Nation-State, devolution and the parliamentary discourse of minority languages

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wilson ◽  
Karyn Stapleton
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Natural Right ◽  
Regional Institutions ◽  
Individual Culture ◽  
The Uk ◽  
A Site

Devolution in the UK has engendered debates about which language (or languages) should be the language of parliament in the respective regional institutions. Simultaneously, the European Union, while officially endorsing cultural and linguistic diversity, is moving towards a supranational state which operates alongside devolution and regional autonomies. In this context, the contestation of the language of parliamentary discourse can be seen as a site of power struggle and political negotiation. The present analysis focuses on a specific example of regional parliamentary discourse from Northern Ireland, in which Members debate the desirability of using Ulster-Scots and Irish, alongside English, in official House proceedings. This can be seen to operationalise “language” in specific, but interrelated, argumentative contexts: (a) as a form of agreed and formally recognised communication; (b) as a natural right, reflecting individual culture or heritage; (c) as a legal and formal right; (d) as a political symbol. These themes are discussed in terms of “nationalist” and “sovereign” state arguments, with reference to both the political context of Northern Ireland, and the processes of devolution and supranationalism, in the broader political arena.

Introduction: How the British-exit is Impacting the European Union?

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-149
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
International Studies ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The Uk

This special issue of International Studies focuses on ‘how the British-exit is impacting the European Union’. This introduction is a review of the context, costs and institutional repercussions, as well as the very recent the UK/European Union trade deal and implications for customs borders. Eight articles then detail consequences for European Union policies and important trading relationships: Immigration, Citizenship, Gender, Northern Ireland, Trade and impacts on India, Canada and Japan.

scholarly journals Between intergovernmental relations and paradiplomacy: Wales and the Brexit of the regions

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 647-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Hunt ◽  
Rachel Minto
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Intergovernmental Relations ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Awareness Raising ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Regional Interests ◽  
Domestic Level

The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU) is an assertion of UK nation-state sovereignty. Notwithstanding this state-centrism, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have distinct interests to protect as part of the Brexit negotiations. This article explores how the interests of one regional case, Wales, were accommodated in the pre-negotiation phase, at a domestic level—through intergovernmental structures—and an EU level through paradiplomacy. We explore the structures for sub-state influence, Wales’ engagement with these structures and what has informed its approach. We argue that Wales’ behaviour reflects its positioning as a ‘Good Unionist’ and a ‘Good European’. Despite the weakness of intra-UK structures, Wales has preferred to pursue policy influence at a UK (not an EU) level. In Brussels, regional interests inform the context for Brexit. Here, Wales has focused on awareness-raising, highlighting that the UK Government does not command the ‘monopoly on perspectives’ towards Brexit in the United Kingdom.

scholarly journals Are traditional minority languages a bench marking for the rights of migrant languages in the European Union?

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 40-60
Author(s):  
Christopher Houtkamp ◽  
László Marácz
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Linguistic Rights ◽  
The Status ◽  
The One

In this paper a normative position will be defended. We will argue that minimal territorial minority language rights formulated in terms of the personality principle referring to traditional minority languages granted in the framework of the European Union (EU) are a benchmark for non-territorial linguistic rights. Although territorial minority languages should be granted collective rights this is in large parts of Europe not the case. Especially in the Central and Eastern European Member States language rights granted to territorial languages are assigned on the basis of personal language rights. Our argumentation will be elaborated on the basis of a comparative approach discussing the status of a traditional territorial language in Romania, more in particular Hungarian spoken in the Szeklerland area with the one of migrant languages in the Netherlands, more in particular Turkish. In accordance with the language hierarchy implying that territorial languages have a higher status than non-territorial languages both in the EUs and Member States’ language regimes nonterritorial linguistic rights will be realized as personal rights in the first place. Hence, the use of non-territorial minority languages is conditioned much as the use of territorial minority languages in the national Member States. So, the best possible scenario for mobile minority languages is to be recognized as a personal right and receive full support from the states where they are spoken. It is true that learning the host language would make inclusion of migrant language speakers into the host society smoother and securing a better position on the labour market. This should however be done without striving for full assimilation of the speakers of migrant languages for this would violate the linguistic rights of migrants to speak and cultivate one’s own heritage language, violate the EUs linguistic diversity policy, and is against the advantages provided by linguistic capital in the sense of BOURDIEU (1991).

9. Devolution and local government

Public Law ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Stanton ◽  
Craig Prescott
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Regional Institutions ◽  
Legislative Authority ◽  
Recent Addition ◽  
The Uk

Devolution is a recent addition to the UK constitutional law vocabulary. The concept refers to the decentralisation of power from central institutions in London to regional institutions exercising executive and legislative authority in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This chapter explores the principle of devolution, both in terms of its historical development and its constitutional importance. It discusses recent issues and debates relevant to the role that it continues to play in the UK Constitution through the established institutions in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. All this is tied together in consideration of a problem scenario which encourages discussion of the powers of the devolved institutions and their relationship with centralised authority at Westminster.

