Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

My comments are entirely aside from the dialect vs. language argument as a miniscule minority care about Ulster Scots in NI as a language in its own right - comparative even to say Cant or Shelta - versus the usual Stormont tomfoolery like 'cash for ash' scandals.

Simply put, Ulster Scots prominence in legislation is merely a reflection of bad-faith political negotiations by Unionists to degrade the status of the Irish Language Act by proxy. Anyone on the ground knows it for the dog-whistle that it is, used simply to curry favour with a particularly sectarian unionist base in as a counter to the Irish Language provisions outlined and agreed to in the Good Friday Agreement.

And that's 'curry favour' - not 'curry my yoghurt' by the way. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-29895593

This has more or less been the case ever since the forced Ulster plantations lead to the development of Ulster Scots as a defined community with resilient Protestant and unionist ties. It'd be far more credible if Fingal tried to secede from Dublin and the Republic tomorrow morning using Yola as a justification.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yola_dialect

In short, the ILA and promotion of Gaeilge in the north is about trying to make some small reparation at a state level for a cultural genocide perpetrated by our Colonists, and to help re-establish the oldest written vernacular language in western Europe, dating back over 2,500 years.

The promotion of Ulster Scots however... well the Commissioner is literally called 'Commissioner for Ulster Scots and Ulster British Tradition'. This is after DUP members removed themselves from the equality and good relations group after basically fillibustering for 5 years of discussions on bi-lingual signs to force a stalemate.

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/dup-stor...



> My comments are entirely aside from the dialect vs. language argument...

Ah right, I get you now! The point you're making is fair enough, apologies for drawing the labour from your to explain it so fully.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: