Sir, - The article "Dublin takes on its obligation to human rights with bad grace" (Opinion, July 12th), in which Lord Laird, chairman of the Ulster-Scots Agency, made a number of claims concerning the Government's record in implementing certain aspects of the Good Friday Agreement.
First, contrary to Lord Laird's assertion, the Government is actively fulfilling its commitment under the agreement to "recognise the importance of respect, understanding and tolerance in relation to linguistic diversity, including in Northern Ireland, the Irish language, Ulster-Scots and the languages of the various ethnic communities". Within the North-South framework of the agreement, there is an Ulster-Scots Agency with the designated function of the "promotion of greater awareness and use of Ullans and of Ulster-Scots cultural issues, both within Northern Ireland and throughout the island".
Moreover, notwithstanding the limited scale of the Ulster-Scots community in this part of the island, the Government underwrites 25 per cent of the overall budget of the Ulster-Scots Agency, which is determined in agreement with the Northern Ireland Administration and amounts to IR£1.72 million this year.
Secondly, the Government's human rights commitments under the agreement are being met in full measure. The legislation providing for a Human Rights Commission in the South (with powers that go beyond the provisions of the agreement) was signed into law on May 31st last year and Mr Justice Donal Barrington was appointed president of the commission shortly thereafter.
The commission has been meeting as an interim body since the start of the year, pending the amendment of the Act to provide for an increased number of commissioners, which was passed by both houses of the Oireachtas last week.
Moreover, the Oireachtas is currently considering the European Convention on Human Rights Bill, the purpose of which is to give further effect in domestic law to certain provisions of the convention. I might add that, in some respects, the Bill goes further than the counterpart legislation in the UK, which entered fully into force last October.
Finally, Lord Laird suggests that the ethos in the South is anti-British, anti-unionist, anti-Protestant and anti-Ulster-Scots.
Any person who is familiar with contemporary life in this part of Ireland (or, indeed, at a distance through the diversity of traditions and opinions reflected in the pages of The Irish Times), must know that this is simply untrue. Some timely examples of the Government's respect for the unionist and British traditions on the island are the ambitious development plan for the Battle of the Boyne site, in which the Orange Order is directly involved, and its support for the development and maintenance of the Peace Park in Messines, which commemorates all those from Ireland who lost their lives during the first World War. In addition, President McAleese has hosted a number of events at ┴ras an Uachtarβin involving members of the Ulster-Scots community, including a reception on the 12th July for volunteers working in the area of reconciliation, at which Ulster-Scots music and literature was a central part of the programme.
Sadly, there seems to be a predisposition in certain quarters to politicise Ulster-Scots as a means of criticising the Irish Government. This polemical approach is not only unfair but also does a disservice to the Ulster-Scots tradition which, in the eloquent words of the agreement, forms "part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland". The Government is committed to constructively working with all those who wish to enhance that cultural wealth. - Yours, etc.,
Declan Kelly, Press Officer, Department of Foreign Affairs. Iveagh House, Dublin