Unionist party apologises for calling Irish a "leprechaun language"

A hardline unionist party was today accused of an embarrassing climbdown after it apologised for branding Irish a "leprechaun language".

The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) led by former MEP Jim Allister is to hold its annual conference tomorrow as it tries to build-on efforts to draw support from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).