TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen will be among the representatives of eight national and regional administrations from Britain and Ireland in attendance at the 13th summit meeting of the British-Irish Council, which takes place in Jersey today.
Mr Cowen will be accompanied by Minister for Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív, who will give an address on “Indigenous, Minority and Lesser-Used Languages”, which is the main theme of today’s summit, to be held at the Radisson Hotel in St Helier.
One of the lesser-known institutions to arise out of the Belfast Agreement, the council will be 10 years old next month.
Membership comprises the British and Irish governments, the devolved institutions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the administrations in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.
Other politicians due to attend include former Northern Ireland secretary, and now secretary of state for Wales Peter Hain, representing the British government; Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson; Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness; Scottish first minister Alex Salmond; Welsh first minister Rhodri Morgan, attending his last summit in this capacity, and heads of administration from the Isle of Man, Guernsey and, of course, Jersey itself.
Mr Ó Cuív will set out the background to the Government’s 20-year strategy for the Irish language which is currently under consideration and is expected to be published before Christmas.
Given the current economic difficulties, the Minister will emphasise the challenge of ensuring that funding continues to be made available for language planning and development and that the funding provided is targeted carefully and put to optimum use.
He will also make the case that language preservation and development cannot be seen as an expendable luxury, or something to be put on the long finger until greater resources are available, arguing instead that minority languages are particularly vulnerable and need careful and constant nurturing.
Officials have prepared a draft paper for the summit, which is being asked to encourage the usage of minority or lesser-used languages in the community.
A commitment was given in the St Andrews Agreement of 2006 to introduce legislation to protect and develop Irish in Northern Ireland.
The agreement paved the way for restoration of the power-sharing Executive in Northern Ireland but the Irish Language Act his still not been introduced.
