Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----has destabilised and polarised communities in the North. I refer to the absence of the North-South agenda. There was great momentum in the early days of the Agreement in terms of Waterways Ireland and all of that. I see no interest from the parties in that dimension to the Good Friday Agreement.

I speak the Irish language and I have a great commitment to the language but we need to be careful that we do not exploit the Irish language as a tool in terms of political discussions. That could be damaging to the language. The Church of Ireland has a noble tradition in terms of scholarship around the Irish language. I remember being in negotiations in Hillsborough and going across to a Presbyterian chapel where there was a 16th century bible in Irish in a glass case. There was always a strong, healthy Protestant tradition in terms of the Irish language, so we need to be extremely careful that we do not now create alienation from the language in certain unionist and loyalist communities by having this as the breakpoint on which the Assembly cannot come back. I support an Act, although we have an Act here in the Republic and the first commissioner resigned because of its non-implementation.

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