ABSTRACT
This chapter examines research and work to date on Ireland’s heritage and minority language policies, with a particular focus on the discourse emerging in debates on a national language policy. Recent efforts at formulating a language acquisition policy, for example, have shed light on the different competing discourses and contestations and illustrate the challenges and shortcomings in the stakeholder process of establishing a national language policy. The contestations are reflected in the different terms and definitions used in discourse. Definitions of the term ‘heritage language’ and again of the term, ‘minority language’ are problematic in the Irish context and provoke considerable debate. Neither the term ‘heritage language’ nor the term ‘Indigenous language’ is used frequently in Ireland, where, according to the constitution, there are two official languages, English and Irish. However, other languages are also part of Ireland’s linguistic and cultural heritage. In recent years, there has been a significant arrival of newcomers to Ireland, including refugees, asylum seekers, and holders of work permits. The context for any discussion of heritage language in Ireland is complex, and any examination of what constitutes a language policy in this context will unravel contestations, ambiguities, and uncertainties. The chapter looks at the need to reconceptualize language policy in the context of supporting heritage use in Ireland.
