Language, Ethnicity, and the State: Minority Languages in the EU Ch5: Irish Language, Irish Identity By Camille C. O’Reilly

Introduction Irish was sole language until 1169 Anglo-Norman invasion Irish was dominant language until 1601 defeat Battle of Kinsale -- after that English was enforced and Irish went into decline, Irish speakers economically & socially marginalized Late 18th-19th c Celtic revival focused mainly on history - - did not promote language use famine and emigration disproportionately affected Irish speakers Irish language justified identification of Irish nation, but this relationship developed differently north vs. south

The Republic of Ireland (South) Partition 1922 Post-partition South: Irish is “national” language, English is an official language 1920s-30s language strategy for the impoverished 16% of Ireland where Irish was still spoken: 1) economic development, 2) revival strategy for other 84%, 3) use Irish in public service, 4) modernize and standardize Irish

The Republic of Ireland, cont’d pursuit of 4 points (above) to support nationalist ideology stagnation and decline in public support for state policy 1970-present -- benign neglect, language maintenance only, not revival

The Republic of Ireland, cont’d. Public opinion –Strong association between language and identity, but this does not correlate with use –Even most positive language users are pessimistic about its future –Antipathy toward language/nationalism due to violence in North However, Irish-medium schools are growing

Northern Ireland: revival & opposition N Ireland is part of UK, a primarily Protestant state with an Irish Catholic minority (1/3) population Learning/speaking Irish has political implications for Irish nationalism in opposition to British identity

Northern Ireland: revival & opposition, cont’d Anti-Irish state, where Irish is a foreign language (treated like German, French in schools, and its teaching has been gradually restricted more and more), banned from BBC 1970s-present -- number of Irish-medium schools has been growing, language revival activity in Belfast: newspaper, theater, café, newspaper, development of employment opportunities for Irish speakers

Northern Ireland: revival & opposition, cont’d. Irish people have very different political agendas, but agree on the importance of the Irish language Irish language provides a non-violent venue for asserting Irish identity, which is becoming more accepted in N. Ireland

Irish language, Irish identity Notions of Irish identity and its link to language have changed over time and are different in North and South Both North and South have a variety of discourses (ideological directions) –North: decolonizing vs. cultural discourse vs. rights discourse –South: national language discourse, cultural discourse, minority language discourse, dead language discourse

Irish language, Irish identity, cont’d. Northern discourses: – decolonizing -- focuses on political (and cultural) independence, Sinn Fein, aggressive nationalism – cultural -- the language has inherent value for its beauty and uniqueness, interest in history, songs, literature – rights discourse -- language is part of human rights, Irish language is “multipoliticized”

Irish language, Irish identity, cont’d. Southern discourses: –national language -- emphasis on pride for one’s own language, overcoming insecurity about Irish identity –cultural discourse (similar to North) –minority language (similar to rights) -- Irish language seeks parity of esteem with other regional languages of Europe, gov’t has responsibility to support minority language – dead language -- Irish cannot be fully revived, is not as useful in the EU, and represents extreme nationalism

Irish language, Irish identity, cont’d. North -- language is part of a political identity that sets Irish apart from British in the face of British economic and cultural hegemony South -- Irish suffer from an inferiority complex which they would like to overcome

Irish identity, Irish language & EU Republic of Ireland -- gov’t officials would rather pass responsibility on to EU, but this is unlikely to provide significant change, and public fears EU will contribute to loss of Irish -- desire to revive Irish so that it can be one of the languages of the EU, part of that pluralism > Europeanism Northern Ireland -- EU membership has helped Irish, despite British reluctance to sign Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (signed 2000), increased association of language with Irish identity > nationalism