Belfast-based academic compared Welsh language movement to Nazis
A Belfast-based academic has compared the Welsh language movement to Nazis.
Dr James Dingley, a sociologist who has researched nationalism at Queen’s University Belfast, accused the movement that campaigns for the rights of Welsh speakers of fostering a “sectarian divide”.
He also claimed that “only the cultural purist” in Wales “is considered legitimate and has rights”.
He made the claims in the Ulster unionist leaning newspaper The News Letter, in which he said the “Nazis not only had a racial policy but a language policy to go with it”, adding that language “revivals” lead “down very dangerous paths”.
He also said that ex-service men like his father had defeated “Hitler and his cultural purity” during the Second World War.
Dingley, who has lived in Northern Ireland for 40 years, accused the Welsh language movement of being “anti-English”, and claimed it had “managed to mystify a near dead language into a gravy train under the guise of culture”.
He also suggested that Welsh is a language that “no one else really needs or wants”.
The article was written amid a bitter row in Northern Ireland around a discussion for legislating for an Irish Language Act.
Simon Hoare, the Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, recently said that he would vote for an Irish Language Act as a Welsh Language Act had not done any harm to Wales.
It would give the Irish language equal status to English in the region.
But DUP Westminster Chief Whip Sammy Wilson MP responded Hoare in the House of Commons to criticise him for sounding like a “colonial ruler” or a “viceroy”.
‘Eisteddfod’
In a column for The News Letter, Dingley wrote: “I recall my parents discussing their post-war days in Wales, in particular attending meetings to discuss the establishment of the International Eisteddfod at Llangollen.
“Here, because, eisteddfod are usually conducted in Welsh, the question arose of what languages, especially German, should be permissible at an ‘international’ one.
“At which point the Welsh Language crew proclaimed very loudly that only English was the enemy!
“This was to a meeting full of ex-servicemen (like my father) who had just spent six years defeating Hitler and his cultural purity.
“The Nazis not only had a racial policy but a language policy to go with it which went so far as to try and revive the old Gothic script, which even most Germans couldn’t follow.
“Language revivals and cultural purism take one down very dangerous paths.
“A very Welsh-Welsh aunt, a fluent Welsh speaker, later began dropping Welsh as a protest against the Welsh language movement which had politicised the language, become very divisive within Wales and increasingly anti-English (whose taxes were subsidising the language).
“Thus a cultural sectarian divide is fostered, an ‘us and them’, that is not inclusive but exclusive, whereby only the cultural purist is considered legitimate and has rights.
“This in turn drives out all the genuinely creative talent, leaving behind a mediocrity who have a monopoly because they alone can master a language no one else really needs or wants.
“It is driven by people who have nothing else to offer but have managed to mystify a near dead language into a gravy train under the guise of culture.”
Dingley is chair of the Francis Hutcheson Institute, an organisation which is dedicated to the preservation and advancement of the memory of the philosopher Francis Hutcheson.
It promotes what it calls The Francis Hutcheson Principles, one of which is “tolerance”.
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He sounds like a proper bellend!!!
Yes and where is his tolerance towards Welsh and its right to exist. Bigoted barsteward! This is all because loyalist bigots in the North don’t want an Irish Language Act. It’s been very successful in Wales and has set the standard for others to follow.
Please don’t use the term loyalist, it is entirely their word and their interpretation.
Ulster Unionist will do nicely.
An anti Irish unionist paddy has a view on something he knows zero about.Stick to your civilian killing and black and tans you judas tvrd.
.
What a load of nonsense written by someone who has no idea that Welsh is a living language spoken every day. To make comparisons between Wales, Nazi Germany and Northern Ireland is utterly nonsensical. His stale old view of Wales and the Welsh language is as dated as ‘The Act of Union’.
I wonder if he knows that other knob from Belfast that stood for the Abolish the Assembly party?I wonder what happened to him.
I was thinking the same!!!
