DUBLIN, IRELAND - Now, 40 local authorities are heaping pressure on the Government to fully recognise Irish Sign Language (ISL) as an official language, the Sunday Independent has learned.
More than a year after the Seanad rejected a bill to legally recognise ISL, county and city councils, all over the country, have passed a motion on the issue to "help put pressure on local TDs".
After more than 30 years of campaigning, Eddie Redmond CEO of the Irish Deaf Society (IDS) says the community still feels hugely isolated and ignored at national level.
Speaking through an interpreter, Mr Redmond said: "The Government have been avoiding the issue. There is huge uproar among the Deaf community, because we are cut off from access to information.
"Every citizen should have access to services as a human right, and until there is adequate provision, the Deaf community will continue to be discriminated against and there will be a constant invalidation," he said.
Eight years ago, the Irish government signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which contains duties towards native sign languages. To date, Ireland remains one of the few European countries that have not ratified the convention into law.
Meanwhile, 45 other countries - including the UK and Northern Ireland - have granted legal status to their own unique sign language... Read more: http://independent.ie/irish-news/news/deaf-community-roar-for-recognition-of-sign-language.html
Recognition of sign languages listing:
The legal recognition of sign languages
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