Language Policy Worth Stealing: Wales’ Orange Bubbles

It is written in Leabhar Gabhála na hÉireann (the Book of Invasions), compiled in the 11th Century, that the Irish language was invented just after the events at the Tower of Babel, where God, incensed by the attempts of an egotistical humankind to build a tower to the heavens and disturb him, destroyed the one common and perfect language which all of humanity until that point had spoken, thereby putting a spanner in the works of the construction team who found themselves unable to co-ordinate the 72 languages now being spoken on site. Gaeilge was a result of painstaking scholarship, supposedly, which involved studying – and stealing – the best bits from all 72 languages to create a language as close to perfection as was humanly possible at the time.

The Gaels who inherited this language went on to suffer great trials and tribulations, akin to those faced by the Israelites of the Old Testament. So alike in fact that some might think a theft of storyline accompanied the theft of linguistic gems, but before I go accusing the Gaelic scholars of the Middle Ages of a plagiarism of literally Biblical proportions, there’s an important lesson to be learned from all of this in the context of today’s confusion of languages, and particularly of language rights.

The struggle of Irish language speakers to secure legal protection for their rights is well documented over the centuries, and the struggle continues in the face of unjustifiable delays and state obstruction. In the south, the Dáil is currently in the process of amending the state’s official language laws for the first time in nearly twenty years (suffice to say, the declining speaker numbers in Gaeltacht areas for the first time in 80 years suggest the 2003 Act has not lived up to expectations), and in the six counties the promise of legislation giving status to Irish was one of the key factors that led to the restoration of power-sharing, in no small part due to Sinn Féin’s principled stand on the matter and inspirational activism on the part of an Dream Dearg and others.

In trying to design radical and effective legislative protections for Irish speakers here, it’s worth following the lead of the first Gaels and see what lessons can be learned from elsewhere. There are countless examples to choose from, as every country has had to engage in a language policy – no language is passively spoken, or used by the state.

Looking to one’s closest neighbours can sometimes spark the most jealousy, with “Keeping up with the Jones’” never more appropriate than when discussing an Bhreatain Bheag.

Anyone with a keen eye on movements for self-determination, particularly of the Celtic variety, and indeed anyone who enjoyed the talk on Celtic Languages in the Struggle for National Liberation where Ógra Shinn Féin were joined by comrades from Wales’ Plaid Ifanc and Scotland’s Misneachd, will be well aware that something quite special is taking place on the other side of the Irish Sea right now.

Yes Cymru, the non-party campaign for an independent Wales, has gone from fewer than 2,000 members and relative obscurity at the start of 2020 to growing almost eightfold by November to 15,000 registered members, and the year is not even out yet. Even traditionally unionist politicians in Wales have been forced into accepting the need to consider independence as an option, given the indefensible nature of Westminster’s response to the COVID-19 crisis and its treatment of devolved governments. 

Wales is now a nation awakening to its own potential, and I for one wish Wales well on its journey to determine its own destiny, as I’m sure many readers will too.

For the purposes of this article however, I want to highlight the name of the organisation leading the way on this issue.

“Yes Cymru”.

While it should be of no surprise to see the name of a nation in its national language used by its independence movement, it stands both in stark contrast with the “Yes Scotland” we saw in 2014, and as a testament to the placing of Welsh language at the core of political discourse and society in Wales.

Beyond marking a milestone in the growth of separatism in Wales, this month saw celebrations of the 15th birthday of the Orange Speech Bubble Badge launched in 2005 by the Welsh Language Board, with the Bubble now overseen by the Language Commissioner.

The bubble was part of a plan developed to encourage businesses to use more Welsh and to promote the fact that the language was an advantage when communicating, and was done in coordination with offering staff language lessons in businesses across the country. 

It’s quite simple – if a Welsh speaker sees someone in a business wearing the badge, they’ll be encouraged to do their business with them in Welsh.

Some readers in Ireland will doubtless draw parallels with the “fáinne ór” pin badge worn by Irish speakers, and with great history attached to republican soldiers learning Irish and earning the fáinne in prison, but the Welsh approach may provide an idea worth exploring on these shores in an era where the wearing of pin badges is not as widespread as it once was – there had been a red and green knot badge in use in Wales but research was undertaken and found the old badge was perceived as corporate or too overtly linked with nationalism to reach more people. It would be interesting to conduct research into perceptions or even awareness of the fáinne in Ireland, or what similar innovations would help further the appeal and use of Gaeilge. 

Without any doubt, the bubble has been a massive success. More than 54,000 badges, lanyards and posters are distributed annually as part of the campaign, and this is only one element of a comprehensive set of legal measures giving status to the language and rights to its speakers.

Welsh law includes several things both jurisdictions in Ireland can only dream of. One of these is a dedicated Welsh Language Tribunal with the powers of the High Court to investigate and prosecute violations of language law, and failure on the part of state bodies to provide services in Welsh. 

Another is the explicit “Freedom to Use Welsh” in law, by which any interference in an attempt between two or more people to communicate in Welsh is illegal.

Growing up in Galway where the language was not often spoken in the community but was very much revered, I never would have considered a need for such a protection. You can imagine my shock then on one of my first trips to Belfast, to visit Gaeltacht Bhéal Feirste with activists from Misneach, a fellow passenger on our Dublin-Belfast bus got up to ask the driver to stop us “speaking THAT language”. The driver had the good courtesy to admonish him and say “they’re in Ireland, they can speak Irish”, which you’d take as a given, but sadly as the years go by I seen more and more examples of Gaeilge being othered and its use discouraged and interfered with.

On an island where both the responsibilities of state bodies to provide services through Irish are regularly abused and ignored without consequence, and where there is hatred directed at speakers of Irish that sometimes boils into public insults or threats, or where use of the language is deemed “controversial” and best avoided by so-called moderates, these laws stand as a model for us all. 

To our Welsh comrades so gallantly preserving and emboldening their language, we say Diolch!

To drift off-topic, Orange was chosen in Wales to be “different and modern”, and while the colour has more political connotations here (not to speak to the problems it might cause if a Welsh speaker and an Irish speaker met wearing the same coloured badge), it would be quite a sign of the unique history of the language, kept alive in part by Orange Order lodges when the Home Rule Catholic nationalism of O’Connell encouraged its decline, and by republicans whose flags don the orange alongside the green; a sign of the ability of the language to transcend religious divides with a colour used by everyone. 

Just a hypothetical justification for lazily stealing the successful orange bubble idea to use here, but perhaps simply borrowing the legal protections of Wales for the moment would be a welcome start.

Le Eoghan Finn