Irish Language Act turnover down to UUP pressure says McNarry
Speaking after the DCAL Minister Edwin Poots kicked a proposed Irish Language Act into touch, Ulster Unionist Chief Whip and DCAL Committee Deputy Chair David McNarry said in a statement,
“The Ulster Unionist Party had settled the language issue through the Belfast Agreement in 1998. Language was to be carried through the North/South language body which comprises of the Board of Ulster Scots and the Irish Bord na Gaelige. This created parity and a level playing field.
The Ulster Unionist Party respects cultural diversity as a key foundation for a stable, peaceful, pluralist society. That’s why we oppose this Act – respect, understanding and tolerance in relation to linguistic diversity would have been fundamentally undermined by the proposed Act. The Irish Language Act would further politicise Irish, place an undue and costly emphasis upon it and allow it to be used as a cultural weapon in an unarmed struggle.
The DUP went to St Andrews and signed up to Annexes which included the Irish Language Act proposal. At the conclusion of the negotiations, the overall package was described by the DUP Leader as ‘a great day for all of Ireland’.
The DCAL Minister has now kicked the issue into touch. This is to be welcomed especially after the Minister, in response to my specific question, said it was unlikely that the matter would go to Westminster. The DUP have turned around on this issue after repeated pressure from the UUP.”