Recognise ISL Today! - Templates for Letters to TDs and An Taoiseach

These are letter templates for sending to the Taoiseach and your local TD, asking them to recognise ISL. They’re also available on the the KDRC and IDS websites.

Find your local TD using this website:
www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=30&disp=const

Anyone else who’s reading, make sure to send one off to your local TD and the Taoiseach today to get ISL recognised!!




LETTER TO YOUR LOCAL TD
______________

Your Address

Date

Dear Deputy (your local TD’s name),

I am writing to ask you, as my local TD, to lobby the Taoiseach to officially recognise Irish Sign Language as the third official language of Ireland and afford it the same status as Irish and English.

Irish Sign Language (ISL) is the first language of approximately 5,000 Irish Deaf people and their families, with an estimated 50,000 friends, relatives and colleagues of Deaf people also using the language on a regular basis.

Irish Sign Language is an indigenous language, naturally developed by Irish Deaf people and has been used in Ireland for hundreds of years. It has it’s own grammar and structure different to Irish and English and is processed, like other languages in the speech centre of the brain.

Using Irish Sign Languages allows Deaf people to communicate and access knowledge, education and information, as many Deaf people have difficulty accessing the other two official languages of this country. I believe that by the Government of this country neglecting to recognise an indigenous language used by a group of its citizens, our basic human rights are being breached.

Over 45 countries internationally have officially recognised their countries sign languages and in this respect Ireland is lagging behind. In fact, ISL has been officially recognised in Northern Ireland along with British Sign Language for four years, it could be argued that this breaches the Good Friday Agreement.

The recognition of ISL is not only a disability issue, as Deaf ISL users consider themselves a cultural and linguistic minority. It is also an equality and language issue. The Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Health and Children, Education and Rural, Community and Gaeltacht Affairs, have all claimed that the recognition of ISL does not fall under their remit so we are asking An Taoiseach to please appoint a Minister or designate a department to take specific responsibility for this and liaise with the Deaf community on the best way forward, be this through a Constitutional referendum or an alternative method which sees ISL being afforded similar rights to Irish and English under the Official Languages Act.

Yours sincerely,

Sign:

Print Name:

LETER TO AN TAOISEACH:
__________________

Your address:

Date:

Department of the Taoiseach,

Government Buildings,

Upper Merion St,

Dublin 2.

Dear Taoiseach,

I am writing to ask you to officially recognise Irish Sign Language as the third official language of Ireland and afford it the same status as Irish and English.

Irish Sign Language (ISL) is the first language of approximately 5,000 Irish Deaf people and their families, with an estimated 50,000 friends, relatives and colleagues of Deaf people also using the language on a regular basis.

Irish Sign Language is an indigenous language, naturally developed by Irish Deaf people and has been used in Ireland for hundreds of years. It has it’s own grammar and structure different to Irish and English and is processed, like other languages in the speech centre of the brain.

Using Irish Sign Languages allows Deaf people to communicate and access knowledge, education and information, as many Deaf people have difficulty accessing the other two official languages of this country. I believe that by the Government of this country neglecting to recognise an indigenous language used by a group of its citizens, our basic human rights are being breached.

Over 45 countries internationally have officially recognised their countries sign languages and in this respect Ireland is lagging behind. In fact, ISL has been officially recognised in Northern Ireland along with British Sign Language for four years, it could be argued that this breaches the Good Friday Agreement.

The recognition of ISL is not only a disability issue, as Deaf ISL users consider themselves a cultural and linguistic minority. It is also an equality and language issue. The Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Health and Children, Education and Rural, Community and Gaeltacht Affairs, have all claimed that the recognition of ISL does not fall under their remit so we are asking An Taoiseach to please appoint a Minister or designate a department to take specific responsibility for this and liaise with the Deaf community on the best way forward, be this through a Constitutional referendum or an alternative legislative method which sees ISL being afforded similar rights to Irish and English under the Official Languages Act.

Yours sincerely,

Signed: