Written evidence from Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta
INTRODUCTION
01. Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta, is
a Department of Education-sponsored council responsible for the
provision of advice pertaining to the development and provision
of Irish-medium education (IME) in Northern Ireland.
02. There are currently 4,369 children attending
IME provision in the north of Ireland, attending 46 preschools,
31 primary schools and 4 post-primary schools. We estimate that
attendance figures will grow to between 8,000 and 10,000 by 2015.
03. In our role as representative body for the
children, staff and schools in the Irish-medium sector and for
the wider IME community of families and communities, Comhairle
na Gaelscolaíochta wishes to address a number of issues
in relation to the manner in which the BBC addresses the Irish
language as part of its Public Service Responsibility.
PUBLIC-SERVICE
REMIT OF
THE BBC
04. The BBC has an important role to play in
the safeguarding of the cultural heritage of the UK, including
the Irish language in Northern Ireland; a role it has itself acknowledged.
Until now, the BBC have had an ambivalent approach to the role
of the BBC in relation to Irish as part of its public-service
broadcasting remit, in comparison to its approach in Wales and
Scotland. This ambivalence has been both recent and historical.
Most recently its has been exemplified starkly by the comparison
between the per capita amounts the BBC commits to indigenous-language
broadcasting in Scotland and Wales compared to the north of Ireland.
It is also clearly exemplified in the structures and approaches
to Irish-language broadcasting and broadcasting in Welsh and Scottish
Gaelic.
05. Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta recommends
that the BBC should make a firm, unambiguous state and commitment
to recognising its public-service obligations to produce Irish-language
broadcast material.
06. Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta is of
the opinion that, as BBC licence payers, Irish-speakers and families
of children in Irish-medium Education are entitled to the same
service as our Welsh-speaking and Scottish Gaelic-speaking counterparts.
The Irish language in this part of the UK is as much part of our
British heritage as the indigenous languages of Scotland and Wales.
07. The Irish-speaking and Irish-Medium Education
communities in the north of Ireland are entirely dependent on
the Public Service role of the BBC for broadcasting in Irish.
As with the other indigenous languages, the commercial non-profitability
of minority-language broadcasting has always resulted in the Irish
language being ignored by independent broadcasters. Unlike commercial
broadcasters, the BBC receives the proceeds of the licence fee
to enable it to meet its responsibilities in respect of minorities.
The BBC has a monopoly on the licence fee, and as a result, a
near monopoly on Public Service Broadcasting. Consequently, the
Irish-language community of NI and the children in Irish-medium
schools have been left entirely dependent on the BBC for Irish-language
broadcasting.
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
08. The UK Government has a duty towards the
Irish language enshrined in a number of international agreements.
The role of Government in supporting the Irish language is reflected
in the Belfast Agreement. The British Government is a signatory
to the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages since
2001. It has agreed, in this, to provide a better level of public
service television for Irish speakers in NI. It is four years
since the UK Government ratified the European Charter and as yet
the Government has failed to meet this commitment.
THE IRISH-MEDIUM
EDUCATION SYSTEM
09. At present, the BBC makes little provision
for the Irish-medium education system in its educational broadcasting,
despite the fact that Irish-Medium Education has, for several
years, being facilitated and supported by the state through the
various education authorities; Education and Library Boards, the
Department of Education, the Council for Curriculum Examinations
and Assessment and the Education and Training Inspectorate.
10. The BBC stands alone as a significant state-funded
education provider in NI in its failure to acknowledge Irish-medium
Education.
11. There is a clear lack of equity in the approach
of the BBC in its treatment of indigenous minority languages.
In addition, BBC has not put in place plans to address this funding
inequity between Irish in NI, and Welsh and Scottish Gaelic in
Wales and Scotland respectively.
THE IRISH
LANGUAGE BROADCASTING
FUND
12. The Irish language broadcasting fund is
a fundamental part of the scaffolding required to address the
historic lack of investment in broadcasting in Irish in NI. The
investment in the ILBF has been shown through independent evaluations
to have provided excellent value for money since its establishment.
More importantly, is has made significant progress in addressing
the deficits in the capacity in NI to deliver Irish-language broadcasting.
This latter point is fundamental to allowing the BBC to begin
to address inadequacies in its Irish-language provision.
13. It is essential that the ILBF is provided
with permanent or long-term funding to allow it to develop its
work in the future. Without the ILBF, the BBC will not be able
to meet even its current stated commitments to Irish language
programming.
14. The disadvantage suffered by the Irish-language
community in the north of Ireland, including Irish-medium pupils
in Irish-medium schools and units, has been compounded because
we are politically separated from the greater body Irish speakers
on the island of Ireland and therefore do not benefit, of right,
from broadcasting initiatives taken in the Republic of Ireland,
such as the Irish-language TV station, TG4.
15. While the Belfast Agreement commits the
British and Irish Governments to making TG4 available in the north
of Ireland this should not allow the BBC to abdicate its responsibilities
to Irish. Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta believes that it
is unacceptable for the UK state broadcaster to rely on out-of-state
broadcasters (RTÉ) to meet is requirements in respect of
Irish-language broadcasting.
16. Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta believes
that BBC Northern Ireland should begin to meet its obligations
to the young Irish speakers in NI who have become Irish speakers
through the IME system and the traditional schooling system. To
do this the BBC should at a minimum produce regular Irish language
television programming every week.
17. Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta also
believes that the BBC should begin to produce Irish-medium television
programming and that this be supported by a specific allocated
IME budget, funded by the licence fee as is the case for Scotland
and Wales.
CONCLUSION
18. The Irish language had been spoken in the
Northern Ireland as a community language until the middle of the
last century. Efforts to maintain an Irish-speaking community
have succeeded in spite of state neglect. The numbers of children
currently in Irish-medium Education and the increase in the number
of Irish-medium Education schools are evidence of the demand for
the Irish language in the north. The BBC potentially could play
a significant role in supporting the maintenance and revival of
the Irish language as it does for Welsh and Scottish Gaelic. The
fact that it has chosen not to is at best a dereliction of its
duty as a Public-Service Broadcaster and at worst discrimination
against Irish speakers in the UK.
19. In summary, Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta
believes that the BBC should:
— Recognise the BBC's duty to the Irish
language as a Public Service Broadcaster;
— Treat the Irish-speaking population
as licence-fee payers with equity in comparison to Wales and Scotland;
— Recognise the BBC's duty to Irish
as one of the indigenous languages of the UK and as a legitimate
and cherished part of the UK linguistic heritage;
— Acknowledge the BBC's role in safeguarding
cultural heritage in respect of the Irish language;
— Make adequate provision in the BBC's
educational broadcasting to children in Irish-medium education;
— Give permanent funding status to
the ILBF.
May 2009
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