Irish Language Impasse shows Stormont Can’t Deliver!
Tuesday 16th of November saw more than 50 Irish Language Advocacy groups come together to call on British Secretary of State Brandon Lewis to ‘immediately move Irish language legislation at Westminster’.
As these groups gathered at the Cultúrlann on the Falls Road on to highlight their campaign, the British government was refusing to commit to any timeframe and said it had nothing further to add to last month’s statement.
Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh of campaign group An Dream Dearg said the letter published by these groups sent a “very clear message” to Mr Lewis.
“The secretary of state gave a very clear and unambiguous commitment in June of this year that if Stormont failed to implement Irish language legislation by September, the British government would do so at Westminster by October,”
“We are now in the middle of November and to date no Irish language legislation has been moved at Westminster.”
“All deadlines to date have passed, and still we wait. Community confidence is now incredibly low,” it states.
“The days of Irish speakers being treated as second class citizens here are now over.”
Lasair Dhearg spokesperson Aindriú Mac Ruaidhrí commenting on the situation stated:
“More than two decades ago in the Good Friday Agreement and in the subsequent 2006 St Andrews Agreement, a commitment was made to take action to promote and protect the Irish language. The British Secretary of State Brandon Lewis said in June of this year that the necessary legislation would be delivered in October.”
“After years of countless delays, false promises and statements of ‘no return to the status quo’ we are still in a situation where Irish Language speakers in the Six Counties are denied their very basic language rights. Despite multiple election cycles and hundreds of millions of pounds being spent on the circus of the Stormont Executive, the fact that Irish Language advocacy groups are required to campaign to the British Secretary of State, it is clear that Stormont Can’t Deliver on basic rights.”
“The Irish Language has been denied official recognition in the Six Counties solely for sectarian reasons and this is copper-fastened by partition and the Unionist veto. New Decade New Approach, as predicted by many, has evidently turned into New Decade Same Old Approach.”
ENDS
