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<h1 class="gmail-article__title">Irish signs not subject to equality screening</h1>
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<h4 class="gmail-byline__author-name gmail-byline__author-name">Kevin Mullan</h4>
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<h3 class="gmail-article__lead"><p class="gmail-">The erection of Christmas signs
in Irish should not be subjected to equality impact screening, equality
and language officers at Derry City and Strabane District Council have
concluded.</p></h3>
<p class="gmail-">Republicans and nationalists welcomed the conclusion,
which followed a pre-Christmas request that officers look at the costs
and logistics of putting up festive greetings in English, Irish and
Ulster Scots.</p><p class="gmail-">At a meeting of the Environment and
Regeneration Committee last week, the Chief Environment officer, Conor
Canning, confirmed that following a review, officers suggested Derry
City and Strabane District Council policy allows for the erection of
Irish signs without any equality impact provisos.</p><div class="gmail-p402_hide">
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</div><p class="gmail-">Sinn Féin Colr. Maolíosa McHugh, whose
party colleague Karina Carlin’s proposal that council go ahead and
procure and erect signage in the Irish language before Christmas, was
blocked by the SDLP and unionists pending an equality, cost and logistic
review, said he appreciated the report but expressed anger over “the
fact the indigenous language of our country was subject to an equality
assessment.”</p><div class="gmail-p402_hide">
</div><p class="gmail-">He pointed to a ‘Soilse an Phobail - People’s Lights’
community campaign which, in the absence of council-backed Christmas
illuminations in Strabane, raised £6,000 to ensure they would be put in
place.</p><p class="gmail-">Colr. McHugh said local native speakers,
Gaeilgeoirí and Gaelscoileanna pupils “found it offensive that they were
refused permission to put up their own lights as Gaeilge.”</p><p class="gmail-">He
asked that the conclusions of the Christmas lighting report be tied in
with an ongoing review of the council’s language policy.</p><p class="gmail-">DUP
Alderman David Ramsey said his party would not be supporting the
erection of lights in Irish in future, due to the additional costs to
the ratepayer and ongoing political sensitivities.</p><div class="gmail-p402_hide">
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</div><p class="gmail-">“This issue is very sensitive at the moment,” he said. </p><p class="gmail-">“It’s
currently a red line in trying to establish a goverment and, frankly,
it gets people’s backs up in the unionist community.”</p><p class="gmail-">Alderman Ramsey accused republicans of using the language as a “political football.”</p><p class="gmail-">But
SDLP Colr. Brian Tierney said the DUP had itself politicised the
language through Communities Minister Paul Givan’s Líofa bursary
flip-flop either side of Christmas.</p><div class="gmail-p402_hide">
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</div><p class="gmail-">“It may surpise people but I agree with
David Ramsey on one thing, it is a political football and it’s been made
a political football by the DUP,” claimed Colr. Tierney.</p><p class="gmail-">UUP
Alderman Derek Hussey hit back: “When one talks about the political
footballs, it wasn’t a unionist who said ‘every word used in Irish was
bullet fired in the struggle for Irish freedom’.”</p><p class="gmail-">Colr. McHugh suggested the language was first politicised 848 years ago.</p><p class="gmail-">He accused those of denigrating the language of ignorance.</p><p class="gmail-">“It’s a door of opportunity. I feel it’s an expression of ignorance when people draw the curtain or close that door,” he said.</p><div class="gmail-p402_hide">
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</div><p class="gmail-">‘CURRY MY YOGURT, CAN COCA COALYER’</p><p class="gmail-">Sinn
Féin Colr. Kevin Campbell referenced former DUP MLA Gregory Campbell’s
infamous ‘curry my yogurt can coca coal yer’ and ‘cora my yogi bear, a
can coca colya’ both apparent parodies of ‘Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann
Comhairle.’</p><p class="gmail-">“When you have politicians coming out with
‘curry my yoghurt’ and ‘can coca colya,’ it’s an insult to the hundreds
of thousands of Irish speakers up and down the country,” said Colr..
Campbell.</p><p class="gmail-">But Ald. Ramsey insisted nationalist and
republicans were engaging in political “point-scoring” and DUP Alderman
Graham Warke added: “This is Christmas time we’re talking about when
everyone wants to come together at the end of the day.”</p>
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