The decision by the High Court in Belfast today to stand over the atrocious 1737 Act banning Irish in the courts clears the way for this landmark legal challenge to go all the way to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Plaudits go to Pobal, Caoimhín Mac Giolla Chathain and solicitor Michael Flanigan for taking this case to the highest court 'in the land' and simultaneously taking it into the public domain.
And while the commitments in the Good Friday Agreement, the St Andrew's Agreement and the European Charter on Lesser-Used Languages have all proved to be meaningless in the face of this discriminatory legislation, notice has been served that Irish speakers aren't willing to accept second-class citizenship.
In another breakthrough, Domhnall O'Cathain from the US Brehon Law Society was in the court as an observer. I think his statement captures the sense of outrage at the continuing denial of human rights to Irish speakers in this bleak house.
"The Administration of Justice Language Act (Ireland) 1737 is a relic of the era of the oppressive Penal Laws...Today's decision is another insult to the legal heritage of the Irish language. Any effort to couch the decision in legal entities is misleading. It merely perpetuates the discriminatory effect of the Act.
"A progressive society embraces its cultural differences. As Ireland becomes more pluralistic, we must embrace all our cultural differences...This decision and the recent attacks on ethnic minorities in Belfast are not directly related. Nevertheless, they separately demonstrate institutional and uninformed grounds for intolerance."
Domhnall, a New York attorney, is on the right, Michael Flanigan on the left in our pic outside the Cultúrlann before today's High Court decision.
9 comments:
an bhfuil a fhios againn caídé go díreach a dúirt an breitheamh ina bhreithiúnas?.i bhfad siar ag tús an 20ú aois nuair a bhí leatrom mar seo á chleachtadh ag OIFIG A' PHOIST i mBAC chuir Dúghlas de hÍde agus a chairde 100 duine isteach in Árd Oifig A' Phoist agus beart beag an duine acu gur stád siad obair na hoifige ar feadh an lae.An fiú briseadh dlí siombalach a eagrú leis an rud chéanna a dhéanamh i bhfus leis na cúirteanna a phlodú?
"...And while the commitments in the Good Friday Agreement, the St Andrew's Agreement and the European Charter on Lesser-Used Languages have all proved to be meaningless in the face of this discriminatory legislation..."
The Irish language provisions were all quite deliberately intended by calculated design to be 'meaningless.'
Therefore, the GFA and the St. Andrew's Agreement are null and void in their entirety. That applies to everything in those agreements.
You cannot have your cake and eat it too.
I wonder, if those wise and learned High Court Justices gave a thought to the economic ramifications of their decision against the Irish language and in favour of intolerance.
This will certainly not be helpful in getting international companies to relocate here when Romanians are being driven out by violence, something that received wide international coverage, and now this anti-Irish decision.
I am sure those same High Court Justices would rule in favour of slavery today since Belfast was once one of the leadilng financial centres for the financing of the slave trade.
This is another decision against the little people trying to improve the lives of their children.
Martin,
Look on the bright.
This High Court decision puts the official, legal stamp that Belfast is now the "racist capital of Europe."
Just think of all the extra tourism that will flow into Belfast!
We may need to build a third airport to handle the crowds of tourists.
The good news in all this is that there is no longer an excuse or pretext for Comhairle and Foras to exist since they do not have to bother trying to muddy the waters anymore and act like they are trying to do something postive for the language when they have been doing the opposite.
The High Court has astutely removed their premise for existing.
An bhfuil cóip an bhreithiúnais ar fáil, a Mháirtín?
Nil se ar line go foill, munar feidir liom coip digitach a fhail amarach, scanolfaidh me an ceann crua ata againn. M
Slumdog, ‘Economic ramifications of this judgement’? Can you please explain, simply if possible, the mechanism whereby promotion of the Irish language will benefit the economy. International companies will relocate here because of grants and a well educated workforce. The ability to speak the more mainstream languages is a much more marketable asset than speaking one of the lesser (but just as valid) languages. This is a genuine request.
Whilst the concept of dispensing justice in the language of choice of the participants is admirable, insisting on the additional burden of translation costs and time on an already costly legal system seems difficult to support especially in these cash strapped times.
Confused,
"...International companies will relocate here because of grants and a well educated workforce..."
A well educated workforce that lacks the ability to be creative and come up with novel solutions is something that belongs to a past era. Creativity and problem solving is the future. Giving grants to companies is really nothing more than a bribe, and one can rest assured that, if a grant is the determinant of a company relocating to NI, that company will quickly close shop when times get hard and move elsewhere for a better grant. Grants do not prove stability nor loyalty.
Language provides a window for giving people an ability to look at issues differently through a different coloured prism and provides insights from well outside-the-box. That is what entices employers. Employers want problem solvers that can move them to the cutting edge of industry.
Where is the next Google to come from? Is it from NI? The current answer is it is not.
"...insisting on the additional burden of translation costs and time on an already costly legal system seems difficult to support especially in these cash strapped times..."
I am totally opposed to senseless translation for the sake of translation. It is idiotic and wasteful to the extreme.
This is the tact now taken by state-run language organisations such as Foras and promoted by others organisations funded by them. It is a total farce and everyone knows it, save for the civil service. It provides no benefit to anyone and is designed to ultimately destroy the language through attrition and the destruction of both the soul and inspiration.
I believe in justice.
I believe in people opening new frontiers.
If we cannot teach our children and adults the ability to think outside-the-box without being mocked, none of us will have a future.
The future is in providing solutions to problems than none have dared boldly enough to solve.
Language is one critical creative component in providing a shared solution for the future.
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