Concerned east Belfast residents attend meeting regarding Irish language school in area

It comes as a local Green Party councillor hit back at concerns and said the Irish language “isn’t the enemy”.

Scoil na Seolta (‘School of the Sails’) is set to open on Montgomery Road later this year.

Plans for the temporary building were passed last month, with just two objections submitted to Belfast City Council.

The meeting, organised by a group known as ‘Clonduff Concerned Residents’, took place at Clonduff Community Centre.

Moore Holmes of the ‘Let’s Talk Loyalism’ initiative was asked to deliver a presentation at the meeting.

During the address, he said that one female English teacher outlined the need for “better English literacy and literature skills for children in the area, arguing that learning the Irish language would not be advantageous in the real world and should not be prioritised”.

“Another person wanted to hear from the organisers of the school,” he continued.

“They wanted to ask where applicants for the school were coming from, giving the lack of desire or need for Irish in the immediate area.

“Unfortunately, representatives from the school declined an invitation to attend.”

Linda Ervine, the Irish language campaigner behind the school project, had not been available to attend the meeting, as she had already been scheduled to attend the Fiddlers Green Festival in Rostrevor, where she received the Creative Arts Award, the same accolade Seamus Heaney received in 2000.

Mr Holmes also claimed that “the most common criticism of the school was focused on how the Irish language has been heavily politicised in Northern Ireland”.

“It has been weaponised by others who seek to advance Irish identity and culture into areas that do not identify with it and do not want or support it,” he continued.

“It was claimed repeatedly that if people wanted an Irish school, [they had] every right to pursue one, but it would best serve an area that had a demonstrable need for it and local community support.

“According to the 2021 census, a total of 0.02% of the population in Cregagh, Stormont and Knock wards of east Belfast speak Irish as a main language. Zero per cent of people speak Irish in Orangefield, where the school hopes to be permanently. This shows that the statistical demand for an Irish language school in east Belfast simply is not there.”

Brian Smyth, Green Party councillor for the area, said that he agreed with Mr Holmes around suggestions the Irish language has been politicised in the past – but believes Ms Ervine is changing that.

“Linda Ervine is giving it back to the people, her work in east Belfast has been incredible and this is just a further extension of it,” he told the Belfast Telegraph.

“I don’t know why anyone feels threatened by 3-11year olds learning a language in an integrated setting.

“Forty per cent of the people in the area are economically inactive, what’s that a failure of? It’s a failure of politics and in particular, political unionism. In working-class areas of east Belfast people have just been used as a vote for decades.

“The Irish language isn’t the enemy, you know what the enemy is? It’s poverty, educational underachievement and paramilitarism.”

Residents at the meeting also brought up the issue of at least seven school closures in east Belfast in the past, including Beechfield Primary School (which is now used as the premises for an amateur boxing club), Orangefield High School and Cregagh Preschool.

“East Belfast has witnessed high schools, primary schools and this summer a preschool being forced to close due to a lack of public funds,” Mr Holmes said.

“On the other hand, an Irish language school is proposed in a local area that does not support or need it and, due to their non-attendance, will not benefit from.”

In a statement, Scoil na Sealta said that since its inception its organisers have “continuously engaged with the east Belfast community to increase the awareness of and interest in the opportunities it provides for children of this area”.

“This has included delivering 17,000 flyers to homes within east Belfast, a social media campaign focusing on the school and the advantages of bi-lingual education, and extensive media coverage including BBC and UTV news.”

Mr Holmes claimed that “not a single household in the Clonduff area received one of the 17,000 flyers allegedly delivered in east Belfast about the Irish language school”, adding: “As the closest residential area to the school, many believe they have been deliberately excluded from engagement, and tonight’s event was to allow people in the area to voice their views on the proposal.”

Naiscoil na Seolta has been running as an integrated Irish language preschool since 2021.

This September, it will accept 36 children for its first primary-one intake.