Words Matter: Public Attitudes to the Irish Language and Ulster Scots.

Abstract

More than English is spoken and signed every day in Northern Ireland (NI). Latest Census figures exhibit a well-known and historical fact that Northern Ireland is not a monolingual society; we use many languages (O’Connell, 2022; Rodgers, 2026). From the Irish language sown by the Gaels circa 500BC, to the languages spoken in more recently arrived communities, the languages that we use today, and how we use them, are the stories of how human beings live here. But what do we think about the languages we speak? And what are the relationships to our ideas about identity? This Research Update reports on public attitudes to Irish and Ulster-Scots in Northern Ireland, using data from the 2025 Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) survey.