Shannon to address MPs in Ulster Scots
THE newly elected MP for Strangford is planning to deliver part of his maiden speech in Ulster Scots.
Jim Shannon said that he had asked the House of Commons authorities whether he would be allowed to speak in the dialect when he first talks in the chamber, and he was told yes.
On a visit to Westminster last week to get his security pass and other matters sorted out, Mr Shannon approached one of the speakers with his request.
“He said it was at his discretion but he would let two or three sentences in Ulster Scots,” the DUP MP said.
“I will be the first person ever to have spoken in Ulster Scots in Westminster.”
He added: “It is an opportunity to express something that is very dear to me. I am proud to be an Ulster Scot.”
Mr Shannon said that at an Ulster Scots event last Friday there had been much interest in his plans to speak the language in the House of Commons.
“A lot of people have written to me and said they are looking forward to it,” he said.
Mr Shannon will be required to translate what he said.
“I suspect that will be part of the fun for many people,” he said.
Mr Shannon hopes to make his maiden speech before the summer, but he points out that there are almost 200 new MPs so there is a long list of newcomers waiting to utter their first words in the House of Commons.
Meanwhile, Mr Shannon has been challenged to name a date for his departure from the Assembly.
His Tory-UUP challenger in the general election Mike Nesbitt said that Mr Shannon’s failure to attend the first official sitting of the House of Commons on Tuesday showed the problems with double jobbing.
Mr Nesbitt quoted comments from the DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds who said the party had been given “a mandate to stand up for Northern Ireland in Westminster” and that they would do so.
Mr Nesbitt said: “[Mr Shannon] was standing up in the Assembly, speaking to a Sinn Fein motion regarding car insurance – an important issue, I agree. Strangford therefore was not represented on the first day of parliament.”
Mr Nesbitt said the absence highlighted the “physical impossibility of being in two, never mind three places, at once, and the political imperative to end double jobbing”.
He added: “Having congratulated Jim Shannon on his election as the member of parliament for Strangford, I now challenge him to declare when he will, as he has promised, stop being Alderman Jim Shannon MP MLA.”
Mr Shannon blamed his absence on his misunderstanding of an advisory note for MPs, which said: ”Members who have not taken the oath or affirmation may not draw a salary, sit during any debate or vote in a division of the House.”
He added: “As far as I am concerned, I am going to Westminster next week to represent Strangford at the highest levels. I am really looking forward to it.”
He said that he was leaving the Assembly at the end of June, and the council at the end of August.
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
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