We, by which I mean ordinary citizens of this dysfunctional political system, have just appointed 3 people into three non-jobs, the Commissioner of the Irish Language, Pol Deed, Lee Reynolds, Commissioner for Gibberish, and Ulster British Tradition, whatever that is and finally Katy Radford as the Director of the Office of Identity and Cultural Expression, clearly a valuable role in building social cohesion(I am being ironic in case you didn’t guess). These three roles will cost the taxpayer approximately £400,000 annually, further embedding identity politics into our political discourse. The language scandal will cost the taxpayer close to£25 million over 5 years. This equates to between 300,000 and 400,000 GP appointments or 2500 hip replacements. Sinn Féin embraces identity politics because they are on the political front foot as they see it, and the DUP embrace it because they are on the back foot, like a person on a political life raft.
The political duopoly has created an environment that has allowed identity politics to thrive while failing to improve the situation of ordinary working people who struggle to get GP appointments, median wait times in A&E as highlighted NISRA is 13 hours, young people can no longer afford to buy a house and a school system that is underfunded by over £200 million though, this ignores the fact that just maintaining our current apartheid system, costs over £200 million annually.
We have Givan, an education minister who also seems to align himself with Mike Huckabee, the US Ambassador to Israel, who could be described as a Praying for Armageddon Christian Zionist. Givan visited a regime that has not just been accused of genocide by the United Nations, but by prominent Jews such as Omer Bartov and Peter Beinhart, in addition to the publishing of a report called “Our genocide” by the Jewish Human Rights organisation B’Tselem. It is also ironic that this excuse for an education minister, who is responsible for our children’s education, was on a “fact-finding mission” when the facts are clear: the Israeli Reich has killed 20,000 children in Gaza. This so-called Christian lacks any humanity, compassion, or morality. He ignored the fact or suffered a bout of amnesia that, since the start of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, the IDF has killed a classroom of Gazan children every day. He and his leader, who has endorsed his visit, should resign in shame, or maybe the good people of Lagan Valley will vote Givan out at the next election, though that is a bit of wishful thinking.
Getting back to the culture wars and identity politics, which are undermining the future of our children. Irish, as a language, according to the latest census, is used by 2.43% of the population, with only 0.3% using it as their main language and Ulster Scots, which is barely a dialect dressed up as a language, is used by 1.14% of the population. Do you think this is the best way to spend your tax pounds? I was at an event recently where there was a call in the event of Irish unification, that the Irish language should be the national language. Firstly, a national language is usually spoken by a majority. In Ireland’s most recent census, that is under 40% with 1% to 2 % speaking it as their first language. In the largest democracy in the world, India, there is no national language. Language is not a political weapon but a communication tool to build relationships. However, we should revisit how and at what point in a child’s educational journey should a language be taught. In many parts of Europe, kids are not just tri-lingual by the age of 12 but tri-literate.
Just to complete another area where the Irish language has been rolled into identity politics. It takes just 15% of occupants surveyed on a street to request a dual language sign. This request is sent to the Belfast City Council’s People and Communities Committee for a decision. If approved, it will be forwarded to the full council to be rubber-stamped. Just saying, it is not very democratic, a sort of tyranny of the minority.
So, if anyone believes that the appointment of the 3 commissioners and the ensuing language debate is about equality, you are sadly deluded; it is, without doubt, about identity politics, adding another element that continues to embed the myth that working-class Seamus and working-class Billy have little in common. In addition, it is also about more snouts in the tax trough, filled by ordinary working people. Identity politics has hyped phrases such as my truth, my lived experience and, as Ash Sakar in her great new book, Minority Rule, wrote,” all said from the throne of victimhood.” This becomes a defining characteristic of a group’s identity and is corrosive to any sense of community cohesion and solidarity. Something I describe as the “IDENTITY CAGE” in an upcoming blog. This strategy of playing identity politics by our political class undermines any sense of a shared social and economic reality, thus burying the real issues that affect the majority, such as a fairer tax system, AI and the future of work, and an education system that ensures that our kids have the necessary tools to navigate a complex future, to mention a few. In addition, identity politics, as exhibited with the appointment of these commissioners, disguises the political ineptitude of our political duopoly and the ineffectiveness of the Sad Democratic and Lacklustre Party, the Utterly Useless Party and the other party whose ideology is like trying to nail jelly to a wall.
Sinn Féin and the DUP are two sides of the same coin when it comes to identity politics; both are undermining our children’s future. The Brits invented divide and rule; our two main parties have adopted it.
Suneil Sharma
5th November 2025
The Gob 
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