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Greens and Irish language activists hope for change in DUP direction
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
enlargeEenvironmental campaigners and Irish language activists are both hopeful that a major DUP ministerial re-shuffle could spell a more postive future for the two controversial issues.
Campaigners welcomed a change in the team of Executive ministers after it was announed that Sammy Wilson, who hit the headlines for rejecting mankind's role in global warming, has been promoted to become Finance Minister.
Party leader Peter Robinson had promised a shake-up for some time, but the changes come after his party suffered criticism in the European election campaign over ‘double jobbing' politicians.
Deputy leader and North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds leaves the post of Finance Minister, with East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell ceasing his job as Culture Minister and Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson stepping-down as Junior Minister.
Mr Wilson swaps the environment brief for the job of Finance Minister, while North Belfast Assembly member Nelson McCausland takes on the sensitive Culture ministry.
Fermanagh Assembly member Arlene Foster remains as Enterprise Minister, while former Culture Minister Edwin Poots rejoins the government to become Environment Minister. East Belfast representative Robin Newton becomes a Junior Minister.
The changes, which will come into effect after the current Assembly term ends later this month, mean the DUP has now reduced the number of sitting MPs who also hold a minister's job in the Northern Ireland Executive.
Mr Robinson and the new Finance Minister Sammy Wilson will still be MPs, ministers and Assembly members, while Mr Wilson is also a councillor on Belfast City Council. The DUP leader has said, however, that he also expects his double-jobbing MPs to choose between sitting in Westminster or Stormont.
The move had been expected for some time but it was, nevertheless, seen to have taken on greater significance as a result of the election campaign.
The DUP won one of the three European parliament seats up for grabs in Northern Ireland, with Mr Dodds' wife Diane elected as the party's new MEP.
But the party vote plummeted from a 32% vote share in the last Euro poll in 2004 to 18.2%.
Two appointments are likely to prove controversial. In his role as Environment Minister Mr Wilson hit the headlines for denying the conventional wisdom on global warming by insisting he did not believe that mankind was to blame for climate change. Mr Wilson also sparked criticism for claiming that jobs should go to Northern Ireland-born workers before economic migrants.
Gregory Campbell steps down as Culture Minister where he drew criticism from the Irish language sector over his refusal to back full-blown legislation to support the language.
Sinn Fein and the SDLP have called for the introduction of an Irish Language Act, similar to the legislation protecting Gaelic languages in Scotland and Wales.
But Mr Campbell's replacement Nelson McCausland is also seen as a hardline figure on cultural issues. Mr McCausland has been at the forefront of the DUP policy of investing in the Ulster-Scots sector to help it catch up with the large Irish language sector.
Green Party Assembly member Brian Wilson said he was glad that Sammy Wilson was leaving the Department of the Environment.
“I welcome the departure of Sammy Wilson who in his year as Environment Minister put the cause of climate change back by at least 10 years,” he said.
\[Michael McCready\]”I hope that now in his new position as Finance Minister he will not continue to frustrate efforts to address this issue by holding back necessary funds.
“I urge the new Environment Minister to take a much more positive approach and ensure that Northern Ireland plays a full part in UK efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and tackle climate change.”
Friends of the Earth's Northern Ireland campaigner Lisa Fagan welcomed the appointment of a new Environment Minister.
She said: “We urge the new minister to introduce a Climate Bill at Stormont, requiring mandatory annual cuts in Northern Ireland's carbon emissions, and introduce a Planning Policy Statement on climate change, reflecting the critical role of the planning system in delivering a low-carbon economy.”
Sinn Fein Assembly member Barry McElduff said the appointment of a new DUP Culture Minister should be used as an opportunity for the unionist party to adopt a new approach to the Irish language.
He said: “The track record of successive DUP Culture Ministers in relation to An Ghaeilge has, to date, been disgraceful. Their approach has been minimalist and often insulting.”
He said the introduction of an Irish language act was promised in the St Andrews Agreement that paved the way for establishing the power-sharing administration at Stormont.
