Daithí
10-20-2007, 01:25 PM
One way, or another, an Irish Language Act for the North of Ireland will be enacted.
That was the message West Belfast MP Gerry Adams delivered on Tuesday morning, after Stormont Culture, Arts and Leisure Minister, Edwin Poots, announced that he was not in favour of legislation guaranteeing the rights of Irish speakers in the North.
In a statement to the Assembly on Tuesday morning, Minister Poots outlined his opposition to Acht na Gaeilge/Irish Language Act, citing costs and a lack of consensus, stating that "an Irish Language Bill is clearly divisive throughout our community".
The Minister claimed that an Act would cost over 10 years in the region of £291,538,000, with the possibility of that amount being multiplied by five.
"It is worth noting that in the Irish Republic, where legislation and a Language Act is in place since 2003, the language is diminishing, and here in Northern Ireland where no such act exists, the language is expanding," said the Minister.
The SDLP spokesman on the Irish language, Dominic Bradley MLA, asked if the Minister would now inform Westminster of his decision to abdicate responsibility for the introduction of an Irish Language Act.
"There is a hole in the good ship DCAL, and the Minister and his civil servants must address that hole and repair it," said Mr Bradley.
Later, speaking after the end of the session in the Assembly, Mr Bradley said that Westminster must now take charge for enacting the legislation and introducing an Act.
After the Minister's statement, Nelson McCausland MLA said that the Irish Language Act was devisive and extremely expensive.
He made reference to Wales where a Welsh Act has been in place since the 1960s, saying that businesses and public bodies there had expressed concern at the cost put upon them by the Act.
David McNarry MLA asked the Minister to confirm the authority of the Assembly, and also to confirm that a Bill would not be imposed from Westminster.
The Minister said that language and culture were devolved matters, and the Assembly would have to vote to have them returned to Parliament in Westminster.
The Minister hit out at parties opposite, saying that every time “they speak in broken Irish” it does nothing for the Irish language, and that people in the Irish language community were trying to de-politicise the language.
19/10/2007
http://www.irelandclick.com/index.tvt?_ticket=YAMVKKLAFS48ODQFIR0DAMTEDWZ71GSG X4TFIVOACNULBQMHBHSJ5D1RHONDNNTDALNNDJRGUT4IXNNAC0 7Q9LLCPT0FURTSVZMAAQ48SYKACK5K1QRFLZHXWMTEDYKACNTF URYJHONGOMTEDWE6U2D&_scope=atown/Content/News/Headlines&id=4883&_page=&psv=20
That was the message West Belfast MP Gerry Adams delivered on Tuesday morning, after Stormont Culture, Arts and Leisure Minister, Edwin Poots, announced that he was not in favour of legislation guaranteeing the rights of Irish speakers in the North.
In a statement to the Assembly on Tuesday morning, Minister Poots outlined his opposition to Acht na Gaeilge/Irish Language Act, citing costs and a lack of consensus, stating that "an Irish Language Bill is clearly divisive throughout our community".
The Minister claimed that an Act would cost over 10 years in the region of £291,538,000, with the possibility of that amount being multiplied by five.
"It is worth noting that in the Irish Republic, where legislation and a Language Act is in place since 2003, the language is diminishing, and here in Northern Ireland where no such act exists, the language is expanding," said the Minister.
The SDLP spokesman on the Irish language, Dominic Bradley MLA, asked if the Minister would now inform Westminster of his decision to abdicate responsibility for the introduction of an Irish Language Act.
"There is a hole in the good ship DCAL, and the Minister and his civil servants must address that hole and repair it," said Mr Bradley.
Later, speaking after the end of the session in the Assembly, Mr Bradley said that Westminster must now take charge for enacting the legislation and introducing an Act.
After the Minister's statement, Nelson McCausland MLA said that the Irish Language Act was devisive and extremely expensive.
He made reference to Wales where a Welsh Act has been in place since the 1960s, saying that businesses and public bodies there had expressed concern at the cost put upon them by the Act.
David McNarry MLA asked the Minister to confirm the authority of the Assembly, and also to confirm that a Bill would not be imposed from Westminster.
The Minister said that language and culture were devolved matters, and the Assembly would have to vote to have them returned to Parliament in Westminster.
The Minister hit out at parties opposite, saying that every time “they speak in broken Irish” it does nothing for the Irish language, and that people in the Irish language community were trying to de-politicise the language.
19/10/2007
http://www.irelandclick.com/index.tvt?_ticket=YAMVKKLAFS48ODQFIR0DAMTEDWZ71GSG X4TFIVOACNULBQMHBHSJ5D1RHONDNNTDALNNDJRGUT4IXNNAC0 7Q9LLCPT0FURTSVZMAAQ48SYKACK5K1QRFLZHXWMTEDYKACNTF URYJHONGOMTEDWE6U2D&_scope=atown/Content/News/Headlines&id=4883&_page=&psv=20