Failure to deliver on Irish language legislation impacting education - McGlone

He was speaking after the Assembly discussed the British-Irish Council (BIC) paper on language acquisition in early years.

Mr McGlone urged the British Government to deliver on its promise to legislate for the Irish language as soon as possible and said all elements of the NDNA agreement must be realised.

The Mid Ulster MLA said: “It’s common knowledge that learning and speaking additional languages from a young age is hugely beneficial to children for their intellectual development and education. This is something we should be encouraging young people to engage in across the North, with speaking different languages also opening up further career and life opportunities.

“Unfortunately many people in the North are still being denied their language rights due to a failure to deliver on the Irish language and wider cultural package in the NDNA agreement. It’s deeply regrettable that our Executive was unable to deliver on measures that the five main parties signed up to only last year, but the British government has committed to stepping in and progressing the legislation and they must live up to that.

“Nobody should feel threatened by language legislation and those who attempt to politicise it should be ashamed of themselves. When delivered, the measures agreed in NDNA will facilitate the learning of Irish for people of all ages and bring significant benefits to the Irish language community. The SDLP will continue holding the British government’s feet to the fire at Westminster and we will continue to push in the Assembly until these long overdue rights become a reality.”

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