Ó Cuív: Use of Irish will help Lisbon ‘yes’ vote

USING Irish in the EU could help win a ‘yes’ vote for the Lisbon Treaty, according to Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister Éamon Ó Cuív.

“It will be a huge advantage in the campaign. The question of the Irish language came up quite often with a certain percentage of the population before, and now that has been dealt with,” he said.

Mr Ó Cuív was in Brussels for a conference on multi-lingualism, where he had discussions about the use of Irish in institutions since it became an official working language in 2007.