Philip McDermott

Public space, collective memory and intercultural dialogue in a (UK) city of culture

Using the case study of Derry~Londonderry and its designation as ‘UK City of Culture 2013’, the primary objective of this research paper is to critically analyse the challenges associated with the production of a year-long cultural programme in a culturally and politically divided place. Given that Northern Ireland’s second largest city has been understood in terms of a conflict between ‘two traditions’, Irish/Catholic and British/Protestant, we critically assess the dialogue and policy negotiations with reference to public places as well as representations of collective memory and traditional music during the year. Fieldwork over two years has enabled us to investigate how culture and identity politics are played out in the context of a city undergoing a process of reconciliation. Placing our case study in a strongly comparative context, we argue that cultural concerns are pivotal points of (re-)negotiation in any society transitioning from conflict to ‘peace’ and that this issue, therefore, is of vital concern to academics and policymakers alike internationally.

Transitional Politics and Language Rights in a Multi-ethnic Northern Ireland: Towards a True Linguistic Pluralism?

Abstract This paper provides an overview of the deliberations on cultural diversity and language policy that have occurred in Northern Ireland since the onset of the peace process. The paper looks specifically at how policy decisions and political debate on the Irish language and the languages of migrant communities are driven by competing notions of Britishness and Irishness, despite a supposed desire in the Belfast Agreement to promote ‘respect, understanding and tolerance in relation to linguistic diversity’. The paper argues that the peace process has increased the level of policy discussion on both autochthonous and allochthonous language issues, but has also served to cement their position within ethnic conflict. While debates on new policy directions have raised discussions on intercultural awareness in policy delivery, the competing interests of the political parties have tended to act as a barrier to the development of a true linguistic pluralism.

Cohesion, sharing and integration? Migrant languages and cultural spaces in Northern Ireland's urban environment

This article investigates the position of migrant languages in Northern Irelands two largest cities, Belfast and Derry/Londonderry. The paper comments on how deliberations around public policy objectives in a post-conflict era have led to a broader understanding of cultural identity and consequently to an ‘opening-up’ of urban spaces for speakers of migrant community languages. For such linguistic minorities, museums, libraries, community festivals, arts projects and grass roots community initiatives can be noted as especially important in contributing to higher levels of inclusion and accessibility to urban spaces. Nonetheless, while the debates on such ‘peace-oriented’ policy frameworks have certainly accommodated the wider visibility and use of migrant languages in city spaces, there is more that can be done by planners in these sectors to further enhance opportunities for social cohesion.

Acquisition, Loss or Multilingualism? Educational Planning for Speakers of Migrant Community Languages in Northern Ireland

Debates surrounding linguistic heritage in Northern Ireland have primarily centred on Irish (Gaelic) and Ulster-Scots. However, closer analysis suggests that there have long been other languages spoken in the region. Cantonese, Mandarin, Polish, Lithuanian and Portuguese are all spoken throughout Northern Ireland as the region experiences large-scale inward migration for the first time since the arrival of Scottish settlers in the 1600s. The fact that many of the new arrivals have come with little or no English language skills has implications for a number of public services, not least education. This paper will discuss how schools have responded to the needs of an increasingly multilingual environment by analysing new procedures and by drawing on interviews conducted with stakeholders in the area.

Broadcasting for Minorities: The Case of the Celtic Languages

The Celtic languages are a group of Indo-European languages that are still spoken on the periphery of Western Europe. Welsh, Irish, Scots Gaelic, Cornish and Manx are indigenous to the British Isles, and Breton is still spoken in Brittany on France’s west coast. In the past one hundred years the Celtic languages have witnessed a dramatic fall in the number of speakers. In Ireland the percentage of the population that spoke Irish had halved between 1861 and 1926 (Central Statistics Office 2005). In Wales the number of Welsh speakers had fallen from 54 per cent of the population in 1891 to fewer than 30 per cent by 1951 [National Statistics Online (2004)]. In Scotland the situation has proved even more precarious, where recent figures suggest that there are now fewer than 60,000 speakers of Scots Gaelic (McKinnion 2004). In Brittany there has also been a serious decline in the number of speakers throughout the twentieth century. However, determining the size of the Bretonspeaking community is problematic because there is no question on the language in the French census. One study conducted by a private company in 1991 suggested that there were around 320,000 speakers of Breton (Research Centre of Wales 1996).

Language rights and the Council of Europe: A failed response to a multilingual continent?:

Debates on language rights as integral elements of human rights have gathered momentum since the early 1990s. International organisations such as the Council of Europe (CoE) and the United Nations (UN) have advocated linguistic rights through various charters and conventions, albeit with wavering levels of success. This article focuses specifically on the European context and the manner in which the CoE has dealt with language rights in the continent. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the European Charter for Regional and Minority languages (ECRML) and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCPNM) are discussed in light of the region’s contemporary linguistic makeup. Current inequalities in the application of language recognition provide an area of special concern. For example, while speakers of ‘indigenous’ (or autochthonous) minority languages have apparently enjoyed an improving status in recent decades, the position of immigrant (or allochthonous) languages is less clear and current approaches largely ignore linguistic diversity which has been brought by recent mass migration patterns, leading to a somewhat exclusionary system. Through the discussion possible pathways for better inclusion of immigrant languages within current international frameworks, especially those of the CoE, are explored.

From Ridicule to Legitimacy? 'Contested languages' and Devolved Language Planning

ABSTRACT In 1999, devolved governance was established in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland which altered the contours of language recognition in the United Kingdom. Whilst much focus has been placed on how devolution improved the status of Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, and Irish, less attention has been placed on those minority vernaculars with ‘contested’ linguistic status. Scots in Scotland and Ulster-Scots in Northern Ireland fall into such a category as they are considered by some as merely ‘dialects’ of English but by others as independent regional languages. The formation of the Edinburgh and Belfast legislatures created policy processes closer to the point of application and has ensured that policy decisions, including those relating to language, have been influenced by the nuances of local identity (Birrell, 2009). This article, therefore, explores the extent to which devolution in Scotland and Northern Ireland has enhanced the status of Scots and Ulster-Scots in areas such as broadcasting, education, and the arts. Whilst supporters in both regions continue to champion better policy coverage, changes since 1999 illustrate how the devolved administrations have facilitated incremental change and evolving policy.