Ms Linda Ervine:

As a member of the Protestant/Unionist community, I have been embarrassed many times over the years by the behaviour of people who claim to represent me and my community because they do not represent me when they sit down and say "No, no, no" to everything and when they block moves that I consider to be positive. I do not want committee members to presume I will take a negative stance on this issue and that I will adopt the predictable stance of a Unionist politician and say that my community does not want an Irish language act because the other community does.