Boost for Irish in schools
by Mick Hall
A boost for the Irish language in the North’s schools has been given a guarded welcome.
The draft Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, which will go before both houses of the British parliament for approval before the summer recess, will allow schools to offer Irish as a foreign language second-level curriculum course.
It is scheduled to come into operation on August 1, 2006, if passed.
However, Sinn Féin education spokesman Michael Ferguson said that the amendment was simply a recognition of the government’s obligation to adhere to Section 75 equality legislation under the terms of Good Friday Agreement. He said the decision had resulted from pressure from equality campaigners, but claimed the provision of Irish language education had become a bargaining chip on the issue of whether academic selection should be scrapped and replaced by a more egalitarian educational system.
It is understood that government ministers have assured the DUP, which supports academic selection, that the controversial system would not be replaced unless a restored Stormont executive decides otherwise.
He told Daily Ireland: “I welcome the fact that the British minister Maria Eagle rang me this week to say that the draft order had now been amended to enable schools, other than Irish-speaking schools, to include Irish in their minimum language entitlement at Key Stage 4.
“This is an issue that I raised with her when we meet on May 20 at Hillsborough Castle and with her predecessor Angela Smith at Stormont.
“But this development unfortunately comes hot on the heels of a very negative decision to play political football with the issue of academic selection.
“The British government, by neglecting to ensure that all children had an entitlement to the Irish language, was in breech of the European charter on minority languages and in breech of the 1998 Section 75 equality legislation.
“Equality of educational entitlement can not be defined as a concession and the British minister should view this amendment to the order as a move to rectify the mistake in the original draft and the recognition of the right to Irish language education,” said Mr Ferguson.
