When unresolved tensions and collapsing relationships in the Executive reached boiling point, the very last thing that was needed was for the DUP Communities Minister Paul Givan to push things past the point of no return by withdrawing funding related to the the Líofa bursary, a scheme designed to support young people study the Irish Language at the Gaeltacht. Whilst not the sole cause of what was to follow, that single petty act proved to be the point of no ... Read more...
When unresolved tensions and collapsing relationships in the Executive reached boiling point, the very last thing that was needed was for the DUP Communities Minister Paul Givan to push things past the point of no return by withdrawing funding related to the the Líofa bursary, a scheme designed to support young people study the Irish Language at the Gaeltacht.
Whilst not the sole cause of what was to follow, that single petty act proved to be the point of no return as the relationship between Sinn Féin and the DUP finally ruptured. Within weeks, then Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness resigned from office, leading to a collapse of the Stormont institutions. Whilst Givan announced a scant few days later he would restore funding it was much, much too late and that collapse would last for three long years.
It’s odd to sit here in 2026, over nine years later and find ourselves in a very similar situation as the current DUP Communities minister Gordon Lyons has axed funding that is seen as important to the promotion and development of the Irish Language. As the Irish News points out …
“The Place-Name project, which began in 1987 to research the origins and meanings of local names, revealed on Friday it was “winding down” its activities. The project led by Professor Mícheál Ó Mainnín and assisted by a full-time researcher and volunteers has played a vital role in ensuring the proper Irish translation is included on dual-language street signs. It is understood the project most recently received £90,000 a year.”
The latest negative DUP act regarding the Irish language is bound to go down exceptionally badly with Nationalist voters. Just last week Brian Feeney was arguing that Sinn Féin should quit the Assembly on the grounds that the perpetual deadlock at the heart of the institutions delivers nothing for anyone. Now I don’t agree with Feeney’s solution, but his reflections on the frustrations within northern nationalism ring pretty true to me.
The frustrations now are the same frustrations felt within nationalism that stewed for several before they manifested at the end of 2016 and which culminated in the collapse of 2017. That is, Sinn Féin is seen as being far too passive in its response to the DUP and it’s numerous provocations, its ‘battle a day’ as promised by Peter Robinson.
Furthermore, I’d wager that passivity is driven by the same instinct as it was then. Namely, that Sinn Féin wishes to get into power in the Republic. Its leadership is wary of giving an opening to its rivals in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael who are keen to portray it as too much of a risk and too dangerous to allow into power in Dublin. And make no mistake, Sinn Féin badly wants to enter power in the Republic.
To avoid giving Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael rhetorical ammunition against them, I think Sinn Féin has genuinely tried to operate the institutions in good faith (which is distinct from running them well, whether you believe they have or not is a matter of opinion) as well as to avoid taking any actions that could be perceived as rocking the boat. And I think this has led them into making precisely the same mistake they did before 2017, they turn the other cheek in the north with an eye on Dublin whilst their northern base grows increasingly enraged.
The DUP I believe have not returned to the institutions in the same spirit of good faith, in fact the negative reaction from Nationalist politicians and the Nationalist public maybe the point.
The party was badly burned after its catastrophic mishandling of Brexit. It is always worth remembering how fate handed them unprecedented power and influence and they still managed to secure an outcome that was the precise opposite of what they had intended. Unionist voters noticed, and their great rivals in the TUV regularly remind everyone of just how badly the DUP messed up.
As a consequence, the DUP has engaged in a base pleasing culture war in an attempt to shore up their right flank and demonstrate they are still the party best placed to safeguard unionist interests by blocking nationalist ones. After all, when D’hondt was run after the return of the Assembly, the DUP opted for the ministries of Education and Communities rather than either Finance or the Economy.
A mystery at the time, as it was a bit surprising they would yield the power either of those ministries represented, in hindsight they offloaded the thankless task of managing the north’s budget to their political rivals whilst their ministers were able to indulge their own base by doing such things as visiting occupied East Jerusalem in an official capacity to tweak the noses of their political opponents, ordering the use of the Ulster Banner at the Commonwealth Games, blocking the desires of some schools to move to integrated status whilst ensuring a school that hadn’t even applied for a funding scheme received £710,000 pounds out of it.
And of course, the multiple controversies that have flowed over attempts to advance the Irish Language in the north and how the DUP has sought to stymie them. And the more their opponents are upset, the more they can show they are succeeding in government for their voters.
Perhaps Sinn Féin has realised that this is probably all a step too far to allow without pushback…
“Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew described the removal of funding for the NI Place-Name Project as a “disgrace”…Mr Gildernew, the chair of the Communities Committee, said “the DUP and Gordon Lyons have shown only contempt towards the Irish identity”.
“This decision is a disgrace. We will not accept this approach by the Communities Minister and are demanding that he appears before MLAs tomorrow to answer for it,” Mr Gildernew said…Sinn Féin will not tolerate the continuing scornful attitude displayed by an increasingly rogue, intransigent DUP hellbent on trying to turn back the clock to the days of unionist misrule,” the Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA said”
Other Sinn Féin represntatives, from MPs to local councillors, have weighed in and said much the same thing.
So, are we are on the verge of a collapse over this?
Probably not. Whilst some of the parallels with the withdrawal of the Líofa bursary are present, it was the compounding factors of the RHI scandal and Brexit which turned that withdrawal into the straw which broke the camel’s back. But perhaps this event will remind everyone of the costs of falling into their comfort zone…of Sinn Féin taking their northern base for granted as they attempt to project an aura of responsibility in the south…and for the DUP in the risks of pushing things too far as they attempt to placate the base they failed over Brexit.
