Mid and East Antrim council vote to block Irish language legislation

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council have voted to block Irish language legislation.

The motion was proposed by TUV councillor Timothy Gaston and seconded by his party colleague Ruth Wilson.

Cllr Gaston's motion said Irish already had 'lavish provision' and that any attempt to make Irish 'an official language' in Northern Ireland should be opposed.

The motion was passed with support from other unionists with a vote of 27 for and seven against.

Derry councillor Sandra Duffy said the vote was an example of further discrimination.

"When people tell you we really don’t need an Irish language act and we should just get back into Stormont, we need to remind them of what happened in Mid & East Antrim - where councillors voted 27-7 to ‘ban’ the use of Irish," she said.

"This is what we face."