Former Minister's Last Act of Defiance Against Irish Language
- Brendy Donnelly
- Mar 6, 2017
- 2 min read
After all the mayhem over the Irish Bursary cuts, even with a growing demand for our Irish Language Act, the DUP's former education minister Peter Weir just couldn't help himself in shutting down another Irish Language School proposal on election day.
The Naiscoil (Naiscoil Cholm Cille) in Carrickmore, Omagh, is a new pre-school offering education through the medium of Irish and is backed by a great team of staff with extensive training and qualifications including BA Honours Degrees in Education. The Children are given a broad and balanced curriculum, in a great and dedicated environment.
The news came on the day of the election March 2nd, that funding would not be provided. This comes on top of six dismissals out of seven total development proposals concerning Irish Language Medium Education. This bias against the Irish Language is nothing new; the DUP promised it would tackle the so called "preferential treatment" of Irish Medium Schooling in its 2016 Assembly Election.
Since Peter Weir has held his position in office, he has overturned previous funds that were allocated by former minister John O'Dowd.
Rejections by Peter Weir include the following:
Gaelscoil an Lonnain proposal to relocate to the former St Comghall's PS in West Belfast
Rejecting a pre-school unit at Gaelscoil na Daroige in Derry due to other schools nearby
Dismissal of a bid for a part-time nursery unit at Bunscoil an Iuir in Newry
This treatment of Irish Medium School is greatly in contrast to only one proposal rejection turned down to non-Irish Schools. The Department of Education has a statutory duty to encourage and facilitate the development of Irish-medium education. And under an Irish Language Act this would be a must.
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