Protection of Minority Languages in the Public Administration of Northern Ireland: Irish and Ulster Scots Linguistic Legislation. Which and When?

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Alessia Vacca
University of Sassari: Dr. Avv. Alessia Vacca is working as Assistant Professor in Administrative Law at the University of Sassari. She is an Italian lawyer and researcher with more than ten years of experience, especially in administrative law. She is working on a project of research regarding Transparency in the Energy Law sector. Dr. Vacca holds a PhD in Law from the University of Aberdeen (UK) where she has also worked tutoring EU Law and Foundations of Private Law at the School of Law. She is graduated in Law (Laurea in Giurisprudenza Vecchio Ordinamento which corresponds to a five years degree) at the University of Cagliari (Italy) with 110/110 cum laude. In 2009 she was awarded with the CB Davidson, University of Aberdeen. Alessia has been, until 2005, contract researcher at the University of Cagliari, sponsored by Regione Autonoma della Sardegna. She has been also a trainee lawyer in London (as a winner of the Leonardo da Vinci award) and in Barcelona (Spain). She attended several post-graduate courses in EU Law, Human Rights Law and Administrative Law in Italy (e.g. Cagliari, Milano) and abroad (e.g. International Public Law at the Hague Academy, Peace Palace, Netherlands, Human Rights in the EU at the University Carlos III Madrid, Krakow, Cooperation among Mediterranean Sea Countries, University of Marseille). She delivered several presentations: at the University of Aberdeen, at the Emory Institute for Human Rights, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, in Florence: University Paris Nanterre X, at the University of London, at the University of Tartu, Estonia. In December 2008/January 2009 she was visiting researcher at the University of Sydney, Australia. She has written various articles dealing with the issue of rights of minority languages, minority rights, public administration, transparency and transparency in the public administration.

The use of minority languages in the public administration has a high symbolic value, and can therefore promote the status of such languages. This article focuses on analyzing the use of minority languages in the public administration of Northern Ireland with a brief history of the role these languages have played in this country and reference to their demographic situation (2001 and 2011 censuses) before turning to international commitments and legislation, the implementation of legislation (as determined primarily through state reporting in relation to relevant international obligations) and proposals for future legislation regarding the protection of Irish and Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland.

The Irish language is a Celtic language which has historically been spoken in Ireland. It is considered by many people of Northern Ireland a very important part of their cultural heritage. According to the 2001 census, Irish is spoken by 10.4% of the population of Northern Ireland and it was estimated (in the 2001 census there were no questions on Ulster Scots, these were only introduced for the first time in the 2011 census) that Ulster Scots, the other language spoken in Northern Ireland other than English and Irish, was spoken by around 2% of the population. Indeed, according to the 2011 census, the number of people with some ability in Irish and Ulster Scots is similar, 8.08% of the population of Northern Ireland has some ability in Ulster Scots and 10.65% has some ability in Irish. Surprisingly there is not a huge difference between the two percentages.

The Northern Ireland Act 1998 gave the Northern Ireland Assembly significant legislative powers in most policy areas that are relevant to the protection of Irish and Ulster Scots. Generally, however, this power has not been used, largely due to the highly contested nature of language in Northern Ireland, and the stalemate between Nationalist parties, who are broadly supportive of taking legislative action to protect Irish, and the Unionist parties, which oppose such measures, and invoke the protection of Ulster Scots. Northern Irish society is divided, and there are stereotypes which deprive the country of its linguistic heritage. This article focuses especially on the use of Irish and Ulster Scots in the Public Administration of Northern Ireland.


Keywords
Irish, Ulster Scots, Public Administration, Language Rights, Devolution, Legislation, Strategy, Religion.

