Deal or aon déileáil? How a debate over the Irish language ended talks in Stormont

After 13 months of negotiations between the DUP and Sinn Féin over whether they can agree to return to government in Northern Ireland, the talks appear to have finally come to a dramatic end.

DUP leader Arlene Foster announced in a statement that “there is no current prospect of these discussions leading” to a deal and called on the UK government to begin governing Northern Ireland in the absence of local politicians being able to take their posts.

The government collapsed in January of last year, when Sinn Féin pulled out of the previous agreement in protest at allegations that Ms Foster had been implicated in a financial scandal which saw public money misspent. Under the unique rules of Northern Ireland’s post-conflict parliament, one party cannot govern without the other and instead both must rule jointly in a power-sharing partnership.

The parties have spent the last year locked in negotiations over whether they can agree to work together again. As of this evening, the answer appears to be a resolute ‘no’ for the foreseeable future.

Relations between the DUP and Sinn Féin had always been strained during their partnership in government. Since the collapse, these tensions have only escalated—and spiralled into becoming about much more that the public finances scandal.

The sticking point which appears to have proven insurmountable is what position the Irish language should hold in Northern Irish society. The Irish language in primarily spoken by the region’s Catholic or Nationalist community, while few members of the Protestant or Unionist community do. It holds centuries-long history of being censored by various penal laws and anti-nationalist policies.

Sinn Féin support the Irish language and want to see legislation introduced in Northern Ireland to grant protected status to the language. However, the DUP have been less supportive and some have expressed fears that special status for the language would undermine Northern Ireland’s Britishness and links with the rest of the UK.

The DUP have long fed unionists’ fears about the role of the Irish language. In 2014, a DUP politician shouted “curry my yogurt” in the parliament in an attempt to parody the Irish expression “go raibh maith agat, Ceann Comhairle” (“Thank you, Mr Speaker”) which some nationalist politicians utter during parliamentary debates.

In 2016, a DUP government minister also made a decision to scrap a small grant scheme for children who are learning Irish—a move which his nationalist colleagues saw as petty. He later reversed his decision, but for many, the damage was done.

Since then, many nationalists, and Sinn Féin as a party, have called for Irish language legislation to protect the status of the language which they consider to be under attack from the DUP. They have been telling their voters that respect for the Irish language is essential and is an issue of equal rights, which they perceive the DUP as violating.

The DUP however, say that nationalists have weaponised the Irish language in a deliberate attempt to undermine unionists’ sense of Britishness.

In negotiations throughout 2017, Sinn Féin has insisted that they wilI not return to government without Irish language legislation. Conversely, the DUP insist they will not return to government if there is Irish language legislation.

In recent days, it appeared a compromise had finally been struck and a deal was on the cards. Prime Minister Theresa May flew to Belfast on Monday in order to meet with politicians and urge them to reach a deal, a sign many perceived as an indication that an announcement would be imminent.

Speculation at Stormont was that the parties had agreed to a deal which would see 3 bills go forward. The first, would legislate for the Irish language. The second, would legislate for Ulster Scots, a traditional dialect spoken by some Northern Irish unionists. The third, would legislate for both—in a unified way.

However, it appears that while senior DUP figures backed this, they ultimately could not sell it to their party grass roots.

After years of scaremongering that the presence of Irish language legislation would undermine the union, the DUP’s voters had begun to believe the politicians. While the leadership was willing to make a compromise, the voters were not. The DUP had backed themselves into a political cul de sac.

As leaks of the possible deal emerged late last week, there was backlash from the DUP’s voters who cautioned they would accept no compromises at all. Unionist journalists warned against them giving any ground to Sinn Féin, while the hardline loyalist organisation the Orange Order also issued a statement against the Irish language.

For now, the stalemate at Stormont is set to continue, with neither the DUP or Sinn Féin willing to back down. Last week appeared to offer the first glimmer of hopes for a deal after 13 months, now the outlook is resolutely more pessimistic once more.