Speaking in Stormont after Secretary of State Brandon Lewis said the government will introduce the legislation through Westminster in October, and the DUP to nominated Paul Givan for First Minister, PBP MLA Gerry Carroll said:
“Time after time, from equal marriage to abortion and now the Irish language, the DUP have played a disgraceful role in blocking, delaying, and rolling back on rights.
“When Gaeilgeoirí, or women for that matter, have to rely on the rotten Tories to give them basic rights, it speaks volumes about the level of dysfunction and dead end politics that leaves the Stormont institutions utterly incapable of delivering any kind of progressive change.
“Frankly I don’t trust the Tories. I don’t think they give a damn about Irish language rights or Irish language speakers. The only reason they are willing to step in, is the same reason that parties in the Executive are willing to accept their intervention – because Irish language activists continued to campaign and demanded that those who support them ‘stand their ground’. Once again this campaign has defined the fault lines of this Executive and the buck has had to be passed to the Tories to keep the institutions afloat at all costs.
“These are the same institutions which presided over a disastrous COVID strategy and lives tragically lost. The same institutions which saw Black Lives Matter activists targeted; which have utterly failed to deliver on commitments to workers in NDNA; and which have spiked poverty and deprivation levels by unleashing welfare reforms, maintaining bottom wages, and paying more heed to paramilitary demands than those from trade unions.
“The only time this Executive has deviated from this miserable record is when workers or people power campaigns have put it up to them. That’s how the health workers got their pay rise, that’s how women forced the issue of abortion onto the agenda (when no big party backed them) and that’s how Irish language campaigners have shaken up cosy politics on the Hill once again.
“They have persisted despite being ignored and opposed. And it’s clear to us that the only way to bring about progressive change is through more and more relentless people power campaigns.
“Finally, I want to stress that we should never trust the Tories with rights. The responsibility still lies with Stormont, and those who breathed a sigh of relief that the buck has been passed shouldn’t be allowed to get comfortable until these rights are over the line.”
ENDS