Irish Language Rights Poster

An Lá Dearg poster from the language rights advocacy march in Belfast.

The Irish language is an expression of national identity, cultural heritage and historic resilience, as well as an everyday form of communication for many people. An Lá Derg was a protest held in Belfast on 21st May 2022, campaigning for an Irish Language Act in the north. It was the biggest Irish language protest ever held on the island. The protest took the form of a 30-minute march from Cultúrlann in west Belfast to City Hall in Belfast City Centre. At City Hall a series of speakers performed to the crowd. Buses travelled from all over the island to join the march, and around 17,000 people were in attendance.

Since the partition of Ireland, there has been decades of marginalisation of the Irish Language in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement in 1998 established Foras Na Gaeilge. Foras Na Gaeilge is an all-island agency with responsibility for promoting Irish on both sides of the border. In 2006, the British government promised to introduce an Irish Language Act in the St Andrews Agreement. Yet, since 1998 there has been push-back from passing an Irish Language Act into law.

In 2022, the British Government put through Irish language legislation. On the 6 December the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill received royal assent. The result of this bill means that Irish would become an official language in Northern Ireland.

Object Number: HA:2022.19.5

More Information
Ó Caollaí, Éanna. Irish Language legislation receives royal assent to become law. The Irish Times [Online]. https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2022/12/07/irish-language-legislation-receives-royal-assent-to-become-law/  [Accessed 28/4/2025]
Video of the march in Belfast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbN_RahfIbI [Accessed 28/4/2025]