§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make it his policy to embrace cultural diversity within the Province and to support the Irish language in the context of European Community policy on lesser-spoken languages; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HanleyIt is the Government's policy to promote cultural diversity—for example, through the cultural traditions group funded under the cultural traditional programme—and I hope that it will soon be possible to hold further talks to take forward the preliminary consideration given to this matter last year. As for support for the Irish language, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Antrim, North (Rev. Ian Paisley) on 16 November 1992,Official Report, column 9,and on 17 November 1992 Official Report, columns 149–52, where information was provided on Government support for the Irish language. The Government are still considering whether to sign the Council of Europe convention on regional and minority languages.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Irleland what is his estimate of the number of people in Northern Ireland who use Irish as a medium of communication in their daily life.
§ Mr. HanleyUp-to-date information on the number of people in Northern Ireland using Irish as a medium of communication in their daily lives is not available. The 1991 census of population, which contains the most recent information on knowledge of the language, indicates that 131,974 persons aged three or over had some ability. The 1987 continuous household survey indicated that, of those with some knowledge of the language, I per cent. of those aged 16 to 69 and five per cent. of those aged three to 15 years used it in the home on a daily basis.