Me thinks he is targeting Welsh solely because of the Irish language act debacle in Northern Ireland, probably blames Welsh people for not conforming completely to British (English) identity the same way he has. Apparently equality between Welsh and English languages requires direct comparisons to Nazi Germany, but the irony of ignoring the historical treatment of Welsh speakers which was much more harsh and close to his comparison has escaped him. A quick google shows he has similar abhorrent views, blaming the sneaky IRA dressed in plain clothing and not “ill-equipped, ill-trained, poor young soldiers” security forces as he generously… Read more »
One wonders if Doctor Dingley is of the Bradish Yoonyanist persuasion. In which case he will know all about Nazi tactics such as ghettoisation, controlled genocide via manufactured famine and partitioning countries you have no entitlement to.
His tantrum says a lot more about Herr Doktor than it does about the Welsh language movement.
Maybe he’s angling for an interview with GeeBee News.
Or maybe he fancies Carol Decker and wanted to lash out
Ultimately he’s just a stalking horse. The Yoons are hoping that the well known Welsh tendency towards chippyness will be misdirected at the Northern Irish.
Not gonna happen. It is THEIR core that laps up xenophobic generalisation. Decent people do not.
Sorry Borisistas, must try harder.
I think it goes deeper than the present Boristocratic politics – this perversion of Mill and Locke, ignorance of Jung and Wittgenstein, this tendency to believe ‘language=culture=those who practice both” predates colonialism, toryism and post-WWII unionism – it’s an old sickness that lies at the core of Englishness (now known as Britishness) – the belief that the things their ancestors did will be done by others to them. “if we put up with this immigration, we’ll all be speaking polish/gujarati/arabic/turkish/farsi/romanian”… We all speak a germanic language, one whose arrival we can pinpoint historically. “the problem with the Welsh speaking lot… Read more »
A far more erudite commentary on this odious little man’s abuse than I could hope to provide and I appreciate the enlightening information
I don’t know about that – you aren’t wrong, I was just doing a “…and then there’s this”. Can’t piggyback with out a back on which one can, um, piggy (?!)
… and I was just going to call him a vile and small-minded hypocrite.
My thanks for such an elegant justification of what is so obviously just my neo-nazism.
I like your version better. I assume your fingers and as raw as mine. I should learn how to ‘short-form’ better.
Oh, and you lost ALL credibility for suggesting anyone fancies Carol Decker…
😄 Well she has a son so somebody did. We all change with age. Some for the better. Others not so
Possibly wearing a brown bag at time of conception !
Oh dear. Denying a minority language group the right to use their own language in order to impose cultural uniformity upon them and then simultaneously describing the same language group as Nazis. I don’t think the word ‘irony’ even begins to describe this. As for the old chestnut of English taxes subsidising Wales, perhaps he should ask himself where all the money came from to pay the security bill for all the Ulster Unionists who are too bigoted to contemplate living in a catholic majority country. The fact is that Northern Ireland by itself could never have paid for such… Read more »
The presupposition of there being a motive beyond preservation and voluntary proliferation is pure projection here – we won in our battle to stop the language dying, but this was not a fight against any individual or group. This theory belies the principles of tolerance and fear of repression he presents; it is he who claims that language and culture is inextricably linked to individuals, a mind/body link that is far more akin to the tennets of nazism (as well as lysenkoisms claims of man as eminently mouldable). Those of us who support the retention of our ancient tongue make… Read more »
Hypocrite, just trying to draw attention to himself. He’s just aching for the publicity. Farage is that way inclined too. And he gets more positive publicity than BJ!
If ever there was a comparison to be made with the NAZIs it would be to the British Empire. With a language policy backed up by the threat and use of violence. Wales and the Celtic nations are only now able to begin to address the damage done by Englands colonial attitudes.
