Barely three days into the fresh round of political talks in Belfast, the tone has soured and all hopes of a deal being struck collapsed today when the DUP announced no deal was possible. After an enthusiastic Theresa May and Taoiseach Leo Varadakar entered the fray on Monday, there was short-lived hope for a possible deal. As they settled into this latest failed round of negotiations at Stormont, posing alongside Secretary of State Karen Bradley and Tánaiste Simon Coveney for a press photo, the weight of expectation has been palpable.
Yet with 13 months of bargaining, mediation and Anglo-Irish diplomatic water under the bridge since Martin McGuinness collapsed power-sharing, the path to any agreement is still fraught with roadblocks.
Key issues at stake
In January 2017 when McGuinness resigned as Deputy First Minister in protest over the DUP’s handling of the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme, the Cash for Ash scandal was perceived as the biggest hurdle to reinstating power-sharing.Further recent disagreements over Stormont’s Petition of Concern mechanism have also hit headlines in recent months.
However, as discussions have unfolded, the obstacles to restoring Stormont’s assembly and executive have less to do with the scrutiny of government machinations and are firmly rooted in cultural identity.
The Sinn red line
While Sinn Féin’s red lines on Same Sex Marriage legislation and women’s reproductive rights have received widespread scrutiny—with Arlene Foster’s DUP reluctant to either introduce equal marriage or abortion access for women in Northern Irish—both parties blame a disagreement over a proposed Irish Language Act for ultimately ending talks.Although Nationalist ministers suggested that an agreement had been reached only for the DUP to back out after failing to sell it to their colleagues, Ms Foster insisted this was not the case.
"There was no deal or accommodation. It is unfortunate we could not reach a fair and balanced agreement. One language or culture cannot be elevated above others," she said.
"I was not prepared to ask the party to support a one-sided deal. Respect is a two-way street and Sinn Fein should take this time to reflect on how it fails to respect our British identity, whether that is our flag, our young people serving in the armed forces or the very name of this country."
Understanding the context
For British audiences, it may seem strange that this is the most contentious roadblock to emerge during discussions. Yet for the DUP, this has proven to be one demand on which they cannot concede.Despite similar legislation existing in Wales and Scotland for the Welsh language and Gaelic, DUP opposition to a comparable bill in Northern Ireland is fierce, with the DUP’s Gregory Campbell saying he would treat a proposed Irish Language Act “as no more than toilet paper.”
An Irish Language Act would enshrine Irish’s equal footing with English in law. Much like in Scotland and Wales, this would include the appointment of an Irish Language commissioner, Irish reflected in broadcasting, in public bodies and Stormont and in road signs.
Despite Irish language being a prominent part of the Good Friday Agreement and later the St Andrews Agreement, which outlined a legal obligation for a strategy to enhance and protect it, there have been no tangible policies to give Irish the legal status that Sinn Féin are so desperate for.
"Sectarian policy making"
Currently, the only legal protection for the Irish Language is through the Council of Europe’s European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which affords the most basic level of regional promotion and provision.A damning audit report on the UK’s compliance with the convention last year was critical of how Stormont promotes the Irish language. Highlighting just how poorly the government had failed at its most basic Irish language obligations, the report laid the blame squarely with “sectarian policy making.”
The fight for the Irish Language Act has been pursued by the SDLP too, who first attempted a Private Members Bill in 2009 and once again in 2016 when MLA Patsy McGlone said "we will stand up for a community which has been failed by others."
None of these democratic attempts has been successful, with Unionist opposition blocking any opportunity to progress legislation. Even with a Sinn Féin Culture Minister, with the power to enact ministerial bills, the task was impossible: Carál Ní Chuilín published draft proposals for a bill in 2015 but failed to get executive support.
Only weeks before Martin McGuinness resigned from office, Communities Minister Paul Givan withdrew funding for an Irish Language scheme in a controversial move that attracted widespread criticism from across the political divide.
While the decision was later reversed, the move was seen as an aggressive attack on the 4000 plus citizens whose first language is Irish and 6000 children in Irish-medium schools.
The language of failure
While various proposals from civic society, the language sector and the smaller parties have floated the idea of a three-strand Bill which would recognise Irish, Ulster-Scots and minority languages, Sinn Féin remain resolute: they need a stand-alone Bill.After 13 months of red lines, hurdles and omnipresent roadblocks it is now impossible for either party to compromise and face their grassroots base. It seems, for now, the language of Northern Ireland is one of political failure.
