Cllr Holloway and the Irish language

Dear sir - I am proud of the central role Sinn Féin played in the struggle for full Irish independence since 1905. I am proud of that fact that my party stood by nationalists in the north when no other political party on the island would do so. So much so that the majority of that population rewards Sinn Féin with its votes today. I am also proud of the role which Sinn Féin played in the peace process. This role is unparalleled in the history of Ireland and internationally. I have had the privilege to serve on Navan Town Council for the last two years. In the 18 months before the local elections the issue of the 'Troubles' was never mentioned once in the council chamber. Immediately after the recent local elections Cllr Holloway enthusiastically courted Sinn Féin to join with his party in taking power on the Town Council. For a number of weeks Sinn Féin studied the very generous enticements made by Cllr Holloway to form a group with his party. In the end we rejected joining up with Cllr Holloway as we felt that the current arrangement, that of Sinn Féin, Labour and the independents, would offer a more progressive platform with which to tackle Navan's longstanding challenges. Since that decision was made, Cllr Holloway has raised the issue of the 'Troubles' at every opportunity no matter how tenuous both in the council chamber and in the media. His silence on the issue before the election and during the negotiations afterwards is in sharp contrast with his obsession with the issue since. Most people will rightly recognise that it is motivated by our decision to reject Cllr Holloway's advances. Indeed many will feel that Cllr Holloway's self serving and flippant use of such a serious and important matter such as 'Troubles' is hypocritical. The Irish language does not belong to anyone party. It belongs to all Irish people, Catholic, Protestant and dissenter. It belongs to old stock and new comers alike. I firmly hope that the language is only at the cusp of a new and vibrant age. I will do all in my power to help it reestablish itself throughout Meath as an dynamic spoken language. I am struggling to find any evidence of an action, a motion or an initiative that Cllr Holloway has taken in his 15 years as a councillor to help the Irish language. The fact that Cllr Holloway is now trying to make Irish into a divisive issue for his own political ends is extremely disappointing. Unfortunately he is looking at Irish through outdated Civil War eyes. The rest of the country has moved on. Isn't time that Cllr Holloway did too? Yours, Cllr Peadar Tóibín, Navan.