The British empire gave the Nazis and Stalin a template for many of the atrocities later committed. Just two examples 1. Concentration camps, Boar war. 2. Famines in India and Ireland, which millions needlessly died- Stalin enforced famine, Ukraine. Stalin hated the British empire but admired the ‘darker arts’ used by it including ‘language suppression’ and penal colonies
Mae e’n siarad trwy ei het. (This man is talking throuh his hat: noncence) I am on a welsh learners course and there are a number of english people learning the language.One of the tutor’s is english and she is proud to be a welsh speaker. This guy is dragging up dead arguments because he has his own agenda of being anti irish language. He clearly does not understand that welsh is a living language used by people in the home,at work and in the pub.Next will be repeated the myth that everyone was speaking english until we walked into… Read more »
Nothing worse than a Welsh “learner” learning Welsh then becoming a Welsh nationalists. I’ve no problem with Welsh nationalists, just don’t be false. Are you doing it for us or to get a good public sector job? Most of us non political Welsh can see through a lot of “learners”. It’s like me going to France and becoming a French nationalists because I’ve learnt French then at the same time knocking some French who don’t conform. To some French ideals. Ac cyn I pobol cymraeg yn siarad dwy yn cymro. Ddim ond pontio Allan mae na popol pwy si’n dysgu… Read more »
Oh dear. You did try to hide what you really think but you’ve now outed yourself. Maybe reset and come back under a different name.
I was a nationalist before I could speak Welsh.
Does that meet with your approval?
.I have no hidden agenda. You should be encouraging more people to learn welsh rather than making snide unsubstantiated remarks. There are a number of learners throughout the world who are learning welsh through zoom from as far away as Japan to Europe. To learn a language takes time and commitment .I am welsh and and also proud to be learning welsh
Google translate hasn’t really helped you here has it, poor Llewelyn. Mind you reading over your English isn’t very edifying either. So Welsh learners who are Welsh nationalists are worse than first language Welsh nationalists and only do it to get a job. Wales has a proud history of people who have learnt the language and contributed royally to its culture. Its an open society which is welcoming to those who make the effort. Perhaps you ought to put a bit more effort in, and then you might be able to compete a bit more effectively for a job.
The bigot should be prosecuted under hate speech laws
If he (doc) said that in Scotland Nicola’s sturgeonistas would have him incarcerated without a jury trial.
What are you on about?
The treatment of Alex Salmond, Craig Murray, Mark Hirst & Martin Keatings etc. (check whats written in Wings over Scotland, Craig Murray & Grouse Beater blogs).
Leigh Richsrds..I agree with you. This article must border on what is legal, perhaps even on the grounds of race.
For a supposed sociologist, he seems to be relying solely on his parents and “Welsh Welsh” aunt for his views. He should be banned from teaching with such ridiculous research skills.
How a Sociologist came to be chair of group dedicated to the memory of a philosopher is a sign that academic standards are crumbling (outside some STEM departments, but the cracks are showing there too). When done well, sociology is a ‘soft science’, done poorly it is the worst sort of pseudo science. Dingley seems to have slipped into the latter category. I’d like to hear more about that ‘Welsh Welsh aunt’ who took a stand against the evil Taffia that resided in her imagination by… refusing to speak Welsh. What a win! If it’s true, how could he report… Read more »
I remember walking into a busy pub in Dinas Mawddwy with some Welshpool mates one Sunday many years ago only to be told “sorry lads we’re shut it’s Sunday” !
Some years ago I walked into a pub in Newtown and, because I’m Welsh, all the punters suddenly switched to English.
You have articulated what I was thinking much better than I could!
That is the point isn’t it. A so-called social scientist relying on such thin evidence to support his bigoted assertion that “Welsh is a language nobody really wants.” I wonder if this aunt ever existed anyway.
strange how it’s ok to spout vitriol about wales and welshness in general but say anything about english,french,german et al and it’s hate speech.
ignore this man he is clearly a tosser of the highest order.
I don’t know where to start, but he is talking rubbish about a subject he knows nothing about.
Pot calling the kettle black?
My proud Welsh grandfather spent both world wars defeating both the Kaiser and Hitler. He then had to listen for the rest of his life to the mantra of how “England” won the war. This latest jingoistic bowler hatted b**l**hit is about N.I. unionist bigotry and its twilight years and doesn’t relate to Wales(or the modern Ireland) at all.
Yes and how England stood alone, which was never true since there was the rest of the UK and the British Empire with them.
