Give us Cantonese rather than Irish - MLA
POLICING Board money should be spent translating documents and holding meetings in Cantonese or Portuguese rather than Irish, Board member Ian Paisley Jnr has said.
The DUP MLA spoke out as it was revealed Northern Ireland police chiefs are set to be quizzed in Irish during a groundbreaking policing board meeting for gaelic speakers.
The board is holding its first Irish language public engagement meeting in Londonderry next week.
Assistant Chief Constable Judith Gillespie will be among officers at the event in the City Hotel on Tuesday evening.
The principal language throughout will be Irish, with a translation service for non-Irish speakers.
The meeting, the first of four to be held in Northern Ireland, has been organised in response to a number of requests the board received at its last public event in the north west.
Mr Paisley said: "Most people roll their eyes in amusement at the vast amount of money and time used in this exercise.
"I think the Irish language facility is being held for one reason, because of lobby interests. This is not anyone's natural or first spoken language."
Mr Paisley added that if you look at the history books, "the Irish proclamation was first made in English, and then translated into Irish".
"I think we would be better placed to make a genuine effort by translating Policing Board documents into Portuguese and Cantonese, and make a genuine effort to outreach to the foreign nationals who have a genuinely different first language and a different experience of policing than the one they have just come into."
An invited audience of Irish speakers will be given the opportunity to question ACC Gillespie and policing board members on current and future policing issues – and the procedures the PSNI have put in place to help make policing more accessible to the Irish speaking community.
Independent board member and fluent Irish speaker Gearid hEara, who is chairing the meeting, said all literature had been published in gaelic for the event.
"I am very happy with the police response to this issue and I am confident they are taking it seriously," he said.
"The fact they are going to come and engage with the Irish language community through the medium of their own language is a very good start."
Samus Mac indreasa from Irish language umbrella organisation Pobal said he warmly welcomed the meeting.
"The normalisation and everyday use of the language is very important, so it's good it's being used for events like this," he said.
"The Irish language is a threat to no one, and while this meeting has been called for by members of the Irish speaking community in Derry, that doesn't mean non-Irish speakers won't be welcome."
A full translation service will be available on the day, he added.
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Monday 28 May 2012
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