PLACE NAMES ISSUE HAS RESONANCE THROUGHOUT CELTIC WORLD

PLACE NAMES ISSUE HAS RESONANCE THROUGHOUT CELTIC WORLD English place names will no longer be legally recognised and cannot be used in future parliamentary Acts, on any road and street signs or on Ordnance Survey Maps in the Gaeltacht following new legislation which came into force on October 30th in Ireland. More than 60 years

PLACE NAMES ISSUE HAS RESONANCE THROUGHOUT CELTIC WORLD English place names will no longer be legally recognised and cannot be used in future parliamentary Acts, on any road and street signs or on Ordnance Survey Maps in the Gaeltacht following new legislation which came into force on October 30th in Ireland. More than 60 years after Irish was officially named the primary national language, the Minister for Gaeltacht Affairs, Eamon O Cuiv, has initiated the move which gives Gaelic legal standing to Irish place names in six counties. Announcing the move the Minister highlighted the inconsistent translations which certain names were given after being changed into English during British rule. He went on to say that it was "unacceptable" that although place names in Irish were treated as if official, they had no actual recognition in law. The issue of place names and signage has a resonance throughout all the Celtic countries. When the first stirring of the Manx language revival occurred in the 1970s a small but significant step to ensuring 'visibility' for the Manx language was the initiation of a campaign for Manx road signs and place names. Successful then the policy slipped for a time but has shown a recent resurgence. Similarly in Wales an extremely effective campaign for Welsh language signs only was used as the springboard for more significant direct action campaigns in a strategy the Welsh Language Movement continues to this day with its programme to ensure businesses in Wales feature the language more prominently. Bernard Moffatt Secretary General