Stormont’s DUP Education Minister has said Irish should be a shared language for everybody in the North.
Paul Givan vowed to advocate on behalf of the sector as he visited an Irish language primary school in Dungannon, Co Tyrone.
Mr Givan spoke some words of Irish during his visit to Gaelscoil Aodha Rua, including maidin mhaith (good morning), and also took part in a traditional ceili dance with pupils in the playground.
The Lagan Valley MLA said he was “delighted” to attend the school.
“As Education Minister, I said from day one that I would be a Minister of Education for everybody in Northern Ireland, across all of our sectors,” he said.
“And that includes the Irish medium. And I think it’s important for me to be here today to send out that message that I will be a minister for all of the various sectors within education and I will advocate on behalf of the Irish-medium sector.”
Mr Givan, a former Stormont first minister, then reflected on the language and its place within society in the North.
“When you look at the history of the Irish language, it was Presbyterians that came from Scotland that kept the language alive,” he said.
“And I think it’s important that we remember that the language isn’t unique to one particular community in Northern Ireland. It does have value right across our community. And we think of even the townlands and the names of our places have a steep history in the Irish language.
“So I think it’s important that, politically, we say that the Irish language should not be something that is politicised, that it is something that I believe can be a shared language for everybody in Northern Ireland.”
In 2016, Mr Givan tried gaelic football on a visit to a GAA club in Lisburn as Stormont communities minister.
However, he also created controversy in that role in the same year when he axed a bursary scheme for children to attend Irish language classes in Co Donegal. That funding decision was ultimately reversed.
Gaelscoil Aodha Rua has grown from 12 pupils when it first opened 13 years ago to 135 this year. The school has had a business case approved for a new building and is awaiting funding for the construction.
Principal Mona Uí Dhochartaigh hosted Mr Givan on his visit, teaching him some Irish phrases and partnering him for the ceili swing dance.
She described him as a “great sport”.
“I think he has enjoyed the visit, most importantly the ceili swing and he was very proficient at his ceili dancing,” she said.
“So I think that gives us great hope for the future moving forward in a new climate of politics here.”
Ms Uí Dhochartaigh expressed hope that the DUP minister would “take care of the children in the Irish-medium sector in a fair and equitable manner”.
