mr president it is good to hear of the need for diversity and multilingualism but i want to highlight very briefly a situation in my own part of the united kingdom
the minority language of ulster scots is part of the cultural wealth of northern ireland and is recognised by the united kingdom under the council of europe charter for regional and minority languages
as a result of the st andrews agreement act the northern ireland executive is charged with bringing forward a strategy for the ulster scots language and culture
in preparing this strategy the culture minister is taking into account the european charter and other international instruments including the united nations convention on the rights of the child
he is also setting the strategy in the context of the promotion of a shared and better future for northern ireland based on equality diversity and interdependence
unfortunately sinn fein has used culture especially language as a weapon in its campaign against the state and this has led to controversy and contention
that is an abuse and misuse of language
so we must hope that a shared and better future aspect of the strategy will address the legacy of that cultural war
