Implementing an Irish-language residential scheme at Queen’s University Belfast

The report concerning the feasibility of an Irish language residential scheme was devised, led and developed by students at Queen’s, made up of representatives of the QUB Cumann Gaelach and Students’ Union Language Officer. Further input was sought from and given by from fellow students and university staff, Irish-language teachers (including Conradh na Gaeilge and Foras na Gaeilge), school principals of Irish-medium schools, Irish-language organisations and other stakeholders in the wider community.

The number of pupils educated through Irish is fast growing in Northern Ireland and this population is key for Queen’s ambitions for widening participation. For those Irish-speaking pupils, opportunities for a social life in Irish on campus, as well as more opportunities to study the language, are essential.

From November 2020 to April 2021, this group met on a fortnightly basis to investigate the benefits an Irish-language residential scheme can bring to Queen’s. We also carried out an extensive survey in February 2021 with Irish-speaking students from five secondary schools across Northern Ireland to gauge the interest in such a residential scheme among potential future students. Our work sheds light on the following issues:

• The absence of Irish-related provisions at Queen’s deprives students of pursuing a very much needed social life through their language and with their peers.
• More importantly, the language’s lack of normalisation constitutes a barrier to Higher Education for pupils who are often working-class and already disadvantaged.
• The absence of progress on an Irish Language Act means that there is no regulations implemented to protect or promote Irish: unsurprisingly, we found that this situation has left staff and students vulnerable to the intolerance of some.
• Ultimately, the very limited possibility to study Irish at Queen’s as an option or as part of a joint degree, drives students away, or prevents those who come to Queen’s from consolidating their linguistic skills.

The report provides a strong rationale for developing an Irish Residential Scheme in universities:

Irish Language residential schemes exist in every university on the island of Ireland, except Queen’s, while similar schemes exist in all Welsh universities as well as several Scottish ones, such as the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

The number of pupils educated through Irish is fast growing in Northern Ireland and this population is key for Queen’s ambitions for widening participation. For those Irish-speaking pupils, opportunities for a social life in Irish on campus, as well as more opportunities to study the language, are essential.

An Irish Scheme focuses on student experience, but also on linguistic skills; as such, it resonates with the cultural, social and economic needs of the region, and beyond. It effectively contributes to Queen’s legal obligations in relation to minority-language rights, diversity and inclusion. It is unfortunate that Queen’s image in relation to Irish has been particularly damaged in the past, but it could be repaired with new provisions such as the present project.

Finally, there is also a growing Irish-language community on the Lower Ormeau Road, on the very doorstep of Queen’s. This is also an area of high social disadvantage. This residential scheme will foster connections with the Irish-speaking community, notably An Droichead (‘the Bridge’) cultural centre which collaborates with nationalist, unionist and diverse ethnic minority communities to promote linguistic and cultural diversity.

This report comprehensively outlines the tremendous social and educational value this residential scheme will offer the community at Queen’s University for the generations of students to come. We hope to see it implemented in the near future…

The full report is available here: https://issuu.com/dearcandevelopmentgroup/docs/draft_layout_25_august_pdf