The Irish Language in Northern Ireland: The Politics of Culture and Identity

The phrase "our own language" has come to symbolize the importance of the Irish language to Irish identity for many Nationalists in Northern Ireland. However, different interests compete to have their version of the meaning and importance of the Irish language accepted. Talk about the Irish language can usefully be divided into three discourses, all of which are vehicles for competing constructions of the meaning and significance of the Irish language for Irish people in the North today. One of …