Lost for words. The silence of peacebuilding on minority language rights in the North of Ireland and Euskal Herria

Abstract

Post-conflict peacebuilding has historically been centred upon political and economic restructuring at the expense of cultural and linguistic justice. Language rights, however, remain a vital, if often overlooked, element of constructing sustainable peace. Nowhere more so is this the case than in those societies shaped by deep-rooted ethnolinguistic divisions. This thesis asks whether minority communities, and particularly their linguistic rights, have been left behind in the peacebuilding processes in the North of Ireland and Euskal Herria. Using Linguistic Human Rights (LHR) theory as a foundation, the research takes a comparative approach across six analytical concepts: access to education, institutional support, public use, discrimination, intergenerational transmission, and links between language and identity. It draws on domestic, regional, and international legal and policy documentation from the UK, Spain, and France, as well as semi structured interviews with Gaeilgeoirí and Euskaldunak. The findings show that while both regions have seen considerable grassroots language revival efforts, institutional support remains unbalanced and is often constrained by the politicisation of the languages by state actors. Gaeilge continues to be marginalised within the North of Ireland’s stagnant political system which has struggled to accommodate cultural inclusion, while Euskara, though better supported in Euskadi, continues to face institutional obstacles in Nafarroa and a lack of state recognition in Iparralde, despite the efforts of speakers there. Ultimately, this thesis argues that language rights must be brough to the centre of peacebuilding if it is to be truly inclusive and lasting.