Article Details

How to Cite
Vacca, Alessia. “Protection of Minority Languages in the Public Administration of Northern Ireland: Irish and Ulster Scots Linguistic Legislation. Which and When?”. Revista de Llengua i Dret, no. 62, pp. 49-72, https://raco.cat/index.php/RLD/article/view/291419.
Author Biography

Alessia Vacca, University of Sassari: Dr. Avv. Alessia Vacca is working as Assistant Professor in Administrative Law at the University of Sassari. She is an Italian lawyer and researcher with more than ten years of experience, especially in administrative law. She is working on a project of research regarding Transparency in the Energy Law sector. Dr. Vacca holds a PhD in Law from the University of Aberdeen (UK) where she has also worked tutoring EU Law and Foundations of Private Law at the School of Law. She is graduated in Law (Laurea in Giurisprudenza Vecchio Ordinamento which corresponds to a five years degree) at the University of Cagliari (Italy) with 110/110 cum laude. In 2009 she was awarded with the CB Davidson, University of Aberdeen. Alessia has been, until 2005, contract researcher at the University of Cagliari, sponsored by Regione Autonoma della Sardegna. She has been also a trainee lawyer in London (as a winner of the Leonardo da Vinci award) and in Barcelona (Spain). She attended several post-graduate courses in EU Law, Human Rights Law and Administrative Law in Italy (e.g. Cagliari, Milano) and abroad (e.g. International Public Law at the Hague Academy, Peace Palace, Netherlands, Human Rights in the EU at the University Carlos III Madrid, Krakow, Cooperation among Mediterranean Sea Countries, University of Marseille). She delivered several presentations: at the University of Aberdeen, at the Emory Institute for Human Rights, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, in Florence: University Paris Nanterre X, at the University of London, at the University of Tartu, Estonia. In December 2008/January 2009 she was visiting researcher at the University of Sydney, Australia. She has written various articles dealing with the issue of rights of minority languages, minority rights, public administration, transparency and transparency in the public administration.

Dr. Avv. Alessia Vacca is working as Assistant Professor at the University of Sassari. She is an Italian lawyer and researcher with more than ten years of experience, especially in administrative law. She is working on a project of research regarding Transparency in the Energy Law sector. Dr. Vacca holds a PhD in Law from the University of Aberdeen (UK) where she has also worked tutoring EU Law and Foundations of Private Law at the School of Law. She is graduated in Law (Laurea in Giurisprudenza Vecchio Ordinamento which corresponds to a five years degree) at the University of Cagliari (Italy) with 110/110 cum laude. In 2009 she was awarded with the CB Davidson, University of Aberdeen. Alessia has been, until 2005, contract researcher at the University of Cagliari, sponsored by Regione Autonoma della Sardegna. She has been also a trainee lawyer in London (as a winner of the Leonardo da Vinci award) and in Barcelona (Spain). She attended several post-graduate courses in EU Law, Human Rights Law and Administrative Law in Italy (e.g. Cagliari, Milano) and abroad (e.g. International Public Law at the Hague Academy, Peace Palace, Netherlands, Human Rights in the EU at the University Carlos III Madrid, Krakow, Cooperation among Mediterranean Sea Countries, University of Marseille). She delivered several presentations: at the University of Aberdeen, at the Emory Institute for Human Rights, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, in Florence: University Paris Nanterre X, at the University of London, at the University of Tartu, Estonia. In December 2008/January 2009 she was visiting researcher at the University of Sydney, Australia. She has written various articles dealing with the issue of rights of minority languages, minority rights, public administration, transparency and transparency in the public administration. Abstract:The Irish language is a Celtic language which has historically been spoken in Ireland. According to the 2001 census, Irish is spoken by 10.4% of the population of Northern Ireland and it is estimated that Ulster Scots, the other language spoken in Northern Ireland other than English and Irish, is spoken by around 2% of the population. Indeed, according to the 2011 census 8.08% of the population of Northern Ireland has some ability in Ulster Scots and 10.65% has some ability in Irish.The Northern Ireland Act 1998 gave to the Northern Ireland Assembly significant legislative powers in most policy areas that are relevant to the protection of Irish and Ulster Scots. Generally, however, this power has not been used, largely due to the highly contested nature of language in Northern Ireland, and the stalemate between Nationalist parties, who are broadly supportive of taking legislative action to protect Irish, and the Unionist parties, which oppose such measures, and invoke the protection of Ulster ScotsThis article is focused especially on the use of Irish in the Public Administration of Northern Ireland.