DUP move to block Irish-medium education is blatant sectarianism – Sheehan
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the bid was part of its plan to ‘thwart’ Sinn Fein following the Drumcree parade row.
An attempt by the DUP to block legislation around Irish-medium education proposed by a Sinn Féin MLA has been blasted as an “act of blatant sectarianism”.
Pat Sheehan has proposed a Private Member’s Bill to require the Stormont’s Department of Education to prepare a workforce plan in respect of Irish-medium education.
The Bill is scheduled to go through its final stage at the Assembly on Tuesday.
On Monday, the DUP indicated it will launch a petition of concern, a mechanism that forces a cross community vote, and a majority from both of the traditional view points in Northern Ireland on the Bill.
The TUV said its sole MLA will back the petition of concern, while UUP leader Jon Burrows said his party had “not fully decided”.
Lobby group An Dream Dearg contended the DUP “should be ashamed”.
They claimed it is a “sectarian, anti-Irish veto that will hurt over 7,000 young people attending Gaelscoileanna”, adding “The DUP should be ashamed”.
The move comes amid a low-point in relations between Sinn Féin and the DUP following the Drumcree parade dispute.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill was among a number of Sinn Féin and People Before Profit representatives to be questioned by police over alleged breaches of a Parades Commission determination.
The DUP responded by announcing deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly is no longer taking part in joint engagements with Ms O’Neill.
On Monday, Mr Sheehan blasted the petition of concern against his proposed legislation as “absolutely disgraceful”.
“It is an act of blatant sectarianism and anti-Irish bigotry,” he told MLAs.
“Children educated through the Irish language are not second-class citizens. They deserve the same opportunities and support as every other child.”
DUP leader Gavin Robinson told reporters at Stormont: “We have indicated our political desire to use the mechanisms at our disposal to thwart (Sinn Féin’s) agenda, and you will see the outworkings of that today in relation to the Irish medium legislation that is before the Assembly.
“We have tabled a petition of concern, and we understand from our discussions over the course of the last number of days that that will receive support from other Unionist parties. Unionists can, and unionists will co-operate.”
UUP leader Jon Burrows said his party has not “formally decided” whether it would support the petition but that the motion “gives preferential treatment to one education sector over the rest”.
“I’m convinced that there’s no need for the Private Members’ Bill, there’s no need for statutory duty, workforce duty for the Irish medium sector, and it would give preferential treatment over the other sectors across Northern Ireland,” he said.
“So, I am minded that that fits the bill for petition of concern.”
TUV leader Jim Allister confirmed his party’s one MLA would support the petition saying the Bill presents a “disproportionate tilting of funding in a very partisan and selective way”.