When a donkey brays or a rabid Ulster Unionist Brexiteer speaks it is best ignored.
Have pity on him for he is a gammon.
Hmmm, where does one start? The comments made by Dr Dingley are very extreme indeed, even for a passionate Ulster unionist. His comments also bear little relationship with the truth, and the comments about formation of the International Eisteddfod seem particularly swivel-eyed: in 1945-46 when the Llangollen eisteddfod was being planned the National Eisteddfod itself was a bilingual event, the Welsh only rule being introduced in 1950. It seems strange indeed that English would be singled out, especially, even at that time it would have been the most likely lingua franca. It gets even worse. Dr Dingley’s comment about Gothic… Read more »
Where has this man got his facts from – “a language no-one really needs or wants” – oh that’s pure excrement!
You have answered the question you posed, without realizing it. They are not ‘facts’ but the delusional ramblings of a drum banging, parade loving rabid Unionist.
I just checked out one of his publications. A report on how it is the Irish republicans who are at fault for strife around the Orangemen’s “Rubbing their noses in it” annual march down the Garvahy Road.
Not in ANY sense of the word an impartial narrator.
Also lectures at British Military colleges.
Just another lickspittle Muttley wanting a shiny new badge off the German queen
Why is Queen”s University employing this vile bigot? Like Bozo Johnson, he clearly likes to make things up as he goes along.
Possibly an employment requirement if their purpose is churn out good little UK Nats
The clue is in the name (of the university).
Says a lot about queens, then again it is called ‘queens’
The comments on here are brilliant and informative. Regrettably, they will not get the same publicity as the original article; thus it has succeeded in reaching its intended readership and no doubt achieving its intended purpose. Sad but true.
Smells like a Billy bullsh*tter to me. A “Welsh speaking aunt” yeah right. Odious little man
I’m amazed he didn’t throw in “xenophobia” and “blood and soil” from the latest list of anti-Wales false cliches beloved of right-wing unionists.
Y Cymry’n ‘gwydd-gamu’?
A fydd rhaid i Lywodraeth Cymru sefydlu “Adran Cerddediad Gwirion” gyntaf?
Sounds like a rejected draft of an edition of Radio 4’s Unbelievable Truth. Four or five truths are hidden in a piece that is full of untruths. But in this case the author forgot to put in any truths.
So is this Ulsterman tolerant or intolerant? Would the true fascists please stand up?
Doctor Dribbly is massively intolerant. Where he is from is irrelevant
hmmm. there appears to be attacks from every direction these days ! Perhaps the Unionists think that making this one based in N.Ireland, a fellow Celtic nation, will add more weight to there dying argument. Errr.. sorry to disappoint !
You can see, in almost every sentence, the vile canard making at work: “Mystify a near dead language into a gravy train under the guise of culture” – the language is merely a weapon wielded by a small number of bad actors; claims are made (by him?) that it is of a higher form of culture, a cabal-driven ruse in order to hoard institutional power (yeah, all those welsh-speaking kings, queens and prime ministers). Conspiratorial twaddle. The claim the “Welsh language movement” is “anti-English” – I’m sure that many Welsh activists have been anti-English over the decades. Certainly, in the… Read more »
The above is not me. It is my evil clone trying to stir sh1t again. Feel free to kick it repeatedly in the nads.
I, of course, never try to stir sh1t with my endless xenophobic comments
Hi clone. You are clearly still sensitive from me handing your a55 to you in some discussion or other when you were being pompous and offensive, so you have now decided to hijack a far more interesting topic to make everything about you and your worthless “revenge” whilst tediously hiding behind MY posting name. Kindly grow up. Or die. Either option will make everyone happier you ridiculous narcissist mmmkayy? 👍
You’re spewing a lot of boiling p1ss, I must have touched a nerve 🤣
You really are just messageboard chlamydia? An irritation, but easily got rid of
I don’t know whether I’m replying to Good Chris or Evil Chris, but either way it’s most entertaining. Do the laws of physics require that you annihilate each other in a gigantic explosion if ever your paths cross in real life?
😄 I think good and evil are subjective. For me, it depends which internal voice I am listening to.
