A chara, – In his column (“No, the Irish language does not ‘belong to us all’”, Opinion, October 16th) Newton Emerson asserts quite emphatically that the Irish language does not “belong to us all” in Northern Ireland.
In doing so he ignores the reality that large numbers of those who came in the Plantations were Gaelic speakers (so much so that the Presbyterian Church required its ministers in the 18th and early 19th centuries to be able to preach in Irish), and that even the Orange Order had a Belfast Grand Master in the 1890s who was also a patron of the Gaelic League.
Historically, indeed, Presbyterians were far more active in promoting the language than the Catholic Church.
While the unionist parties, in their never-ending search for causes of division, have concocted a campaign against Irish, census reports from the beginning of the 20th century show that many people from what is now the PUL (Protestant, unionist, loyalist) community were Irish speakers.
RM Block
Linda Ervine, for example, in East Belfast, has explained that her interest in Irish was spurred by finding out that her grandparents were listed as Irish speakers. And the growth of Ervine’s project in East Belfast shows that many in her community share that outlook. – Is mise, etc,
EOIN Ó MURCHÚ
Cluain Dolcáin
Baile Átha Cliath
