Irish Language Act

rdf:langString Irish Language Act

rdf:langString The Irish Language Act (Irish: Acht na Gaeilge) or the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022, is an act which gives the Irish language official status in Northern Ireland. The act was proposed as legislation in Northern Ireland that would give the Irish language equal status to English in the region, similar to that of the Welsh language in Wales under the Welsh Language Act 1993. It is supported by the Republic of Ireland, Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the Alliance Party, and the Green Party, and is opposed by the Democratic Unionist Party and Ulster Unionist Party.Sinn Féin and POBAL, the Northern Irish association of Irish speakers, point out that the British Government promised to introduce such an act in the 2006 St Andrews Agreement. Unionists say that they never supported such a commitment. As part of the January 2020 New Decade, New Approach compromise agreement, many of the proposals sought under an Irish Language Act would be implemented by amending existing laws rather than introducing a new standalone law.