Former IRA man appointed to Foras na Gaeilge

THE public face of the IRA who made the announcement that the all members of the organisation were being stood down has been named as a board member of the Government-backed group promoting Irish on both sides of the Border.

TG4 revealed last night that Séanna Walsh is joining the board of Foras na Gaeilge, the body responsible for the promotion of Irish throughout the island.

Mr Walsh was the republican and former H-Block prisoner who appeared on the video in July 2005 making the historic announcement that the IRA was ceasing all activities.

Mr Walsh, based in west Belfast, is a close friend of Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams.

Foras na Gaeilge was set up as a result of the Good Friday Agreement and receives funding from both the Irish and British governments. A similar organisation to promote Ulster Scots was also set up at the time.

The new chairman of the Foras is Liam Mulvihill, the recently retired director general of the GAA. Another GAA luminary, former president of the organisation Joe McDonagh, was the first chief executive of the organisation.

Two other prominent republicans have been nominated to the board.

They are: former Sinn Féin general secretary Lucilita Bhreathnach and academic Eoghan Mac Cormaic. Among the other new members nominated is prominent Irish-language activist Adelaide Nic Charthaigh and Dónal Ó Béarra, a Green Party councillor based in Co Clare.