Regional Development Minister congratulates Irish language learners

Regional Development Minister, Conor Murphy, today congratulated DRD staff for successfully completing Departmental Irish language courses.

Awarding certificates and silver Fáinni badges to the staff that completed the course, the Minister said: “I welcome the fact that staff in my Department have taken the time to learn or improve their Irish.  The classes have been a success and I remain committed to making departmental services accessible to members of the Irish speaking community.”

He added: “Since 2007, my Department has made significant progress in fulfilling commitments in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages to protect and promote the Irish language. As well as the Irish classes, we currently use Irish in our advertising, and make information leaflets, application forms and parts of publications available in Irish. We have also created a multilingual section on the main DRD website, to provide key information on departmental functions in Irish.

“The lunchtime training classes in Irish will help my staff to deal with any queries we receive in Irish from members of the public.  Due to the high level of interest, I intend to run a further set of courses later in the year, and look forward to their continued success.”

Notes to editors:

1. Fourteen learners at Beginner level and six at Refresher level received certificates from the Minister to honour their completion of the 12 week lunchtime courses, which were provided by tutors from Belfast Metropolitan College. Seven of the Beginners also received a Fáinne Airgid proficiency award, assessed by the McCracken Cultural Society.
2. Media queries to: Department for Regional Development Press Office, Tel 028 90 540004.  Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.