Call to appoint Irish-language commissioner in the North

An Irish-language commissioner should be appointed to oversee the development of a strategy to protect the language in the North, the Culture minister was told today.

Sinn Féin MLA Francie Brolly said some form of oversight body was needed to ensure the government delivered on commitments to Irish speakers.

He told Mr Poots, who was giving evidence to his scrutiny committee at Stormont, that achieving progress on the Irish language was like pulling teeth.

The minister has decided against introducing a specific Irish Language Act, citing its prohibitive costs and the probability it would never get the required cross-community support to get it through the Assembly.

The DUP Lagan Valley MLA revealed that none of his ministerial colleagues in the executive were willing to provide extra funds for the act during the recent budget negations.

He is now proposing that both Irish and Ulster Scots could be protected and enhanced by making sure all public bodies fully comply with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

Mr Poots said that would satisfy the commitments laid out in the 2006 St Andrews Agreement in regard to developing a language strategy.

Mr Brolly said he was prepared to work with the minister but said it was vital that some body was set up to ensure delivery

“Could there be a commissioner to oversee the development of this strategy or some form of oversight group?” he asked.

“Because getting movement on the Irish language issue is a bit like pulling teeth. If the European charter wasn’t there or the bits in the St Andrews Agreement (about Irish language) we would get very little for the Irish language, what we are getting as it is isn’t enough.”

The minister said he was satisfied that effective monitoring was already provided for by the group set up to examine compliance with the European charter - the Inter-Departmental Charter Implementation Group (ICIG). He said further scrutiny would be given by the Council of Europe Committee of Experts (COMEX).

Mr Brolly however said there was a need for an independent commissioner to oversee work done in the north.

David McNarry (UUP, Strangford) expressed deep concern that control of language provision in the North seemed to be in the hands of European officials in Brussels.

“Are we subservient to Europe on this issue, I hope not,” he said

Mr Poots said in terms of policing the development and protection of indigenous languages Europe was the main authority.

“So that means languages like Ulster Scots and Irish are not ours?” replied Mr McNarry.

“They belong to Europe and they are the controllers of it?”

The minister told the committee it would cost an extra £111m (€148m) over the next five years to implement an Irish Language act across government departments and the Northern Ireland office.

“When you extrapolate that figure out to all other public bodies then the figure would be significantly higher,” he said.

Telling members he could not justify such expenditure in the context of other departmental demands, he challenged them to help him develop an alternative strategy.

“(During the budget negotiations) I asked the other ministers who would be prepared to give me some of their funding to do it,” he said.

“None of them offered any. No other minister from any political party was prepared to support me financially for an Irish Language Act. Which means all of it would have to be sustained within this department.

“If I am to do this and I am to fund this from within the department, then tell me where am I going to make the cuts, demonstrate to me how I can achieve what’s being sought?

“It would be better to work with me to develop this strategy and how that can be brought about, as so far I haven’t got any support (from the committee) for this, rather than hanging your hat on something that’s unachievable.

“Something that even if I was minded to support would still not be achievable because it wouldn’t get through the Assembly.”

Jim Shannon (DUP, Strangford) agreed there was no justification for spending so much on an act when provisions were already included in the European convention.

“Can we really afford this all-seeing, all-knowing, luxury version of an Irish Language act when we as a committee know there are other demands in relation to supporting art, culture and sport, we’ve got the Olympics to think about as well,” he said.

Mr Shannon however expressed concern that the Ulster Scots language was still under-invested in comparison to the Irish language.