But Mr McElduff said successive DUP Culture Ministers had opposed the move and he called on Nelson McCausland to protect the language.\[Michael McCready\]
The DUP has also come in for criticism over the accumulated wages of double jobbing politicians.
Mr Robinson and his wife Iris were dubbed the 'Swish family Robinson' in media reports that claimed the combined political wages and expenses of the couple, and family members they employ, totalled £571,939.41 a year.
The Ulster Unionist Party, which has signed-up to an electoral pact with the Conservative Party in Northern Ireland, dismissed the DUP reshuffle.
“The truth is that the reshuffle is only happening because David Cameron said he would make double jobbing illegal if the DUP didn't give it up,” said Ulster Unionist David McNarry.
“The resulting DUP reshuffle will not fool the unionist electorate either. What does it matter?”
Nelson McCausland came in for criticism from the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister.
Mr McCausland has been ejected from the Assembly twice for claiming in the Chamber that Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams was a former IRA leader.
Mr Allister asked how Mr McCausland could join a government jointly led by Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness, who openly confirms he was a former IRA member.
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Comments
22 Comments
"almost as good as they can in English", Daniel????? You can't even speak proper English; how can you tell people they shouldn't protect Irish? I am certain there are many people who speak Irish "as good" as you speak English.
Posted by JerryF | 29.06.09, 04:46 GMT
Éamonn & Cú Chulainn, maith thú. Well put responses. Mickey is the living definition of anti culture. It's beyond him to grasp the points you have made. I had to laugh at his exclamation of Gerry's ineptitude in speaking the language, this coming from someone who doesnt understand the concept of it never mind what it contains.
Posted by In The Name Of The Fada | 26.06.09, 11:09 GMT
So, it's a "pointless language" then mickey? Wonder if the Danes, the Hungarians, the Finnish and every other small non-English speaking nation out there would agree with such idiocy. Also, Gerry Adams is a fluent Irish speaker, wherever you got the idea that he "stumbled" through Irish is, as with most of your views, utterly without foundation. The majority of Irish people cannot speak it, because your friends, the English, almost killed it off. We won't let it die though.
Slán agus beannacht.
Posted by Cù Chulainn | 26.06.09, 01:12 GMT
Is English spoken fluently by 100% of people in Northern Ireland? Nopes,
Language is very important to people, nothing like speaking your own Language, much more expressive.
Posted by Éamonn | 25.06.09, 14:40 GMT
Mark, would you also "Take the money wasted on both Irish" and ENGLISH or Latin or Classical Greek or Drama or Music and use it to improve Cancer treatment or dentistry as well? After all, I can't imagine the anti Gaelic brigade wanting to smile at anyone. Ah yes, Belfast a cultural desert but look at those teeth...
Posted by Tommo | 24.06.09, 16:07 GMT
mickey, Rome wasn't built in a day, reviving Irish as real spoken language will take a while to achieve.
In another 50 years, people might be saying it's pointless teaching English in schools, when obviously Chinese Mandarin will become the dominant langue of the world. More people speak Chinese now than English.
Posted by Daniel | 24.06.09, 15:15 GMT
More Irish bashing then Mickey?Why are u so afraid of Irish culture that u have to try to belittle it to a mere footnote of 'Norn Irish' culture?U may have valid reasons for the vitriol but ur limited grasp of common debating skills(rendering it to a childish slanging match)makes u look like petty & bigoted.If u are such an expert on the language to know what Martin & Gerry are saying then surely u have grasp enough of the language to appreciate it?Ur last statement is a bit incongruous isnt it?
Posted by In The Name Of The Fada | 24.06.09, 14:22 GMT
Daniel, why is this figure not 90%-100%?
Face it, in this big, wide world its a pointless language, used as a political tool by certain groups in NI. Have you ever heard the likes of Adams and McGuinness embarassingly stumbling through a gaelic sentence?
Posted by m!ckey | 24.06.09, 12:18 GMT
Well said Daniel, Irish is growing at an astronomic rate in the Republic, people are finally proud to use the language. It has been taught terribly over the last 60 years, only now are the starting to teach it by speaking it at a very young age.
I really dont think unionists should be threathened by the language. In the Republic its not a political tool.
