Máire Nic an Bhaird (; en, Moira Ward; born 1982) is a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

teacher and

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

activist from

Dunmurry Dunmurry (; ) is an urban townland in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dunmurry is in the Collin electoral ward for the local government district of Belfast City Council. History Until the end of the 18th century, Dunmurry was largely an agricultura ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. On 26 February 2007 she was found guilty of disorderly conduct and fined £100, arising from an incident in May 2006 in south Belfast. She maintained she was arrested for speaking in Irish to an officer of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), and was acquitted on appeal in September 2007.

Court case

Nic an Bhaird was arrested after leaving a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

on the

Malone Road The Malone Road () is a radial road in Belfast, Northern Ireland, leading from the university quarter southwards to the affluent suburbs of Malone and Upper Malone, each a separate electoral ward. The road runs parallel to the Lisburn Road and i ...

in south Belfast with friends after a night out. She became involved in an altercation with police officers, who alleged that she said ''

Tiocfaidh ár lá () is an Irish language sentence which translates as "our day will come". It is a slogan of Irish Republicanism. "Our day" is the date hoped for by Irish nationalists on which a united Ireland is achieved. The slogan was coined in the 1970s dur ...

'', Irish for "our day will come", a phrase associated with republican support for the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...

. Nic an Bhaird maintains she said ''Tiocfaidh bhur lá'', "your day will come", meaning "you'll have your chance". The court case was adjourned several times between June 2006 and January 2007. At her first court appearance her lawyer made it clear he would be talking to his client in Irish and made a submission that she should have the right to defend her case wholly in Irish. Her counsel was considering on 30 October 2006 whether to apply for a

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...

of the case. In February 2007, the presiding

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

ruled that Nic an Bhaird had consumed a "substantial amount" of alcohol, and "continued to address police officers in a loud and aggressive manner", and was guilty of disorderly behaviour. She was acquitted on appeal in September 2007.

Irish language dimension

Nic an Bhaird is a native speaker of Irish and attending Belfast's Irish language secondary school, Coláiste Feirste, where she was taught by

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

MEP MEP may refer to: Organisations and politics * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka * Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...

Bairbre de Brún Bairbre de Brún (born 10 January 1954) is an Irish politician and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Northern Ireland.

. Irish-language organisations, including Na Gaeil Óga ("the Young Gaels") of which Nic an Bhaird is a member, have condemned her case as victimisation based on language, and have charged that she was

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

ed by the arresting PSNI officer. She claimed police demanded she speak English before releasing her from custody after her arrest. The Good Friday Agreement does provide for some official accommodation for the Irish language in Northern Ireland, but the required level of support is not precisely specified.

References

External links

Máire Nic an Bhaird case highlights need for Irish Language Act
from

online
Language protest at Belfast court
from Eurolang online
Máire Nic an Bhaird case thrown out on appeal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nic An Bhaird, Maire Irish language activists Schoolteachers from Northern Ireland People from County Antrim 1982 births Living people 21st-century women educators from Northern Ireland 21st-century educators from Northern Ireland

Court case

Irish language dimension

See also

References

External links