Republican News · Thursday 3 April 2003

Heated debate sparked by language motion

A Sinn Féin proposal put to Limavady Borough Council on Wednesday 29 March had unionist councillors up in arms. The controversial motion proposed only that the council's headed paper should be in Irish as well as English

Sinn Féin councillor Marion Donaghy, who proposed the motion, told the meeting that the Irish language should be promoted by the council.

Seconding the motion, Francie Brolly told of his interest in teaching the language since he was 18 and said that to pass the motion would be an acknowledgement of those who aspire to speak as Gaeilge.

However, Independent unionist councillor Boyd Douglas quoted figures from the census which he said showed only 0.44% in the East Derry area claimed to speak, read and write Irish, and 10% claimed to have some knowledge of Irish. He went onto say "the proposal was politically motivated and there were now more Chinese than Protestants in Dungiven thanks to Sinn Féin".

Sinn Féin's Ann Brolly retorted that to embrace someone else's language did not diminish your own. "The difference with the Indian and Chinese communities was that they spoke their own language in their own countries but unfortunately Irish was almost lost."

Unionist Mayor George Robinson said the motion was very divisive and there was no way he could support it. "I don't want any paper with Irish on it."

However, despite the unionist efforts to have the motion dismissed, the motion was passed by eight votes to six.