evidence: Legislation negotiated by the Irish and British governments two years ago has received Royal Assent and will officially become law, giving official status to the Irish language for the first time in Northern Ireland. [...] The legislation includes a commitment to establish the office of an Irish language commissioner and an Ulster Scots commissioner, to provide official recognition of the status of the Irish language and to repeal the Penal Law-era Administration of Justice (Language) Act 1737 which forbade the use of Irish in the courts. [...] Conchúr Ó Muadaigh, who spoke at the Belfast rally and is advocacy manager with Conradh na Gaeilge, said "From today on, the Irish language will exist in law for the first time in a state which historically discriminated against the language and marginalised it’s community of speakers.