Stalemate in Northern Ireland A tongue-twister of a dispute A
demand to make Irish an official language is causing ructions
SINCE June Northern Ireland's power-sharing arrangement between
the Protestant Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Catholic
Sinn Fein, the political wing of the now disbanded IRA, has been
in abeyance. The stalemate has arisen for several weighty
reasons, including a disagreement over when control of policing
and the courts should be handed back from Westminster. But a
more intractable issue is the status of “Irish”, the Gaelic
language respected by many but spoken fluently by only a small
proportion of Catholics. Although the linguistic dispute may
appear trivial, the row compacts ancient hatreds and modern
resentments into a toxic compound. Most northern place names
originate in Irish, including the term “Ulster” (Uladh) for
Northern Ireland, which is preferred by hardline unionists. By
contrast streets, public buildings, bridges and even the new
town of Craigavon usually bear the