Dr. Niall Comer:

Ba mhaith liom freagra a thabhairt ar Mr. Finucane agus cur leis beagáinín. In answer to Mr. Finucane, I support the answer given by Dr. Ó Tiarnaigh. Mr. Finucane mentioned that his eldest son is now 20 and is preparing to go to university. He referred to the journey in north Belfast. We can empathise with that. In particular, I can empathise with that because I have a daughter of the same age. In respect of when he started his journey with the Irish language and people's huge personal commitment to the language in the North, over decades, people have made very brave choices with very little support. When I grew up in Newry, there was a small number of Irish language speakers who kept the language to the forefront but there was not even a question of there being any legislative support at the time and it was something we could only dream of. It is only in recent years that there has been a sense within the Irish language speaking community that this is possible and is something we can achieve with the correct political pressure.

I must pay tribute to the support from the Department for Communities and others for different initiatives to promote the language. We talk about language rights and the future protection and promotion of the language. We must also look at the reasons why the language found itself in that situation as a minority language. There are many reasons but one of the main reasons was the removal of the language from any political sphere or legislative area. This can be traced back centuries but it can also be traced back decades. I support the points made by Mr. Finucane about a journey. Hearts and minds and enthusiasm for the language are great and people can champion that but it involves us reaching a stage where people can live their lives through the language they choose, which is like every other right. People have the right to choose the language they speak, particularly an indigenous language that should have official recognition. This is not a pastime or part-time pursuit. It is vital that this is finally nailed and put to bed and as Dr. Ó Tiarnaigh correctly pointed out, the legislation is there. It is still not sufficient but it is a starting point and is something on which we can build.

I thank everyone for their contributions to this so far. This is a very important debate, particularly given what was mentioned by Senator Ó Donnghaile, namely, the urgency of putting this forward. Tá sé sin fíorthábhactach ar fad. That is very important. This is something we cannot delay any more.