But there is Original Chris who is a proud and vigorous support of independence from UKBIN (me) and there is the inferior unionist copycat clone Chris.
If our paths ever crossed, under the laws of physics we are not equal and opposite so there would not be the massive explosion. I think more likely that Inferior clone Chris would disappear with a mild whistling whine sound and my ars5e would itch for a few seconds.
The first example he gives, if we take the comment 100% seriously, is someone suggesting that the Eisteddfod should welcome all languages except English. How does that add up to “cultural purity”?
Welsh speakers need to be mindful that the world is watching – for example UNESCO when awarding the latest award and commenting on the culture – but suggestions of ‘us and them’ is way off the mark.
Tolerance?????
Let’s not justify this idiot with our anger. We’re better than him.
True. There are slugs eating cabbage in the garden that are better than him
I wondered when the pied noir in the northeast of Ireland would start getting angsty about Welsh…
Exactly how vulnerable in your own identity do you have to be to get spooked by another language?
The Newsletter is Unionist-leaning??? Who wrote this drivel?
The Newsletter is the foghorn of militant Loyalism.
It’s like calling Stormfront “right of centre”.
As I said the other day, I wonder if fighting Hitler was all his Daddy did whilst in the “British” Army?…
…the army which among other atrocious things done against humanity, along with the US Army, created, trained and funded Daesh, Al Qaeda and the Taliban… don’t believe me… watch the end of Rambo III… how’s that for “tolerance” and being against beliefs of “cultural purity”?
I suspect that this man’s application to join the BNP may have been turned down as his views are too extreme. But fair play to the man, he obviously understands what Nazi views are as he espouses them. Let’s just ignore the little worm.
It’s what inbreeding gets you. They share a very small island with us but they consider themselves above us “Cafflicks” ,so they can only breed among themselves, themselves being a very small fraction of our island’s population. With any luck, they’ll inbreed themselves out of existence in the not too distant future.
True. Just look at any member of the DUP
Imagine getting this wound up about a random nobody’s opinion in some tiny publication from the smallest part of the UK…
It’s not difficult to tell who the fake #1Chris is in all fairness. It would take brains and wit to come up with a decent parody. Sadly this imbecile is lacking in both.
Hi clone. The petty vengeance your fragile ego demands is disrupting a far more interesting thread. The difference in our posting style is obvious as Alan points out. Even when you are pretending to be somebody else your posts have a spiteful snarl in them. You are the only person in this thread who would have a dig at NI just because of one bigot living there.
Foolish oaf
You seem angry. Maybe take a few days off, mate 😂
You wish that were the case. It’s disdain. Like being savaged by a goldfish
Just another Ulster Unionist still trying to hold out against the tide of History.
Scared witless* of the Irish language and lashing out. Better ignored.
*A relative term.
Dingly a sociologist! He expects Wales to reject its own national language in favour of the language of the English conquerors.
I agree with the sentiments expressed here towards Dingley and indeed Carol Decker,but I think that your contributors and you as editor should follow Slugger O’Toole’s dictum and play the ball not the man,or the lady in Carol’s case.
Duly noted and appreciated, you’re 100%right. Although I don’t feel bad about lightly jibing Ms Decker, it is tactically daft and a bit lazy – Welsh indy curious Tpau fans (all 1 of them) may get turned off reading our sh*tposting (and many other people who just don’t like mean talk). I do think the occasional tongue-in-cheek jibe is acceptable, but it’s really hard online – it takes one influential/loud/malicious individual to scream ‘bigoooot’ at any perceived slight and you may be toast. I do feel quite dismayed at how po faced society has become – especially online, where facial… Read more »
I can’t say what I actually think of this idiot without my comment being deactivated. Suffice to say the mouse is a hypocrite who is supposedly attacking language movements for the very actions that he and others are engaged in. He is the one engaged in sectarian politics. That’s what Loyalist Ulster Scots do. They are just throwing their toys out of the pram because an Irish Language Act will remove one avenue of discrimination for them against the indigenous Irish population in Ulster.