Those of us from Northern Ireland won't be surprised at the latest depressing 'themuns versus usuns' spat, with the Democratic Unionist Party Communities Minister Gordon Lyons now removing funding from the popular The Northern Ireland Place-Name Project website at www.placenamesNI.org as he states "is it something that is necessary"?
The fact that the site is used to help councils with Irish-English street name translations is of course coincidental, and his actions clearly have nothing to do with the DUP's hostility towards the Irish language in Northern Ireland, which one of their foolish representatives once called a "leprechaun language". This is the same party that hijacked the Ulster Scots language for political purposes during the Troubles in exactly the same way that Sinn Féin hijacked the Irish language for its purposes - "themuns have their language, and usuns have ours". The actions of both sides did untold damage to both languages, and like kids in a schoolyard still not getting their way, the arguments continue to this day.
It's pathetic, because the Irish, English, and Scots languages belong to all of us, and should not be scrapped over by part-time talentless politicians who keep taking a break every few years when they get a bit tired and uncreative, continually failing to agree on the most simple of things because of a pathetic culture war initiated centures ago.
The Northern Ireland Place-Name Project has been active at Queen's University since 1987, and researches placenames across Northern Ireland, irrespective of whether they derive from English, Scots, or Irish backgrounds. There are similar platforms in other parts of these islands, with Logainm (www.logainm.ie) doing similar work in the Irish republic, and Ainmean Àite na h-Alba (www.ainmean-aite.scot) doing similar work in Scotland (specifically for Scottish Gaelic placenames). Their ongoing academic work adds to our understandings of our historic environments, and is priceless in contributing to our sense of ourselves in our respective regions.
The following note is now displaying on the PlacenamesNI website:
The Northern Ireland Place-Name Project has now reached the end of its current funding period. As a result, the project team is in the process of winding down activities. At this time, we regret that we are no longer in a position to respond to new enquiries or requests for information or translations. We appreciate your understanding as the project concludes this phase of its work.
Any update will be shared here should the situation change in the future.
Northern Ireland deserves so much better, it's been failed by its politicians for far too long, on both sides of a divide that is long past its sell-by date.
For more on the story visit the BBC's coverage at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g5prgq7eeo and The Journal's coverage at https://www.thejournal.ie/-7031294-May2026/.
Chris
Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.
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