Although the local government elections are over bar the shouting, one aspect of that shouting remains to be addressed.
During the election campaign, east Belfast TUV candidate Anne Smyth criticised language rights activist Linda Ervine “for her attempts to persuade east Belfast people to learn Gaelic”.
Ms Smyth further condemned the East Belfast GAA club, of which Ms Ervine became its first president following its formation in 2020, and she rejected historical research which showed that 74 First World War soldiers from east Belfast spoke Irish.
The cut and thrust of politics is a normal part of electioneering, but the TUV’s comments crossed the line between political competition and what Linda Ervine has described as “inflammatory and untrue statements”.
Ms Smyth’s comments do not appear to have been those of a maverick candidate straying beyond the bounds of party policy. Her views appear to reflect official TUV policy. Its manifesto criticised “the extensive funding of the GAA”.
While it is perfectly valid for the TUV to advocate union with Britain, the party must recognise that as part of that union, it is required to adhere to the same level of civilised electioneering which is observed in other parts of the UK.
It would be unthinkable for an election candidate in Britain to attack either Scots Gaelic or the Welsh language. Indeed it is somewhat inconsistent of Ms Smyth, who was born in Glasgow, not to recognise that no Scottish election candidate would attack the game of shinty, a close cousin of hurling.
Team members in the two games use a stick, which both Scottish and Irish players refer to as a camán. Linda Ervine is hardly responsible for that. She reacted to Ms Smyth’s criticisms in a positive manner, by offering to meet and explain the details of the historical research.
Many criticisms of the GAA and the Irish language in east Belfast arise mainly from historical and cultural ignorance. While this is understandable to some extent, it is a sad reflection on the TUV that an election campaign should be fought by exploiting ignorance.
The solution to that ignorance is learning. Ms Smyth might like to take a first step towards learning by meeting Linda Ervine, so that if her party has points to make, it might do so in a more informed and ethical manner.
