UUP hits out at EU upgrade for Irish language

Ulster Unionist Party MEP Jim Nicholson has hit out at the decision to upgrade the Irish language to offical EU status, branding the decision "a purely political campaign".

Ulster Unionist Party MEP Jim Nicholson has hit out at the decision to upgrade the Irish language to official EU status, branding the decision "a purely political campaign".

"It will only serve to overburden a linguistic regime, which is already struggling to cope with 20 official languages," he said, criticising the British government's backing for the measure.