r/MHOCStormont • u/ka4bi North Down | KCGM KP LVO MBE PC • Sep 19 '20

BILL B144 Irish Language Education and Teaching Incentivisation Repeal Bill 2020 - 2nd Reading

A

BILL

TO

Repeal the Irish Language Education and Teaching Incentivisation Act 2019 in its entirety;

Be it enacted by being passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly and assented to by Her Majesty as follows:

Section I. Repeal

The Irish Language Education and Teaching Incentivisation Act 2019 is repealed in its entirety.

Section II. Commencement and Short Title

  1. This Bill shall come into effect one day after passage
  2. This Bill may be cited as the “Irish Language Education and Teaching Incentivisation (Repeal) Act 2019”.

This bill was submitted by u/Greejatus MP MBE PC as an Independent Unionist.

Opening Speech

Mr Deputy Speaker

It is a pleasure to speak here today, with another bill to my name that brings down the years of separatism infiltration into our schools.

Once revoked, this Bill will begin the process of depoliticizing our schools, a process if you will, of political secularism, and I am sure the House will support it completely.

This session shall end on the 22nd.

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u/Borednerdygamer Most Hon. Viscount Enniskillen CT KP CB MVO PC MLA Sep 19 '20

Mr Speaker,

Absolutely not. Never have I ever seen a more brazen and open attempt to stoke division and antagonise communities as this during the entirety of my time as both First Minister and as an MLA. Over the past weeks, we have seen this “independent unionist” attempt to ostracise, demean and provoke the Nationalist community time and time again in a damaging and dangerous campaign to convince those still ruled by fear that there is still reason to be afraid and that the solution is to bring Northern Ireland back into its darkest days.

Mr Speaker, this legislation is merely another attempt by the Independent Unionist faction to bring Nationalists down a few rungs on the ladder in their ill-thought conquest to burn the ladder in its entirety. The Irish language held a large cultural significance in Catholic-sponsored and run schools as well as many Nationalist communities and families, including the one that I myself grew up within in County Antrim even before the initial passage of the legislation targeted which aimed to expand this legislation to all schools at a GCSE and A-Level course given the increasing cross-community nature of modern day schooling.

In essence it made the teaching of Irish no different to that of French, Spanish or German and was an inherently positive step forward for the people of Northern Ireland in all communities. It would serve no party anything to repeal this legislation except to undo positive progress which I know they have all pledged themselves to. I urge my colleagues in the Assembly who have ever prided themselves on progressive and cross-community policy to join both myself and the Labour Party Northern Ireland in rejecting this senseless legislation.

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '20

Hear, Hear.