The SDLP today proposed its own legislative proposals to protect the rights of Irish speakers in Northern Ireland.

With DUP and Sinn Fein still to find a way around the impasse over an Irish Language Act, the nationalist party has tabled its own private member's bill to enshrine the rights of the Gaelic community in Northern Ireland.

Newry and Armagh MLA Dominic Bradley said the bill would give Irish speakers the right to have their language recognised in all public spheres, including the courts, education and employment.