Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At this very moment, once again crowds of young people who are representing An Dream Dearg, which is the campaign group for an Irish language Act, are gathered safely and in a socially-distanced fashion outside of Stormont. The group is predominantly made up of young people. It is not all young people who are involved in the campaign but the vast bulk of them certainly are.

Albeit in a much changed societal situation, the group is once again engaging with political leaders and representatives there about the need to deliver on the promise to deliver Irish language legislation. The language must also be protected in the North as part of the New Decade, New Approach agreement, the premise and basis on which the five political parties in the North returned to operating the institutions in the North last January. It is important, as people gather there, to remind Senators of our own steadfast support in these Houses, and as indicated by the Irish Government previously, for the implementation of an Acht na Gaeilge.

The Irish language is something that we all share on this island no matter what tradition one happens to come from. Whether it is new Irish communities who have taken to the language and enriched it as a result, I remind people that there is absolutely nothing to fear from a language. There is nothing divisive or contentious about a language. What makes a language political, divisive or contentious is when it is denied rights, protections and when people try to marginalise it, and demonise those who simply want to speak their language, live their lives through their language, educate their children through that language, celebrate and see them, and their language, represented in the world around them.