. The ‘best practice’ Irish language standards will be a series of policies setting out how the public authority will promote Irish in their services, correspondence, signage, training, marketing etc. Whilst the Commissioner will be tasked with setting the new standards, they will require agreement from the First and Deputy First Minister. In the scenario where agreement cannot be reached, or if there is no Executive in place, the 2022 Act bestows ‘step-in powers’ to the Secretary of State to take those decisions on their behalf.
In addition to the above duties, the legislation clearly sets out functions of the Irish language Commissioner that empower him to “provide advice, support and guidance to public authorities in relation to the use of the Irish language” (see 78L(3)). Under the legislation, it is for the Commissioner to implement these specific functions, and they do not require the mutual consent of the First and Deputy First Minister, such as required to approve the best practice language standards set out above.
Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin, President, Conradh na Gaeilge said:
“This is undoubtedly another historic milestone as the provisions to formally recognise the status of the Irish language here come into full legal effect. For the very first time, the status of the Irish language is legally recognised in the north. That historic progress is testament to the decades of activism and communities demanding rights, respect and recognition. And this is only the beginning of our journey.”
"Furthermore, we specifically welcome the written statement from the British Secretary of State to formally and legally commence the powers and functions of the newly appointed Irish Language Commissioner. This will now empower the Irish Language Commissioner to develop best-practice Irish language policies for each and every public authority listed in the legislation, of which there are more than 100 across the north. Additionally, the British Secretary of State has commenced function 78L(3) of the Act which now empowers the Commissioner to "provide advice, support and guidance to public authorities in relation to the use of the Irish language", a core function of the Commissioner which does not require the joint-agreement of the First and Deputy First Minister. “
“Today's legislative announcement is a major development with regards the promotion of the Irish language and the legal landscape, and comes at a very timely juncture where the issue of Irish language policies is before the courts in a number of cases. We would now anticipate that under the newly commenced powers the Irish Language Commissioner will bring forward advice and guidance to Ministers involved in those cases, and present that advice and guidance to the Courts, which would significantly inform ongoing proceedings as they relate to dual-language signage and the Executive's Irish Language Strategy, currently being drafted by Communities Minister Gordon Lyons."
SOCIAL MEDIA
X: @CnaG
Instagram: @cnagaeilge
CONTACT
Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin
President, Conradh na Gaeilge
+44 7545 293841
Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh
Communications Manager, Conradh na Gaeilge
+447716690237 |
Conchúr Ó Muadaigh
Advocacy Manager, Conradh na Gaeilge
+447596520262 |
EDITOR’S NOTE:
The written statement from SOS Hilary Benn MP can be accessed here: https://commonsbusiness.
The Identity and Language Act 2022 legislation can be accessed in full here: https://www.legislation.gov.
See:
“78J: Recognition of the status of the Irish language
(1)The purpose of this Part is to provide official recognition of the status of the Irish language in Northern Ireland…
“78L(3): The Commissioner may provide advice, support and guidance to public authorities in relation to the use of the Irish language…”
The full list of public authorities listed under Schedule 3 too the 2016 Public Services Ombudsman Act (2016) can be accessed here: https://www.legislation.gov.
