Response to Attacks on Breton Language by the French State

Earlier his year the French Minister of Education decided that DIWAN secondary schools in Brittany would only be allowed to provide less than three hours a week of Breton. The Diwan Language schools were established in the 1970s and are playing a key role in the revival of the Breton Celtic language. His actions resulted in protests across Brittany and indeed objections internationally. One such was from Aengus Ó Snodaigh, who is the Sinn Féin spokesperson for the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht, Arts.  Sinn Féin is the main opposition and the second largest political party in Dáil Éireann (Irish parliament). Below is the text of the letter he wrote the French Ambassador to Ireland at the time: 

 

"Cher Monsieur l’ambassadeur,

 

I hope this letter finds you in good health.

May I firstly congratulate you on your appointment as Ambassador to Dublin, and I hope that you have been made to feel welcome despite the impact of the pandemic on our ability to meet in person.

I am writing, however, to express grave concern on behalf of Sinn Féin at the recent decision of the French Government to severely limit the ability of students to engage in education in the Breton language.

 

Breton, together with Irish, forms part of a common Celtic heritage stretching back centuries and millennia – a heritage recognised in Article 75 of your Constitution – that it is the privilege and good fortune of France and Ireland to keep alive and celebrate.

 

As Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on the Irish language, Gaeltacht, Arts and Culture, and as Chairperson of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Irish language, Gaeltacht and Irish-speaking community, I take a personal interest in the preservation and promotion of this unique linguistic bond that ties our communities across the Celtic Sea.

Immersive education is the only way to ensure the survival of these cultural jewels as vibrant living languages and literary traditions.

 

The decision to reduce the number of hours students may study through the medium of Breton in schools is an attack on speakers of all Celtic languages and on the human rights of regional and minority language communities. With the election of Emmanuel Macron to the Presidency of the French Republic, there were high hopes when he pledged to ratify the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, that work was finally underway to rid France of its negative reputation as a State which treated its linguistic diversity with contempt, disrespect, and oppression. This policy change, which appears to have taken place without consultation or public debate, suggests a return to the bad old ways, and causes many to lose that hope.

 

I am writing to you to call on the French Government to reconsider this policy, and to fulfil its Constitutional commitment to the linguistic heritage of Breton, Basque, Catalan, Corsican, Alsatian and the other languages that enrich the cultural landscape of France. I would also welcome an explanation as to this decision and its implications for the heritage of all Celts.

 

Míle buíochas,

Is mise, le meas,

Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD"

 

In Brittany the opposition to the attack on the Breton language focused on what was known as the "Molac bill". This is named after MP Paul Molac from Brittany who championed the legislation, which aimed at boosting regional languages, of which there are a number. In April this bill was successfully passed in the French parliament allowing schools to teach the majority of the day in minority languages such as Breton, Basque and Corsican, while also teaching French. However, the education ministry appealed the bill.

 

In May of this year France's Constitutional Council struck down the bill. The Council is France's highest constitutional authority and approves all new legislation. They ruled that the bill was out of line with article two of the French constitution, which stipulates that the language of the French republic is French. This has sparked some of the biggest protests in favour of the Breton language seen in Brittany for decades. This campaign is set to continue and must have the support of other Celtic nations.

  

Only six Celtic languages are spoken in the world today: Breton, Cornish, Scottish Gaelic, Irish, Manx and Welsh. For centuries there has been a systematic campaign to destroy the native languages of the Celtic lands. As Aengus Ó Snodaigh's letter to the French Ambassador made clear,  the French actions of undermining the teaching of Breton in schools: "is an attack on speakers of all Celtic languages and on the human rights of regional and minority language communities."