Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I spent most of yesterday in the Scottish Parliament as part of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, BIPA. I was over there for a day or two. What a wonderful place Edinburgh is and what a wonderful place is their Parliament. If ever the Cathaoirleach can make it to Scotland and Edinburgh, he should certainly go to the Scottish Parliament. Its design and everything about the Parliament is amazing. I would urge everyone to go. One thing that struck me was the democratisation of the building itself. The public has free access right through the buildings, the libraries and the reading rooms. All offices have glazed doors. The interface with Edinburgh itself is quite an experience. I recommend everyone to go there.

I want to talk today about the focus of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly there, which was to meet with representatives from the Scottish Parliament, as well as representatives from Wales and the UK. Unfortunately, on this occasion, Northern Ireland was not present because of the current situation there and its representation at the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. This was about minority languages and about the islands. What struck me when talking about it was how much we have in common with the Scottish and Welsh people. That is something we perhaps did not think enough about in the past. It is obvious in terms of our relationships with the parliamentarians in Scotland and Wales and also around our engagement of the issue of minority languages and support for them. The recurring theme that various Ministers spoke about was the issue of how we can protect language in rural communities, such as by favourably disposing towards it in planning and through similar issues.

I would like more than anything if we could have a focused debate on the islands of Ireland and the unique challenges that are posed for their culture, identity and language. Language is so important because it is part of our identity. We have made great strides regarding the Irish language. However, this is now being focused on in all of the jurisdictions of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. It would also be important that somehow we bring the work of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly into the Chambers.Maybe we could have a report by the members of BIPA, who are Senators, and make time in our schedule to give some account of our work and engagement with the parliaments within the jurisdiction of BIPA.