<div dir="ltr">DUP will oppose Irish logo on north-west super council
<div class="">
<div class="">
<a href="http://www.irishnews.com/news/dup-will-oppose-irish-logo-on-north-west-super-council-1414114#">
<img id="StoryImage" src="http://www.irishnews.com/picturearchives/1414114/A00A04P401-01.jpg" alt="<span style = 'color : #3c73b3;'>DUP will oppose Irish logo on north-west super council</span>" style="height: 137px; width: 219px;"></a>
</div>
<span id="storyDate" class="">Published 19/02/2015</span>
<p id="storyByLine" class="">John Monaghan</p>
<br> </div><br>
<p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)"> THE DUP has said it will oppose any move to put Irish on the logo of the north west's new super council. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)">
Although members of the shadow Derry and Strabane District Council have
not yet voted on a design, it is understood nationalists will propose
incorporating Irish. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)">
It comes after the new Newry, Mourne and Down council angered unionists
by voting to make Irish the dominant language on its logos, literature
and vehicles. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)">
Sinn Féin and the SDLP are in favour of an 'Irish-first' policy and
hold majorities on four of the 11 new councils - although one of the
four has already decided to place English above Irish. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)"> The DUP's deputy mayor of Derry, Gary Middleton, said he felt a bilingual policy would be "a waste of time and money". </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)">
"There have been consultations about the new logo with the public and
the overwhelming majority of people came back and said they wanted
English only on the logo," he said. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)"> "Minority languages should be respected but if there was a new proposal to come forward, I would be opposed." </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)">
The councillor described the existing Derry City Council symbol, which
includes English, Irish and Ulster-Scots, as "unsightly". </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)"> "There is a significant Polish community here with more fluent speakers than Irish," he said. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)"> "Unfortunately this has been used as a political football. I think this is simply down to the fact this is an election year." </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)"> It is unclear if Irish would be given dominance over English if it appeared on the new super council logo. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)"> Strabane District Council has both Irish and English on its logo, with English appearing first, as in Derry. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)"> Several SDLP and Sinn Féin figures in the new council area either declined to comment, or did not respond to calls and emails. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)">
The logo of the new Fermanagh and Omagh council is bilingual, but
features English above Irish, contrary to the approach of Newry, Mourne
and Down. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)">
SDLP Omagh councillor Joanne Donnelly said it was unlikely the new
authority would change a decision passed weeks ago, when unionists
criticised the exclusion of Ulster-Scots. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)">
"It took a lot of time to come to that decision. I don't see why it
should be a major issue. It is unfortunate that this issue is so
politicised," she said. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)"> "The positioning of Irish was never really discussed. We were just happy that it went on it." </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)">
Mid-Ulster District Council, mean while, has tested a temporary logo
for the past year in English only, but it is expected that Irish will
feature on the design when councillors vote on the issue later this
month. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)">
Cáthal Mallaghan of Sinn Féin said that while he fully supported the
inclusion of Irish, the party grouping had not taken a decision. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)">
A draft Irish language policy for the Mid-Ulster council area was also
launched last week by Mr Mallaghan and councillor Sean McPeake, which if
approved would "give the Irish speaking community the opportunity to do
their business in Irish if they wish". </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)"> The DUP said the party's policy tended to favour English as the only language on council logos. </p> <p style="font-size:14px;line-height:17px;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(104,104,104)"> North Belfast assembly member Nelson McCausland said Newry, Mourne and Down's position "seeks to impose Irish". </p> <a href="http://www.irishnews.com/news/dup-will-oppose-irish-logo-on-north-west-super-council-1414114">http://www.irishnews.com/news/dup-will-oppose-irish-logo-on-north-west-super-council-1414114</a><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
</div>