4 March 2004 Edition

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Dublin lacks commitment to Irish language

Bairbre de Brún was critical of the Dublin's Government's lack of support and commitment to promoting Irish as a working language within the EU. At present there are 11 working languages within the EU, with Irish excluded. It would be a relatively straightforward matter to have Irish included as a working language of the EU, said de Brún. All that is required is acceptance by the Council of Ministers of a proposal from the Dublin government, but a request has yet to be made. This is despite their 1997 commitments in the Programme for Government and a 2002 commitment to using Recommendation 3 of the report of Coimisiún na Gaeltachta, which states, 'that status as an official working language in the European Union be achieved' as a policy basis.

"A positive response by the Taoiseach would help convince nationalists in the North that the Irish Government is serious about the commitments given in the Good Friday Agreement to promote the Irish language and will make British Government or unionist resistance [to Irish] all the more difficult."

Other motions called on the Dublin government to establish a scheme to enable children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds attend the Gaeltacht and to develop a National Development Plan for the Irish language.

Another called for modification of the 26-County Artists' Tax Exemption, saying that it should be extended to include artists not presently covered by the law, such as dancers and choreographers. The motion also called for those artists earning over €100,000 per annum to no longer qualify for exemption but come under the normal tax system.


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