History will be made in Northern Ireland when its first ever Irish language commissioner takes office today.
Pól Deeds, former deputy chief executive of Foras na Gaeilge, was appointed by the Stormont Executive after years of political wrangling over the approach to Irish.
His role will be to provide guidance to around 100 public bodies in Northern Ireland on the promotion of the language, including developing new "best practice" standards, and to investigate complaints about how those bodies are providing services to Irish speakers.
But any new best standards policies must be jointly approved by the Stormont's First and deputy First Ministers, Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill and the DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly.
If they cannot reach agreement, or if the Stormont Executive is not in place, legislation introduced in 2022 gives the Northern Ireland Secretary of State the authority to intervene.
Another Commissioner, former DUP advisor Lee Reynolds, has been appointed to promote Ulster Scots and Ulster British identity.
The appointments were welcomed by Irish language bodies, which had campaigned for years for official legal recognition and rights.
That came when the British government introduced the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022, making the Irish language a legally recognised language for the first time, after the DUP had repeatedly blocked moves to enact legislation at Stormont.
The legislation included the establishment of the posts of the two commissioners.
'Significant milestone'
Conradh na Gaeilge has welcomed the development as "a significant milestone".
In a statement, it stressed that the commissioner can provide advice, support and guidance to public bodies in relation to the use of Irish and do not require the mutual consent of the First and deputy First Minister.
"For well over half a century we have made tremendous progress in building a community led Irish language revival," the organisation's president Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin said.
He added: "We are finally at a point where we have Irish language legislation that, despite its faults, gives the language a legal foothold here in the north for the very first time.
"Today we begin a new chapter in our long running campaign for language rights and equality as the very first Irish Language Commissioner in the history of the state takes up office."
The Irish language has been a hugely contentious political football in Northern Ireland for many years.
Some loyalists and unionists have accused Irish advocates of "weaponising" the language, while their critics have accused them of demonising the language.
Both sides in the often-bitter debate have accused the other of engaging in "a cultural war".
It is a dispute that has had serious political implications.
A dispute over funding for an Irish language bursary scheme led to the collapse of the Stormont Assembly in January 2017.
In June 2021, Edwin Poots was ousted as leader of the DUP after just three weeks in the post when he accepted a British government proposal to introduce the legislation without consulting the party's ruling officer team.
That solo run was a break from years of strong DUP opposition to any such move.
Referring to Sinn Féin demands for an Irish Language Act in 2017, former DUP leader Arlene Foster dismissed the need for legislation and retorted: "If you feed a crocodile, it will keep coming back for more."
Another party elder, East Derry MP Gregory Campbell, told a DUP conference in 2014 that the party regarded a Sinn Féin wish list including the demand for legislation as "toilet paper".
Earlier that year the MP was officially sanctioned by the Northern Ireland Assembly for mocking the language when he began a speech with the words: "Curry my yoghurt can coca coalyer."
It was parody of the Irish sentence "go raibh maith agat, Ceann Comhairle".
Resurgence
Irish is enjoying a resurgence in Northern Ireland, but there is also growing vocal opposition from some loyalists and unionists who critics have accused of engaging in "a cultural war".
A plan for dual language signage in Belfast's new bus and rail station is currently before the courts, where one of the challengers is the DUP Communities Minister Gordon Lyons.
Unionists on Belfast City Council are also attempted to block a decision to adopt a new branding scheme to incorporate Irish and in September a dual language street sign in the east of the city was attacked with an angle grinder.
Mr Deeds has made it clear that he intends on being a vocal advocate for the language and signalled that he will not shy away from confrontation.
He took to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, shortly before his appointment was formally confirmed last month in response to media reports that loyalist paramilitaries had threatened to burn council property if dual language signs were put in place.
He first took aim at BBC Northern Ireland, accusing it of "platforming bigotry" in the wake of the council decision, and then at Stormont's Executive Office - his soon to be employers - accusing them of "failing in their duty of care to the new Commissioner before he has even taken up his post".
The fact that the DUP deputy First Minister has to jointly sign off on "best practice" recommendations suggests further confrontation is likely.
