Irish Language Commissioner Pól Deeds defends comments after claims he echoed 'infamous' republican slogan

The TUV said Pól Deeds drew on a phase attributed to a former Sinn Fein member, who said that “every word of Irish spoken is a bullet fired for Irish freedom”.

Jim Allister has called on Mr Deeds to go, saying the comments are “totally unacceptable”, while DUP Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said the comments were another example of how the Irish language was “being brought into the political sphere”.

However, Mr Deeds says that in the BBC interview he “had reflected on how public discourse around the Irish language can shape wider political debate”. In a statement he said “any suggestion that I was endorsing historical slogans or aligning with political causes is incorrect and misleading”.

In comments to the BBC, Stormont’s new language tsar had cited a recent move by Irish language group Conradh na Gaeilge (CnG), which changed its constitution to commit itself to working towards taking Northern Ireland out of the UK.

Mr Deeds said “every word spoken against the Irish language” could be seen as “another blow struck in the cause of Irish unification”.

He also said that the move by CnG reflected some of the “frustration that the Irish language community feel” – but said that is “not the way I'll go about my work” as his role is to “promote the Irish language as a minority indigenous language of the UK”.

It is the latest controversy over comments by Mr Deeds, who reportedly said of the loyalist Jamie Bryson “I don’t even want his name in my mouth” – accusing him of having “poison and enmity”, while he had “a law”.

The new comments have prompted criticism from the Mr Allister, who said his position is “no longer tenable” – and that the deputy first minister “needs to explain why he was ever thought suitable” and “immediately require his removal”.

The North Antrim MP said Mr Deeds’ claim “is very clearly an echo of the infamous comments... at a 1982 Sinn Fein seminar that ‘every word of Irish spoken is a bullet fired for Irish freedom’”. He said for a statutory commissioner “to use rhetoric that so clearly mirrors that thinking is totally unacceptable.”

“Mr Deeds has made it clear that in his view debate about Irish is not a legitimate democratic discussion but part of a wider struggle over the constitutional future of NI. That betrays the neutrality which the office demands”, he said.

Mr Bryson said “the cry of ‘Deedsy must go’ is growing ever louder amongst the unionist community” and asked what steps the deputy first minister will take to remove him”. He added: “In some ways I’d be sad to see him go because he is the recruiting sergeant for energising grassroots unionism, but there must be some standards in public life”.

Mr Deeds said his role “must be, and will continue to be, exercised independently and impartially. I remain fully committed to carrying out my statutory functions as Irish Language Commissioner for NI in a way that serves everyone in NI.”