Máire Nic an Bhaird (; ; born 1982) is a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

teacher and

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

activist from

Dunmurry Dunmurry (; ) is a suburb, suburban town and townland near Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dunmurry is in the Collin (District Electoral Area), Collin electoral ward for the Local government in Northern Ireland, local government district of Belfast C ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. On 26 February 2007 she was found guilty of

disorderly conduct Disorderly conduct is a crime in most jurisdictions, such as the United States and China. Typically, "disorderly conduct" is a term used to refer to any behavior that is considered unacceptable in a formal, civilized or controlled environment. ...

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 The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ; Ulster-Scots: '), is the police service responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it ...

(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 in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

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 d ...

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

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

. 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 a government's executive, legislative, or administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. In a judicial review, a court may invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions that are in ...

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 judi ...

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 Native Speaker may refer to: * ''Native Speaker'' (novel), a 1995 novel by Chang-Rae Lee * ''Native Speaker'' (album), a 2011 album by Canadian band Braids * Native speaker, a person using their first language or mother tongue * Native spea ...

of Irish and attending Belfast's Irish language secondary school, Coláiste Feirste, where she was taught by

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

MEP

Bairbre de Brún Bairbre de Brún (born 10 January 1954) is a former Irish Sinn Féin politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Northern Ireland from 2004 to 2012.

. Irish-language organisations, including Na Gaeil Óga ("the Young

Gael The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaelic ...

s") of which Nic an Bhaird is a member, have condemned her case as victimisation based on language, and have charged that she was

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

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 The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...

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