‘Foras breaches European Charter on Minority and Regional Languages’ – Bradley

SDLP MLA Dominic Bradley said this week at a meeting of the Committee of Culture Arts and Leisure that he believes the decision by Foras na Gaeilge to close Gaelscéal, the Irish language newspaper, is a breach of the Department’s obligations under the European Charter on Minority and Regional Languages.

Speaking to Newry Times, Bradley said, “Under Paragraph 3 of the Charter, the Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure is obliged to publish an Irish language newspaper on a weekly basis. This obligation is being fulfilled by Gaelscéal.

“This decision by Foras na Gaeilge to close this paper has left a gaping hole in the North’s obligations under the European Charter. Ironically it is the Minister and her Department who are charged with implementing these obligations.

Bradley added, “It is essential that the Minister intervenes to uphold her responsibilities in respect of the Charter on Minority and Regional Languages and to ensure the contract with Gaelscéal is maintained until the end of the year when it is due to end.

“I will be requesting an urgent meeting with the Minister to see what action she intends to take”.

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Posted by Newry Times News on Feb 23 2013. Filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry