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Police probe 'English is mother tongue' leaflets

BBC A flyer placed on the windscreen of a vehicle. It is held down by a windscreen wiperBBC
Flyers opposing the Irish language were placed on vehicles parked near a pub in Belfast city centre

Police are investigating after leaflets opposing the Irish language were placed on the cars of students attending a class in Belfast.

It happened on Monday evening outside The Points bar on the Dublin Road, where a weekly Irish language class was taking place.

The flyers said "English is our mother tongue" and that most Irish people "should hate the Irish language".

Police said it was being treated as a "hate incident".

'Low-level intimidation'

A woman who attended the class said that while she supports free speech, it was "clearly low-level intimidation".

"It was very targeted. They obviously knew there's an Irish-language class there," she told BBC News NI.

The 34-year-old from Belfast, who did not wish to be named, added: "I think a couple of the students were kind of: 'Is this safe?'

"It was a wee bit scary to be fair. You just didn't know if people were still watching you."

She said the leaflets were placed on about 10 or 15 vehicles parked near the pub.

An image of one of the flyers placed on cars outside a Belfast pub with the words "English is our mother tongue" and most Irish people "should hate the Irish language".
The flyers said "English is our mother tongue" and that most Irish people "should hate the Irish language"

In a lengthy message, the flyers read: "English is our mother tongue.

"English is the ancestral language of most Irish people. English is the language of the Irish people."

The message said the government "should respect the will of the Irish people not to speak Irish".

It said that "Ireland's Christianity is a much more important part of Ireland's heritage than the language ever was" and the government "would do much more for the Irish people if they taught Latin in our schools instead of Irish".

Inquiries ongoing

Alliance Party councillor Emmet McDonough-Brown criticised the flyers.

"It is deeply disappointing that somebody would seek to intimidate language students who are expanding their horizons," he said.

"Irish belongs to our community who use and cherish it and people should be free to learn without this florid stupidity."

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) appealed for anyone with information to get in touch.

"Police received a report of leaflets being placed on a number of vehicles parked in the Dublin Road area on Monday evening, 9 December," a spokesman said.

He said that "inquiries are ongoing into this report, which is being treated as a hate incident".

The Points was also approached for comment.