Irish is experiencing a period of growth in its official use. It is a full official and working language of the European Union since 1 January 2022. Every regulation, directive and decision of the EU is now enacted and published in Irish at the same time and with the same status as the versions in the other 23 official languages of the Union, from world languages such as English, French and German to the languages of small nations such as Maltese, Estonian and Latvian. At national level, the Official Languages Act has been amended and the amending legislation signed into law by the President. The most noteworthy amendments provide that at least 20% of new recruits to the public service will be competent in Irish by the 31 December 2030 and that public services will be provided in Irish in Gaeltacht areas. At least 20% of public bodies’ advertising will be in Irish and at least 5% of their advertising budgets spend on Irish language media. Public bodies will facilitate the use of the síneadh fada. Bilingual logos, bilingual forms and bilingual advertising materials will be rolled out for public bodies. Protocols or ‘standards’ will be set in relation to services to be provided in Irish by public bodies, including services provided on their behalf by private agencies. Long-promised language legislation is being enacted at Westminster for Northern Ireland which will establish the office of Irish Language Commissioner and language standards for the provision of public services through Irish. In this context of growth, one must be watchful to ensure that the official status of Irish is safeguarded under any new constitutional arrangement. The status of Irish is secure at EU level and must be reproduced domestically. In the context of a united Ireland, the protection of minority rights will be very much to the fore, including the rights of Irish speakers. In relation to protecting linguistic minorities, Canadian constitutional law and language legislation, in particular the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides a useful exemplar. This is set out and discussed below. Irish as the Premier Official Language From the foundation of the State, Irish is established as the national language of the country and from 1937, with the enactment of Bunreacht na hÉireann, as the first official language because it is the national language. There is a divergence between the Irish and English texts of Article 8.1. In cases such as this, the Irish version, under Article 25.5.4°, prevails. In the English version Irish is the “first official language”. In the Irish version it is the “príomhtheanga oifigiúil” i.e. the premier or main official language. It matters not that this is more honoured in the breach than the observance. Very few laws are constantly observed but this does not nullify the constitutional imperative which flows from Article 8.1. Consider that equality as between citizens was guaranteed from 1937 by Article 40 of the Irish Constitution, but that the marriage-bar which obliged women to resign from state employment in the event that they married persisted until 1973 and that discriminatory practise was only ended under the shadow of European law. Similarly, it is because of this constitutional status and the constitutional imperative which flows from it that any victory for Irish language rights has been secured in the Courts. Anyone who proposes a reduction in the status of the language does not have the good of Irish at heart or is unfamiliar with the caselaw. The Constitution of the Irish Free State 1922 Article 4 of the 1922 Constitution provided as follows: The National language of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) is the Irish language, but the English language shall be equally recognised as an official language. Nothing in this Article shall prevent special provisions being made by the Parliament of the Irish Free State (otherwise called and herein generally referred to as the “Oireachtas”) for districts or areas in which only one language is in general use. A derogation from official bilingualism was permitted at the end of Article 4 “to provide for the contingency of the entry of Northern Ireland into the Free State” according to Kohn The Constitution of the Irish Free State (London 1932), p. 124. This, of course, is being superseded by the aforementioned UK language legislation for the North. Language matters are also discussed in Article 42: As soon as may be after any law has received the King’s assent, the clerk, or such officer as Dáil Éireann may appoint for the purpose, shall cause two fair copies of such law to be made, one being in the Irish language and the other in the English language (one of which copies shall be signed by the Representative of the Crown to be enrolled for record in the office of such officer of the Supreme Court as Dáil Éireann may determine), and such copies shall be conclusive evidence as to the provisions of every such law, and in case of conflict between the two copies so deposited, that signed by the Representative of the Crown shall prevail. There are a number of ways to read this provision. According to Hugh Kennedy, the first Chief Justice, in the case of Ó Foghludha v. McClean [1934] I.R. 469 bilingual enactment is implied by this Article: It is not for me here and now to express any opinion as to whether each Act should not have been enacted at the same time in the Irish language (as seems to be suggested by Article 42 of the Constitution). No doubt an Irish translation of each Act has been prepared subsequently and published officially but such translation has no effect as legislation, there being no power under the Constitution to delegate the legislative power of the Oireachtas to a staff of translators. I may add that legislation in two official languages concurrently is the settled practice elsewhere. The learned Chief Justice referred in particular in support of this contention to the practice of bilingual enactment in other