Irish language is my way of holding on to something that my ancestors were forced by circumstance to let go.
Posted by Éamonn | 24.06.09, 12:11 GMT
Bemused, 10% (400,000) of the ROI population are native or fluent speakers of Irish who can converse in Irish almost as good as they can in English.
The majority of the population can at least string a few words or basic sentences together in Irish and the fault with this lies with how the language is being taught just like a Foreign language is taught..That's why Gaelscoils where children do all their school subjects through Irish is the only real way to create Really Fluent Irish speakers
Posted by Daniel | 24.06.09, 11:03 GMT
Daniel, really interesting stats but you miss the 'biggie'. Apart from those who have to study the language, how many speak Irish on a daily basis? According to Table 30 of the CSO's Irish Language section for the 2006 Census just 4.6% if Irish speakers (outside of the education system) speak the language daily while 35.2% never speak it. Seems to me that it is just another dying language like Latin, fit only for school years.
Posted by Bemused | 24.06.09, 09:27 GMT
I'm all for people having the right to ponce about jabbering in whatever language they like - but I see no reason for the taxpayer to fund their hobbies. Take the money wasted on both Irish and Ulster-Scots and use it to improve Cancer treatment or dentistry or school book provision.
Posted by Mark | 23.06.09, 21:47 GMT
Gregory Campbell or any other Unionist cannot be blamed for not fully supporting the Irish language in the North, because many politicians south of the border don't consider Irish very important, even though it is their state's official language.
Posted by Seán Mac Curtáin | 23.06.09, 16:45 GMT
500,000 study Irish on a daily baisis in the Republic, from pre-school, primary, secondary to university.
10% of all school children in the Republic attend Gaelscoils.
In another 20-30 years 20-30% of all school children may be attending Gaelscoils such is the intensity of the demand in the ROI.
Irish is now an Official language of the European Union.
95% of the the population of the ROI support Irish and want it to be revived.
Posted by Daniel | 23.06.09, 16:07 GMT
Right Cunning, perhaps it was a waste of time for you.Does that mean it is a waste of time for every other person who wants to learn the language?Cliff, your remarks wouldnt be of a bigoted nature would they?You really live in the dark ages my friend.In my Irish class there has not been one mention about its use for 'attacking the Brits' in fact there are a few members of the unionist community taking part. Once again we see the real Norn Iron mantra. "Its our country not yours". Dinosaur.
Posted by In The Name Of The Fada | 23.06.09, 15:41 GMT
I think people on here (and Unionists in general) are confusing an Irish Language Act, which would seek to protect the language and ensure that those who want to learn the language have the resources and opportunity to, with some sort of bill to enforce Irish as a compulsory subject at school, which of course it wouldn't be.
Posted by Scamallach | 23.06.09, 13:42 GMT
Same old Guff - did a bit of Irish at school,
complete waste of time - taught myself German when I left school,
far more useful.
and the only reason we are subjected to Ulster-Scots,
is bacause SF use Irish as a political weapon.
Posted by Cunning Linquist | 23.06.09, 12:58 GMT
The Irish Language is a dying language and the Gaelacht continues to shrink. There is no need for a language act for a dead language. Until such times as Republicans are no longer allowed to pedal Irish as a form of attacking the Brits, the language will continue to wither. Imagine the growth in it if everyone could feel it as part of their culture, instead of Gerry and the boys being seen as its guardians.
nigel69, why don`t you just come out and say it. You don`t really like Brits,do you?
Posted by Cliff | 23.06.09, 12:58 GMT
To consider Ulster-Scots as a language is a joke. I can read the "Scots" language and I've never studied it once. It's simply a dialect of English.
The Irish language on the other hand is one of the oldest living languages in Europe and is the native language of this island. Give it the rightful protection it deserves.
Posted by Arouet | 23.06.09, 10:26 GMT
Whether you like it or not the DUP continue to produce some formidable and competent figures in government -it's a pity for democracy that the opposition is so light weight, fixated on the inessential.
Posted by Malachy McAnespie | 23.06.09, 10:06 GMT
22 Comments