Peripherality and Northern Ireland

1994 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 90-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Begg ◽  
David Mayes
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Action ◽  
The Troubles ◽  
The North ◽  
Working Age ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Uk ◽  
North Western ◽  
The Eu

In writing recently about the economic problems that Northern Ireland faces (Begg and Mayes, 1994) we argued, uncontroversially, that an end to the ‘Troubles’ would significantly alter the region's prospects. Our analysis, nevertheless, focused on other factors which might be amenable to policy action. With an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland now on the cards, these other characteristics of the Northern Ireland economy must be expected to be of increased importance in determining the Province's competitiveness compared with other parts of the UK and, indeed, other regions of the European Union. In particular, Northern Ireland is a prime example of a ‘peripheral’ economy, located as it is at the North-Western corner of the EU and facing the further barrier of a sea crossing to markets other than the Republic of Ireland. It is also a region that shares a number of the characteristics of the older industrial regions of Britain, such as high unemployment, persistent emigration of working-age population and difficulties in achieving industrial restructuring (Harris et al., 1990; Harris 1991).

scholarly journals The British-Irish Border in the Context of Brexit

2020 ◽  
pp. 229-242
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Balawajder
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Border Crossing ◽  
Free Movement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk

The subject of the paper is reflections on the consequences of Brexit for the functioning of the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. The author explains what this border means when the United Kingdom is no longer a member of the European Union, and thus the border may be a barrier to the free movement of people, goods, capital and services. At the same time, it is stressed that the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union will have a significant impact on the change of the function of this border, which from then on is no longer an internal border of the Union. The aim of the paper is therefore to analyse the consequences of this change, with a simultaneous indication of different models of the UK’s functioning with relation to the European Union and their impact on the British-Irish relations, especially with regard to the various dimensions of the border as a barrier. The article presents various scenarios of solutions that will determine their mutual relations as a result of negotiations between the European Union and Great Britain, especially with regard to access to the single European market, which in turn will be influenced by the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland in the scope of the free movement of people, goods, capital and services. The author used the system analysis method and the comparative method. The author puts forward the thesis that if the negotiations cause a fairly strong loosening of relations between the UK and the European Union, to mitigate the consequences of such a situation for the Irish-British relations, it will be necessary to find and develop bilateral solutions that will facilitate border crossing. The Smart Border 2.0 concept can constitute such a solution.

The ‘South’ as a Moving Target: Europe’s Debt to the Former Colonies

2020 ◽  
pp. 163-185
Author(s):  
Peter Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Formal Concept ◽  
Moving Target ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The South ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
British Commonwealth ◽  
The Uk

Ireland is not normally conceived as being located south of the neighbouring Great Britain, nor of Europe, but this chapter suggests that it could be. Towards that end, the dispute over the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union is briefly discussed in light of the difficulties of separating political entities in our time of high global interconnectedness. Subsequently, the UK-EU dispute is compared to the separation of Algeria from France and the exit of South Africa from the British Commonwealth, opening the path towards pluralizing the notion of the “South”. Such pluralization allows the investigation of historically formed asymmetric relations between societies beyond the formal concept of colonialism. Against this background, the transformation of the relation between EU countries and their former colonies from the 1970s onwards is analyzed in terms of attempts to re-regulate the relation between Europe and its South after decolonization. These attempts aim at drawing clear lines of separation, but they keep failing because the South reveals itself as a moving target, impossible to confine to a restricted space. Thus, in conclusion, current Northward migration and climate change are discussed in terms of global social and ecological injustice the significance of which Europe cannot deny.

scholarly journals Brexit and the union: Territorial voice, exit and re-entry strategies in Scotland and Northern Ireland after EU exit

2021 ◽  
pp. 019251212199054
Author(s):  
Nicola McEwen ◽  
Mary C Murphy
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Entry Strategies ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Institutional Actors

This article examines the effects of Brexit on the internal boundaries and territorial future of the United Kingdom (UK). Divergent Brexit preferences, coupled with the process of negotiating and preparing for Brexit, have raised new questions about the ability of the UK to remain united. Focusing upon Scotland and Northern Ireland, where territorial challenges are most acute, the article draws upon and adapts Hirschman’s voice, exit and loyalty framework to examine the strategic choices and options faced by institutional actors in each case when determining constitutional and political options in response to Brexit. The article contends that, while credible exit threats were used to bolster voice in the Brexit negotiations, the Brexit vote and subsequent process have exposed the limitations of territorial voice, and unleashed new exit dynamics. We enhance the framework by exploring the concept of re-entry, exploring the contrasting paths these territories would face to re-enter the European Union (EU).

scholarly journals A summary of recent constitutional reform in the United Kingdom

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-102
Author(s):  
Lesley Dingle ◽  
Bradley Miller
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Court Of Appeal

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Legislative competence for the UK resides in the Westminster Parliament, but there are three legal systems (England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland) with separate courts and legal professions. These legal systems have a unified final court of appeal in the House of Lords. The Isle of Man, and the two Channel Islands (Guernsey and Jersey) are not part of the UK, but possessions of the crown. Although their citizens are subject to the British Nationality Act 1981, the islands have their own legal systems. They are represented by the UK government for the purposes of international relations, but are not formal members of the European Union.

scholarly journals Potencjalny wpływ brexitu na ustrój terytorialny i integralność Zjednoczonego Królestwa Wielkiej Brytanii i Irlandii Północnej

2020 ◽  
Vol 6(161) ◽  
pp. 117-143
Author(s):  
Viktoria Serzhanova ◽  
Adrianna Kimla
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
New Order ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

Withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union is undoubtedly an unprecedented event in the history of the EU. This process encounters many difficulties and reveals an increasing number of problems that contemporary Europe is facing and affects European integration. Even more complications in this area arise as a result of the deadlock in the internal dimension, and in the UK’s relations with the EU. It goes without saying, that this process will result in the need to create a completely new order in the UK’s relations with the EU and will have a huge impact on the global order. The whole process is multidimensional, hence the consequences of leaving the EU by the United Kingdom may have many effects for the UK not only in political and economic sense, but also in the field of its constitutional law and political system, including the area of the state’s territorial arrangement. The purpose of this study is to provide a legal analysis of Brexit’s potential consequences for the territorial system and threats to the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom itself, in particular for the status of its constituent parts and further relations between England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. The risk of the split and disintegration of the United Kingdom as a result of Brexit cannot be overlooked.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document