Irish Language Act called for by delegation from Council of Europe on visit to Belfast

A delegation of language experts from the  Council of Europe (CoE) is visiting Belfast (Irish: Béal Feirste) this week. The head of the delegation Dr Aleksandra Oszmiańska-Pagett has renewed calls for an Irish Language Act during the visit. The council is Europe's top human rights watchdog with 47 member states and reports on how states comply with the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) is a European treaty adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe to protect and promote historical regional and minority languages in Europe. The Council of Europe had previously called for Irish language legislation in their 2014 report. There is growing frustration at the lack of progress in advancing the implementation of an Irish Language Act in the north-east of Ireland.