Stormont should have dealt with Irish language legislation, says government minister
A move to grant the Irish language official status in Northern Ireland should have been dealt with at Stormont, a UK minister for NI has said.
Speaking in the House of Lords, Lord Caine said it was “a matter of regret” the issue was being dealt with in Westminister.
There has been strong criticism by unionists at Parliament of the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill.
It has been making its way through the House of Lords, amid the continuing impasse over forming a new Executive in Belfast following May’s Assembly election.
The DUP has said it will not nominate ministers until the UK Government takes action over its concerns around the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Legislative protections for the Irish language in Northern Ireland were a key plank of the New Decade, New Approach agreement that restored powersharing in January 2020 after a three-year stalemate.
The draft laws also propose two commissioner roles – one for the Irish language and another for the Ulster Scots/Ulster British tradition.
An Office of Identity and Cultural Expression would also be established “to promote cultural pluralism and respect for diversity”.
Speaking at the Bill’s report stage, Lord Caine said: “This really should have been dealt with in the Northern Ireland Assembly and not within this Parliament.
“It is a matter of regret that this is the case.”
The Northern Ireland minister added: “I remember first-hand the period from 2017 to 2020 when these issues paralysed politics in Northern Ireland and led to a prolonged lack of functioning devolved government.
“It was a particularly frustrating period and I am very sorry that we are going through a similar period now, which I hope will be much shorter-lived than last time.”
Once the Bill has cleared the upper chamber it will go to the Commons for further consideration by MPs.
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