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43 Members of Newly-Elected Assembly Support Irish-Language Commitments

#GaelVóta #AE16Representatives elected from across 4 parties have pledged support for commitments of 80+ Irish-language community groups

43 MLAs that officially support the three main Irish-language commitments have been newly elected to the Assembly, and Conradh na Gaeilge is calling upon them to ensure the commitments are central in talks regarding the next Programme for Government. The elected MLAs officially backing the commitments include 28 Sinn Féin MLAs alongside 12 from the SDLP, two from PBP and one Alliance Party representative.

#GaelVóta is based on three main Irish-language commitments – stemming from an investment plan and representative measures agreed by over 80 Irish-language and Gaeltacht community groups – and the commitments are as follows:

  1. An additional investment of £2.16 million in an Irish-language plan to expand the use of Irish and to create new jobs
  2. A Minister for Communities that is supportive of the Irish language and able to promote the wishes of Irish speakers
  3. A Minister for Education who supports Irish in the education system and who ensures the continued development of the Irish-medium education sector

Cóilín Ó Cearbhaill, President of Conradh na Gaeilge says:

“The number and scope of the newly elected members clearly shows the wide support for the Irish language in the north. But this is only the first step – now is the time for action. Conradh na Gaeilge is calling on every newly elected member to ensure the commitments they made take centre stage in the negotiations regarding the Programme for Government.”

Julian de Spáinn, General Secretary of Conradh na Gaeilge says:

“Ní neart go cur le chéile – there is strength in unity. 43 MLAs across four parties have now been elected to Government in the north, all of whom support the Irish-language commitments. The Irish-language community are calling for their agreed proposals to be included in the Executive’s next Programme for Government for the coming period. Further investment is urgently needed to increase the opportunities for people to use Irish in the north, and Ministers who support the Irish language need to be assigned to the Education and Community portfolios as ministries are decided in the coming weeks.”

Further information on the Irish-language and Gaeltacht commitments and the representative measures being sought by Conradh na Gaeilge can be found at www.cnag.ie/gaelvota, via email from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., with the Twitter hashtag #GaelVóta. The responses of candidates and parties who pledged their support to the main Irish language commitments are available at www.cnag.ie/gaelvota.

 

 

Conradh na Gaeilge

6 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2.
Phone: +353 (0) 1 475 7401, Fax: +353 (0) 1 475 7844, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.