IRSP: Direct Action is Needed, Not Lip Service

national | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Tuesday April 12, 2005 21:10 by Irish Republican Socialist Party, Dublin dublinirsp at hotmail dot com PO Box 10081, Dublin 1, Ireland 0876 320 323

The Irish Republican Socialist Party is demanding that the Irish
government formally recognise the indigenous Irish sign language by
incorporating it into the Constitution as its third official language.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

11 April 2005
Irish Republican Socialist Party, Dublin

Direct Action is Needed, Not Lip Service

The Irish Republican Socialist Party is demanding that the Irish
government formally recognise the indigenous Irish sign language by
incorporating it into the Constitution as its third official language.

Today Irish Deaf Society member and IRSP activist Seamus McLaughlin
stated: "Today marks the beginning of Irish sign language awareness
week, which intends to highlight the language and culture of the deaf
community. There are 40,000 people, including deaf people, their
families, and friends, who use sign language every day.

"The European Parliament, of which Ireland is a member, have twice
passed resolutions (1988, 1998) calling on all member states to
recognise their respective national sign languages, unfortunately this
appeal has not been acted upon by the Irish government. The official
recognition of the Irish sign language will bring full access and
participation of deaf people into mainstream society where it would be
a progressive step in eliminating discrimination in areas such as
employment and education."

Mr. McLaughlin concluded by saying, "the right to one's language is an
important human rights issue. Like all linguistic minorities, members
of the deaf community have varied degrees of access to the majority
language of the wider community. Deaf people should be able to enjoy
the same linguistic rights afforded to the hearing community. I call
on the Irish government to stop playing lip service to the concerns of
deaf people and formally recognise the Irish sign language."