Respecting cultures helps secure Northern Ireland’s place in UK, says Givan

By Rebecca Black (PA)

Respecting different cultures helps “secure Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom”, Stormont Education Minister Paul Givan has said.

The DUP representative hit the headlines after a visit to an Irish language primary school in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, on Wednesday.

Mr Givan spoke some words of Irish during his visit to Gaelscoil Aodha Rua, including “Maidin mhaith” (“Good morning”), and also took part in a traditional ceili dance with pupils in the playground.

He said the Irish language should not be politicised, and can be a shared language for everybody in Northern Ireland.

On the same day, his party colleague, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, made her first visit to a GAA club and tried her hand at camogie.

Last month, First Minister Michelle O’Neill stood for God Save The King when she attended a Northern Ireland women’s football match at Windsor Park.

Referring to his visit, Mr Givan said: “It’s the right thing to do, and it also recognises the diversity within Northern Ireland, and that’s the kind of unionism that I want, which is broad and recognises space for everybody, and that ultimately will help secure Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom because why would somebody want to change if they feel that their cultural identity is respected within the current status quo?

“It’s the right thing to do, but of course it does lean into my wider political vision of a unionism that is broad and welcoming and diverse.”

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show, he said he agrees with DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson’s view of how Northern Ireland’s place can be “secured for the future”.

“That is not going to be achieved through a very crude demographic headcount of us and them based on religious identity – that is not how you’re going to do it. Nor will it be secured through legal victories within the courts, because we know within the Belfast Agreement it will be through public referenda,” he said.

“That is what ultimately will decide Northern Ireland’s future in years to come, and therefore you have to win hearts and minds.

“In the past, culture identity has been something which has polarised people in Northern Ireland. I don’t think it needs to be, and I want to recognise the various identities that exist.”

Mr Givan went on: “I think I need to demonstrate my commitment to all the sectors within Northern Ireland’s education system, and that is our controlled sector, our maintained sector, the integrated sector, and that also includes the Irish medium sector.

“If we are to be believe in a truly plural society where there are choices, that people can then take, that is something that should be protected, and I do believe in parental choice when it comes to education – to bring their children up in the type of school that they believe is most appropriate to them – and that’s something that I want to protect for everybody.”

In 2016, Mr Givan tried Gaelic football on a visit to a GAA club in Lisburn as Stormont communities minister.

However, he also created controversy in that role in the same year when he axed a bursary scheme for children to attend Irish language classes in Co Donegal. That funding decision was ultimately reversed.

Asked whether he would do that now, Mr Givan said: “Whilst I can say today there was a value for money assessment in respect of that, that is not how that decision was perceived, that it was a purely value-for-money consideration … it was perceived very differently within the wider nationalist community. I understand that.

“It played into what was going on politically, because obviously Sinn Fein were on a particular trajectory in the run-up to that Christmas period, where they were on the verge of collapsing the institutions, and that decision fuelled their political objectives at that time.

“What I’m saying is that we need to make sure we don’t act in a way that is politicising around the Irish language, and I have a responsibility around education and the various sectors that exist, and I will discharge those duties fairly and equitably.”

Paul Givan takes part in a Ceili, with pupils at Gaelscoil Aodha Rua during his first visit to an Irish language school as education minister (Picture by Colm Lenaghan)