Dr. Stephen Farry:

Go raibh maith agat. I am not a native speaker of the Irish language and my knowledge is limited. I had a go in my maiden speech in the House of Commons. I used that primarily as a platform to stress the point that the Irish language is very much part of a shared heritage on the island of Ireland, cutting across a range of different traditions. It is important that we constantly acknowledge and recognise that. In doing so, it is important to pay tribute to people like Linda Ervine who are raising the profile of the language in non-traditional communities. That is playing an important role in trying to break down barriers and overcoming some preconceptions about the language.

I want to comment on the politics of what happens with taking this forward and ask our guests to maybe respond to some of this. I am conscious that we have the New Decade, New Approach agreement. I may not have agreed with everything that Conradh na Gaeilge proposed about the content but it was a difficult negotiation over a two or three-year period. Thankfully we reached a positive outcome. As we meet today, in March 2021, it is over a year since New Decade, New Approach was agreed.

There is only about a year left in the current term of the Northern Ireland Assembly, after which there will be elections. No legislation has gone to the Northern Ireland Executive at this stage, as far as I am aware. In practice, therefore, there is less than a year in which to legislate to take this forward. I appreciate that people are somewhat frustrated over some aspects of what was agreed or not agreed last year but it is important that we stay true to what was agreed and that all parties operate on the basis of faithfully translating New Decade, New Approach into legislation - nothing more and nothing less - given that it was very difficult to strike a balance. I am very fearful, especially with an election coming up and with the very febrile nature of politics in Northern Ireland, that attempts will be made to unpick what was agreed. The flip side of the coin, therefore, has to be that there will be no attempts to add anything to the legislation beyond what was agreed in New Decade, New Approach. The best way to get it on the Statute Book is to play with a very straight bat, to use an English analogy. In that way, anyone trying to unpick it can be called out. From a practical point of view, I urge both caution and the approach I recommend. That is the best way to take it forward.

I assure members that while my party might have taken a slightly different approach from others on certain aspects in the negotiations, it will faithfully honour and see through exactly what was agreed last January.