A NEW five-year language strategy to make Belfast a more 'inclusive' city was launched yesterday by lord mayor Nuala McAllister.
With more than 70 languages now spoken in Belfast, the city council has committed to developing a strategic approach to language diversity in line with the aims of the city’s long-term development plan, the Belfast Agenda.
The strategy, which will run until 2023, follows a public consultation.
The lord mayor said it seeks to “promote, protect and enhance” all languages found in the city - including Irish and Ulster-Scots.
Sign language, that of new communities coming to Belfast, and languages and communications for disabled people are also included in the strategy.
Ms McAllister, whose theme for her year in office has been 'Global Belfast', said the strategy was about "promoting, protecting and enhancing the linguistic diversity of the city".
"The strategy develops five work strands promoting Irish Language; Ulster-Scots; Sign Language; New Communities Languages and Languages and Communications for disabled people.
"Good communication and engagement underpin the success of the Belfast Agenda and the launch of today's Language Strategy is contributing to that.”
Agreed by the council last year, the council's language strategy is informed by a range of legislation, including the Good Friday Agreement, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the St Andrews Agreement.
Professor Janice Carruthers, Leadership Fellow for Modern Languages at Queen's University, also spoke at the launch about the challenges and opportunities linguistic diversity presents for Belfast.
"Language is central to communication, to relationships and to identity,” she said.
“This initiative will be well worth the effort because language is so fundamental to who we are and how we welcome others to Belfast. The Language Strategy is a crucial step in the right direction and I wish the City Council every success in taking it forward."
To help deliver the strategy the council last year agreed to recruit two officers - one responsible for the “promotion, protection and enhancement of Irish”, while the second officer will have “responsibility for increasing access and inclusion for the other languages”
The council has already advertised for the role of the Irish language officer, after it was agreed by a majority of the council last October.
The second officer will also be recruited in the coming weeks.
Both officers are also expected to have "political sensitivity skills", according to the job descriptions.
"The ability to deal with sensitive issues, using political awareness and sensitivity, when working with elected members, senior managers and representatives of outside organisations," it reads.
