Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“If the Mallie version of the draft SF/DUP document is correct, then a massive DUP climbdown was afoot on an Irish Language Act.
“Bestowing official status on Irish and the establishment of an enforcer (Commissioner) to proactively promote and expand the use of Irish throughout the entire public service would, as in Wales, have produced an all pervasive Irishisation of the public service and public institutions, including the Assembly and every council. The figleaf for Ulster Scots should fool no one. We don’t need an Ulster Scots Act. It is nonsense.
“Strikingly, this agreement showed no regard to the endless cost of such linguistic madness. Promotion of Irish was to trump real needs, as in health and education.
“If the Mallie version is correct and if the square brackets mean as he says, then, it seems an Irish Language Act was agreed, with only the presentation to be settled. This is a crucial revelation which leaves DUP negotiators with a lot of explaining to do.
“For now we may have had a fortunate escape from the oppression of an Irish Language Act, but the affirmation from DUP negotiators – who it seems were willing to rollover, till pulled up short – that they wish to return at some point to the ransom negotiations, should alert every unionist to the need for vigilance and the avoidance of conditioning.”