Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ar dtús báire fáilte, cuirim fáilte roimh an chéim shuntasach agus tábhachtach a glacadh an tseachtain seo caite i dtaca le reachtaíocht Ghaeilge ó Thuaidh. Seo reachtaíocht ar a bhfuilimid ag fanacht le tamall maith, le blianta fada anuas, agus is dea-scéal é go raibh muid in ann é seo a bhaint amach. I will begin my remarks by welcoming last week's news about Irish language legislation in the North. As the Leader and colleagues know, this is a long-standing commitment to Gaeilgeoirí, going back to the Good Friday Agreement and, in particular, going back 15 years to the St. Andrews Agreement and 18 months to New Decade, New Approach, the premise on which the power-sharing institutions of the Good Friday Agreement were returned.

With regard to last week and the week we are heading into, it is important to remember, and to remind colleagues and the broader public, that when it comes to New Decade, New Approach and the issues regarding the protocol and any attempt to contrive a crisis around these issues, a majority of people in the North voted against Brexit. The majority of the political parties in the Executive and assembly support the protocol. The majority of parties in the Executive and assembly support the implementation of Acht na Gaeilge. It is important to take the opportunities calmly to reiterate these key component political points because they are worth remembering and they are worth restating.

The institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are important and key. As we emerge from Covid and deal with the ramifications of Brexit, they will continue to be crucial for all of the public. It is also important to remember that, again at the weekend, we saw one in a series of opinion pieces, reports and research on the protocol, on the reorientation of trade across this island and on the tangible benefits for businesses and the economy that have flown from the protocol.It would be timely if we were to take the opportunity to ensure those benefits and opportunities are being maximised and that that is being communicated out there, not just to the businesses concerned but to workers, to the public and indeed to those politicians who need to hear that message as well. It would be in order, as it has been quite a while, for us to have statements on the North and as part of that, or perhaps separate to it, statements on the implementation of the protocol. We would do so, I hope, to sincerely and respectfully cut through a lot of the noise that is out there around all of it.