ABSTRACT
The conflict in the North of Ireland – or Northern Ireland – during the period 1968–98, euphemistically known as “the Troubles”, witnessed the acute ideological and physical confrontation of three principal sets of actors: Irish Nationalists/Republicans, Unionists/Loyalists and the forces of the British State. As a means of contextualising the two case-studies, it is first necessary to provide a brief sketch of the historical context to identify the major ethnolingual issues that pre-date the Troubles. Society in the North of Ireland is essentially bicultural and is fundamentally divided along nearly co-extensive lines of religion, ethnic and political self-ascriptions. Many of the new learners stated that they would not have been comfortable attending classes in other parts of the city, but the fact that the classes were being offered within a Unionist area helped to persuade them to sign up. When classes were initially set up, over 90 percent of the learners were total beginners from the Unionist community.
