SF Assembly members use Irish as political tool

I WATCHED the TV debate about Irish being used in the Northern Assembly (BBC 1, October 9).

It is striking how passionate the two extremes — Sinn Féin and the DUP — are on this issue.

However, UUP and DUP speakers did make some valid points.

They demonstrated that Sinn Féin use the language for political reasons and this was borne out by the SF speaker who insisted on calling a UUP Assembly member “Dáithí” and saying a few words as Gaeilge — although what she said was barely comprehensible.

The UUP Assembly member said he had received correspondence from Caitríona Ruane, the North’s Education Minister, in large part written in Irish — although he wrote to her in English — and the DUP speaker said he has seen documents in Stormont telling Sinn Féin members how to pronounce Irish words phonetically. Everyone should be aware that Sinn Féin use the Irish language for political purposes.

They may claim to support the language but, in reality, they turn a significant number of people off it — North and South

Ian Paisley Jnr made some excellent points on the issue while being interviewed at the end of the debate.

However, when asked about automatic translation being made available to help resolve the issue, he said that “would only increase the amount of Irish being spoken”.

I detected a Freudian slip here.

Still, Sinn Féin are a greater part of the problem than the DUP when it comes to promoting Irish.

Ní sheasann sac folamh.

Darren Mac an Phríora

Corrán Chaislén Cnucha

Caisleán Cnucha

Baile Átha Cliath 15