Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A number of elements of the Good Friday Agreement and the St. Andrews Agreement have not yet been fully implemented, including the element relating to the Irish language Act. The Government's firm position is that the Good Friday Agreement and the successor agreements must be implemented in full. This is reflected in the current programme for partnership Government.

Respect for linguistic diversity and the Irish language remains central to the Good Friday Agreement. Whatever the divergences on policy on the Irish language or indeed any other issue, it is of the utmost importance that all parties to the political process in Northern Ireland must live up to the principles of partnership, equality and mutual respect as well as the goals of reconciliation at the core of the Good Friday Agreement.

An Irish language Act in Northern Ireland to be enacted by the British Government was provided for in the St. Andrews Agreement in 2006. Successive Irish Governments have advocated in favour of an Irish language Act and continue to do so. Regrettably, however, there has been no agreement within the Northern Ireland Executive to take forward what is now a devolved matter.

As part of the outstanding commitments under previous agreements, the question of an Irish language Act for Northern Ireland was discussed on several occasions during the Stormont House negotiations in late 2014. While I and other Irish Government representatives advocated for this commitment being honoured and implemented, regrettably it was not possible to reach agreement for such an explicit undertaking. Nevertheless, in the text of the final Stormont House Agreement, the Irish Government and the British Government, recalling the commitments from previous agreements, endorsed the need for respect for and recognition of the Irish language in Northern Ireland.

The Stormont House Agreement provides for regular review meetings with the participation of the Irish Government, the British Government and the Northern Ireland Executive party leaders. At the last two review meetings, most recently before Christmas, I had the opportunity to draw attention to these outstanding commitments, including those relating to the Irish language, and I asked that they remain on the agenda for future review meetings.

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