Status of the Irish language Northern Ireland, including Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, learned Irish while in prison, a development known as the "Jailtacht". Although the language was taught in Catholic secondary schools (especially by the Christian Brothers), it was not taught at all in the controlled sector, which is mostly attended by Protestant pupils. Irish-medium schools, however, known as "Gaelscoileanna", were founded in Belfast and Derry and the Gaelscoileanna movement has since expanded to across much of Northern Ireland similar to its expansion in the Republic of Ireland. An Irish-language newspaper called "Lá" (later called "Lá Nua") produced by The Andersonstown News Group (later
Jennifer McCann Jennifer McCann Jennifer McCann (born 1 March 1960) is an Irish republican former politician in Northern Ireland, who was elected in 2007 to the Northern Ireland Assembly as a Sinn Féin member for Belfast West. She resigned from the Assembly in December 2016. McCann was born in the Twinbrook area of Belfast, and was friends with Bobby Sands and his sister Bernadette. She joined the republican movement as a schoolgirl, becoming a member of Cumann na mBan then joining the Provisional Irish Republican Army aged 17. McCann was arrested aged 20, after shooting a Royal Ulster Constabulary police officer, and