SDLP man defends Sinn Fein refusal to translate from Irish to English at council saying: 'Nobody is required to translate comments into Irish'
An SDLP man has said there should be no obligation on councillors to translate a contribution from Irish into English.
It relates to comments made by Sinn Fein’s Tomas O’Neill at a meeting of the full Belfast City Council two weeks ago, when Kneecap were under discussion.
Councillor O’Neill had been asked to translate his contribution into English but refused, and the chairman said there was nothing compelling him to oblige.
Focusing in on the issue on the Nolan Show today, the presenter quizzed SDLP Belfast councillor Carl Whyte about whether someone should be forced to render any contributions in Irish into English.
“It’s at their discretion,” said Mr Whyte.
“I’m not saying that’s what I would do if I was speaking [meaning the conduct of councillor O’Neill].
"And certainly when councillors speak English they are not required to translate them into Irish.
“We don’t have simultaneous translation provided to us where all speeches are translated into Irish, which is what happens at the Assembly if it’s desired.
“So no. We’re not getting into the business here of telling elected representatives what they should and shouldn’t say, and how they should and shouldn’t say it.”
In the 2021 census, 2.4% of people said they spoke Irish daily. When asked if Irish was their “main language”, 0.32% said yes.