Written answers

Thursday, 19 December 2013

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Good Friday Agreement

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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66. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has had recent discussions with the Northern Ireland Secretary of State and Members of the Northern Ireland Executive in relation to the Irish Language Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54987/13]

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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In ongoing contacts with the British government, most recently at my meeting with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rt. Hon. Theresa Villiers MP, on 18 December, I continue to stress the importance of both Governments supporting the full implementation of all aspects of the Agreements. I am firmly of the view that an Irish Language Act should be introduced in Northern Ireland. All parties to the Good Friday Agreement recognised the importance of respect, understanding and tolerance in relation to linguistic diversity in Northern Ireland. In the St Andrews Agreement, the British government committed to introducing an Irish Language Act and to working with the Northern Ireland Executive to enhance and protect the development of the Irish Language.

Since the restoration of the devolved Institutions on 8 May 2007, the question of an Irish Language Act for Northern Ireland has been a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive and in particular the Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Ms. Carál Ní Chuilín MLA.

Officials in my Department maintain regular and ongoing contact with the Irish language community in Northern Ireland including those involved in cross-community Irish language activity.

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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67. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has had recent discussions with the Northern Ireland Secretary of State and Members of the Northern Ireland Executive in relation to the proposal to establish a civic forum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54988/13]

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I have previously put on the record of the Dáil that I support the establishment of a Civic Forum which would provide for a broad range of voices on community relations and stimulate informed public debate in relation to key societal challenges. On my regular visits to Northern Ireland, I continue the practice of engaging with civil society representatives. In my address to the SDLP Party Conference in Armagh on 8 November, I reaffirmed the commitment of the Government, as co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, to realise its full potential, including through the creation of a Consultative Forum. In my ongoing contacts with the Secretary of State I take the opportunity to discuss full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. With the Northern Ireland Executive, including in the context of the North South Ministerial Council, most recently on 8 November, the Government has continued to support the re-establishment of the Civic Forum as a valuable and, as yet, unimplemented provision of the Good Friday Agreement. I welcome the recent consultations which Richard Haass, Independent Chair of the Panel of Parties, and Meghan O’Sullivan, Independent Vice-Chair of the Panel of Parties, have undertaken with community groups and with representatives of wider civil society in order to ensure that their views and perspectives are considered in the context of the current Talks process.

I hosted a Reconciliation Networking Forum event in Dublin Castle on 30 October 2013 for people who are involved in community, peace-building, public policy or reconciliation work, to discuss what civil society, including the community sector, can and should do to meet the reconciliation challenges ahead. This is in line with the view of the Government that a strong and resilient civic society can play an important role in building a more reconciled and prosperous Northern Ireland.

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