Report criticises language body’s practices

MORE than €6m was given out in grants by the North/South Language Body without formal approval from the governments in the republic and Northern Ireland, it has emerged.

The cross-border organisation is one of several North/South bodies established under the Good Friday agreement that have been criticised in a report by the Comptroller & Auditor General over poor accounting practices.

It found the North/South Language Body, which was established to promote Irish and Ulster-Scots through Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster-Scots Agency respectively, had not sought approval from the North-South Ministerial Council and finance ministers in both jurisdictions as required by law for grant money it issued in 2000.