Stormont renews commitment to Irish language wills after four-year delay

Stormont remains committed to introducing measures enabling the dratfting of wills in Irish following a delay of more than four years.

The commitment to ensure the legal validity of wills written in the Irish language was given in 2020′s New Decade New Approach (NDNA) agreement.

The registration of births, marriages and deaths in Irish was introduced in March 2022 but similar measures for wills are not yet in place.

The Department of Finance (DoF) said that ensuring the necessary legislation was in force and that the court system was appropriately prepared required “cross-government work” that would also involve the Department of Justice and the Northern Ireland Office.

“The finance minister wrote to the justice minister in April 2024 on this matter and both ministers remain committed to engaging with ministerial colleagues to ensure this NDNA commitment is progressed,” a statement from DoF said.

• SDLP MLA Patsy McGlone said he welcomed the fresh commitment but said he could not understand why the measure had been delayed for so long.

“When I approached the ministers about this they continually passed the buck back and forth between each other, saying it was not their responsibility to make this happen, so I am glad that common sense has prevailed following pressure from myself and Irish language activists who refused to let this matter drop.

“It’s vitally important that the rights of Irish language speakers are respected and that all of the NDNA commitments are brought forward.”