10,000 signature language law petition presented to Welsh Government

[Harold F. Schiffman]

10,000 signature language law petition presented to Welsh Government

Penygroes, Cymru, Thursday, 08 February 2007 by Huw Jones


A petition containing over 10,000 signatures calling for new language
legislation was presented to the Welsh National Assembly on Tuesday (6th
February). The petition is the result of a year of collecting signatures
by Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (The Welsh Language Society).

Representatives of the opposition parties; Plaid Cymru, the Liberals and
the Conservatives were all present to witness the presentation of the
petition. But the Cymdeithas has severely criticised the governing Labour
Party for showing a complete lack of vision and utter contempt for the
opinion of the people of Wales by refusing to be present.


According to the Cymdeithas there is national, cross-party consensus
amongst politicians of the opposition parties and language experts
regarding the need for a new Welsh Language Act the people of Wales want
to see the Welsh language receive official status, and peoples rights to
use the Welsh language in all aspects of life secured. Through campaigns,
including non-violent law breaking which has seen hundreds of its members
fined or imprisoned, the Cymdeithas has twice succeeded in obtaining
changes in legislation. Limited status was given to the Welsh language in
the 1960s and 1990s giving some rights ensuring that government, councils
and public bodies use Welsh. But the Cymdeithas constantly draw attention
to the lack of provision of bi-lingual services by the public sector and
others.

However, a spokesperson for the Welsh Assembly Government said: We are
happy that the present legislation is strong enough in its present form to
answer the challenges facing the Welsh language. (Eurolang 2007)

http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2814&Itemid=1&lang=en

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