Row over Irish presentations
UNIONISTS on Craigavon Borough Council believe Sinn Fein is engineering a bid to have Irish street signs erected around the borough.
The issue arose in the council chamber last Monday after proposals to allow two Irish language promotional bodies to make a presentation to a committee were aired.
Sinn Fein Councillor Johnny McGibbon, the chairman of the council’s environmental services committee, raised the possibility of Conradh Na Gaeilge and Gaelphobal An Lorgain making a presentation a fortnight ago. However, unionist councillors claimed the presentation would be a prelude to a request for Irish street signs to be erected.
The issue first came to a head in the environmental services committee, where Mr McGibbon’s request for a presentation was quashed on 6-3 majority.
Undeterred, he wanted it pushed onto the agenda of the next policy and resources (P&R) committee, and underlined that it was simply a request by two Irish language promotional bodies who wanted to make a presentation to the committee.
Last Monday night’s debate led to a 14-6 vote in favour of the issue being referred to the P&R committee, but only after the issue of the Queen’s portrait hanging in the civic centre and all sorts of equality issues were exchanged.
Alderman Sydney Anderson insisted that the desire to include Irish street and place names was behind the move, adding that Mr McGibbon - as chair of environmental services - had failed in one committee and was “using” another one.
Mr McGibbon pointed out it was simply a matter of giving a presentation and that the council was sending out the wrong message to a large part of the community that it wanted nothing to do with Irish culture.
Councillor David Jones said: “That’s rich coming from the very councillor who wants the Queen’s portrait removed from what isn’t even a public sector of this Civic Centre. He moans about minority rights and yet he denies majority rights.”
Councillor Dolores Kelly said: “Irish is the native language of this island and is spoken by Roman Catholics and Presbyterians.”
Alderman Stephen Moutray said: “Where do we draw the lines in equality with such a diverse migrant population? Do we include languages like Portuguese, Polish, Lithuanian, Chinese, or whatever?
“We’d need street signs the size of sandwich boards. It would be a total waste of ratepayers’ money.”
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Monday 06 February 2012
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