Rag,
About 10% of the population of Northern Ireland can speak the Irish Language. In the Republic many people are bi-lingual but English remains the major Language.

People have taken the trouble to learn it, but it is not spoken.
You never hear it in a pub say as you still can in a few places in the Republic.

Jim,
Arlene Foster actually agree in a compromise and took it back to her party - the rednecks threw it back in her face

The DUP were happy for the language to be recognised, but asked that the majority culture received some recognition too.
Sinn Fein was too intolerant to accept anything else.

DMcG
Jim is absolutely right, in my view, when he refers to "Irish culture, north and south is based on the Irish language".

The culture of the Unionist people, still the majority in the North, has no connection with the Irish language.