Draft Irish Language Policy
About the draft policy
The aim of this draft policy is to set out how Belfast City Council will promote Irish and use Irish across our services. This includes interpreting and translation, key documents and publications, our council website, signage at our facilities and within our corporate identity, including our council logo.
Our elected members (councillors) agreed a draft policy for public consultation in April 2024 and would like to hear your views on the proposals in the policy.
Your feedback will then be brought back to elected members to help them agree the next steps towards finalising an Irish language policy.
How to respond
Our consultation is open from 22 August until midnight on 28 November 2024.
You can complete the survey online, in English or Irish.
Please make sure you have read the following documents before you respond to the consultation process:
- Draft Irish Language Policy
- Draft Equality Impact Assessment
- Draft Rural Needs Impact Assessment
- Frequently asked questions document
You can also email consult@belfastcity.gov.uk, write to us at Draft Irish Language Policy Consultation, Legal and Civic Services Department, City Hall, BT1 5GS to request a copy of, and respond to, the consultation in writing, or come along to public information sessions to share your views.
Venue | Date | Details |
St. Mary’s University College | Thursday 5 September at 7pm | |
Online Event | Wednesday 2 October at 2pm | |
Online event | Tuesday 8 October at 7pm | |
An Droichead, Ormeau Road | Wednesday 9 October at 6pm | |
2 Royal Avenue | Wednesday 30 October at 4pm |
Please register in advance for these events.
The same content will be covered at each event, so you do not need to attend more than one.
Background to the draft policy
In 2006, our council published its first Language Policy. It outlined our commitment to using Irish and Ulster Scots when communicating with our residents, if they chose to do so, in order to support the heritage and traditions of various language communities living in our city.
It enabled our residents to:
- correspond with us in Irish or Ulster Scots;
- ask for an interpreter for small meetings;
- leave a message on an Irish or Ulster Scots voicemail service; and
- use the Irish or Ulster Scots versions of their names and addresses when dealing with us.
Our elected members have also been able to use Irish or Ulster Scots on their personal stationery, and the policy also allowed for other actions regarding newcomer languages and accessibility requests.
Since then, we have noted the growth in the city’s Irish language community and the subsequent increase in demand for our services, in Irish.
In 2018, all political parties on our council agreed to adopt a Language Strategy. It aims to create a place where linguistic diversity is celebrated and respected and where all those who live, work and visit Belfast can access what our city has to offer, using forms of language with which they are familiar and comfortable.
This strategy has five strands - Irish, Ulster Scots, new communities, sign languages (British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language) and disability communications.
It is further supported by a Language Strategy Action Plan, which sets how we will deliver the goals of the Language Strategy across all five strands. This was agreed by elected members in May 2024.
This draft Irish language policy is the first policy to be brought forward as part of our Language Strategy.
Policies relating to the other language strands will also be developed in the future.