NI Assembly Elections - A rerun of the GFA referendum?

Not sure why or how this is illuminating, the local dialects are now extinct in most parts of Ireland and many of those are gone well before the 1970's. Anybody that wants to learn Irish now is mainly using a standardised version of the language.

This is extraordinarily over-baked stuff. To say that the relative prominence of the Irish language in public documentation and signage “has an impact on many parts of life”, to the point where apparently people without Irish could be left stranded at a bus stop with absolutely no idea where they are is just wild hyperbole. Any cases of that would be so infinitesimally small that it is ludicrous to posit it as a problem.

I mean, have you ever been abroad? European countries are a patchwork of languages and people get by just fine. I lived in Belgium for a while and it really doesn’t take long to figure out where you’re going even when you cross the linguistic border and there isn’t a whole pile of bilingual signage — sure, the name Anvers might catch you out if you’re looking for a train from Liège to Antwerp, or maybe people think Bruxelles Midi sounds about right for Brussels Central, but mankind did not make it to the Moon by such matters overcoming his wit. Jesus, if anything, having bilingual signage in Ireland is probably educational for young people to understand how when they go abroad they might have to be savvy about linguistic differences from English.

There is no rush for Irish language legislation in the North, it’s literally been talked about for years and been impeded by irrational anti-Gaelic sentiment. Far from being a rush, the length of time it has taken to even get conceptual consent from the Unionists is a disgrace. And to repeat — the Act is supported by the middle ground Alliance too.

Another opportunity for them to demonstrate that the people of Northern Ireland are not their main concern. They're definitely going all in on the intransigence bus.

Talk about stamping their feet and demanding their own way. How long before Boris pulls the rug again. All the threats in recent days from Liz Truss and Gove are the normal "there's nothing off the table in what we might do" absolutely nothing concrete of what they will do, which will be nothing.

Just about every negative economic indicator mentions Brexit as part of the problem. No way is Boris going to make it worse by actually taking action.

It's not over baked at all. READ the Official Languages Act 2003 instead of supposing what's in it. The essential message as regards all public bodies, signage etc is that Irish MUST be first, MUST be at least as prominent as the following text in other official languages.

That is thrusting the Irish language onto a population where 99%+ live daily through English. Never mind our European visitors. It's the toe nail wagging the dog and flies completely in the face of daily reality.

By the way, I like a bit of the Gaeilge myself now. But like many who were educated in this state, I resented it being shoved down our throats.

Francie, go away with your personal rants against other posters, and address the historical facts in relation to the use of Irish.

That just isn't true.

The dialects are still distinct and spoken. They have continued to this day. However, in Northern Ireland........

"The last speakers of varieties of Irish native to what is now Northern Ireland died in the 20th century. Irish as spoken in Counties Down[9] and Fermanagh were the first to die out, but native speakers of varieties spoken in the Glens of Antrim[10] and the Sperrin Mountains of County Tyrone[11] and County Londonderry survived into the 1950s and 1970s respectively, whilst the Armagh dialect survived until the 1930s or '40s.[12] Varieties of Irish indigenous to the territory of Northern Ireland finally became extinct when the last native speaker of Rathlin Irish died in 1985.[13] Séamus Bhriain Mac Amhlaigh, who died in 1983, was reportedly the last native-speaker of Antrim Irish.[14]"

"Most Irish speakers in Ulster today speak the Donegal dialect of Ulster Irish"

Do you honestly think that the current cohort running the place have the wit to figure that out?