The Irish language is a minority language in Northern Ireland, known in Irish as Tuaisceart Éireann or na sé chontae (the six counties). Irish (Gaeilge in Irish) is a Goidelic language spoken in Ireland and constitutionally recognised as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland. ... A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a country. ... Northern Ireland is one of four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. ...

Irish received official recognition in Northern Ireland for the first time in 1998 under the Good Friday Agreement. A cross-border body known as Foras na Gaeilge was established to promote the language in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, taking over the functions of Bord na Gaeilge. 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was a major step in the Northern Ireland peace process. It was signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998 (Good Friday) by the British and Irish governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland... Foras na Gaeilge is the governing body of the Irish language, responsible for the promotion of the language throughout all of Ireland. ... The Republic of Ireland (Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann) is the official description of an independent state which covers approximately five-sixths of the island of Ireland, off the coast of north-west Europe. ...

The UK government has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect to Irish in Northern Ireland. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is a European convention (CETS 148) adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe. ...

The last native speakers of varieties of Irish native to what is now Northern Ireland, namely those in Armagh and on Rathlin Island, died in the early 1900s. The Irish language has traditionally been regarded with suspicion by Unionists in Northern Ireland, who associate it with the Republic of Ireland in the south, and more recently, with the republican movement in Northern Ireland itself. Many republicans in Northern Ireland, including Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, learned Irish while in prison. The language was not taught in Protestant schools, and public signs in Irish were effectively banned under laws by the Parliament of Northern Ireland, which stated that only English could be used. This was not formally lifted by the British Government until the early 1990s. Armagh is a city in Northern Ireland, the capital of County Armagh. ... Bird sanctuary on Rathlin Island Rathlin Island is an island off the coast of County Antrim in Northern Ireland, and is the northernmost point of the province. ... Unionism is a movement based on the ideal of syndicalism and support for the trade union movement, but which exists within the framework of a open capitalist society as an independent participatory private entity. ... Irish Republicanism is the nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a united independent republic. ... The name Sinn Féin (pronounced in English, in Irish), which means ourselves or we ourselves (not as sometimes incorrectly translated, ourselves alone or we alone) has been applied to a series of political movements since 1905 in Ireland, each of which claim or claimed sole descent from the original... The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from June 7, 1921 to March 30, 1972, when it was suspended. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ...

Six families in Belfast established a Gaeltacht area in Belfast in the late 1960s and opened Bunscoil Phobal Feirste in 1970 as the first Irish-medium school in Northern Ireland. Irish language pre-schools and primary schools are now thriving and there are Irish language secondary schools known as Méanscoileanna in Belfast, Armagh, and Derry. An Irish-language daily newspaper called Lá ('day') is now published. 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

BBC Radio Ulster began broadcasting a nightly half-hour programme, called Blas ('taste'), in Irish in the early 1980s, and there is now an Irish language programme on the station every day. BBC Northern Ireland broadcast its first television programme in Irish in the early 1990s, SRL (Etc.). Many areas of Northern Ireland can now tune into TG4, the Irish-language television channel, which is broadcast primarily from the Conamara Gaeltacht in the Republic. The main Irish-language raio station, Raidió an Gaeltachta, is also widely available, however both these two medias are still not available accross the provience, which does have a negative effect on the language, espeicially in Protestant communities which tend not to be able to pick them up. BBC Radio Ulster is a BBC Radio station based in Northern Ireland. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was formed in 1927 by means of a royal charter. ... TG41 is a television channel for speakers of the Irish language which was launched on 31 October 1996; it was known as Teilifís na Gaeilge or TnaG before a rebranding campaign in 1999. ...

The Ultach Trust was also established, with a view to broadening the appeal of the language among Protestants. Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ...

External links

• Ultach Trust
• Lá
• BBC Northern Ireland Irish language