AN Irish language policy has been approved by Belfast City Council for the first time in its existence.
Councillors approved the plan for the council at a monthly meeting which was held last night.
Their decision follows a public consultation on the topic which ran from August to November 2024.
“The policy sets out how the council plans to promote and use Irish across its services, including interpreting and translation, key documents and publications, signage at facilities, on the council website belfastcity.gov.uk and within the council’s corporate identity, including its logo,” the Council said in a statement.
“Throughout August and September, councillors on the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee reviewed feedback from the public consultation, which drew responses from residents, council staff, trade unions and members of the council’s Irish Language Stakeholder Forum,” they added.
Councillor Natasha Brennan, Chair of Belfast City Council’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, pictured with NI's incoming Irish Language Commissioner, Pól Deeds, of Foras na Gaeilge (Pic: Belfast City Council)“Following this engagement, the committee agreed to adopt the policy proposals, and that there should be a single bilingual logo for the organisation – a move aligned with international best practice in promoting minority languages."
Design work for the new identity and logo is ongoing, the Council confirmed, adding that “further engagement will be undertaken with trade unions as part of this work”.
Alongside the policy decision, councillors further agreed a “high-level implementation plan” to guide its delivery over the next two years, which will focus on “supporting staff and enhancing access to services in Irish”.
Funding of £1.9m to implement the policy was previously agreed at a full council meeting held in July.
“This is a historic milestone for the Irish language in Belfast,” said Councillor Natasha Brennan, Chair of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.
“Our council is delivering an ambitious and groundbreaking policy which aims to promote, protect and celebrate the Irish language across the city," she added.
“This policy represents a major step forward in fostering linguistic diversity, supporting cultural heritage and ensuring everyone who wishes to access our services in Irish is able to do so.
“We have committed £1.9 million to begin implementing the policy over the next two years, with regular updates being brought back to councillors, so we can see how access to our services and facilities, through Irish, is increasing over time.”
Pól Deeds from Foras Na Gaeilge, who is the incoming Irish Language Commissioner for Northern Ireland and a member of the council’s Irish Language Stakeholder Forum, welcomed the milestone.
“Foras na Gaeilge commends Belfast City Council for developing this Irish language policy," he said.
"The council is recgonising, through this policy, the growth and spread of the Irish language community in the city, as well as every Irish speaker and learner in the city and those Irish speakers who visit here, be that as a tourist or those who are here to do business which contributes to our economy."
He added: “This policy also provides an opportunity to reach out to the groups and people in our society who have felt, for one reason or another, that the Irish language was not relevant to them.
"This policy can be a tool to bring our community together, to celebrate our rich history and to share a more enriched life together in Belfast in the time to come.”
