A spot of Ceili dancing in the playground and greeting pupils with a ‘Maidin mhaith’ was how the DUP’s Paul Givan spent his first visit to an Irish medium school since becoming education minister.
Addressing children at Gaelscoil Aodha Rua, in Dungannon, Mr Givan said the Irish language “belongs to all of us”.
School principal Mona Uí Dhochartaigh taught Mr Givan some Irish phrases and partnered with him for a ceili swing dance during the visit on Wednesday.
She said she believed his visit to the school “gives us great hope for the future moving forward in a new climate of politics here”.
Ms Uí Dhochartaigh also spoke of her hope that the DUP minister would “take care of the children in the Irish medium sector in a fair and equitable manner”.
Gaelscoil Aodha Rua has grown significantly since it opened in 2011 with just 12 children. It now educates 135 pupils as well as a further 24 children in nursery.
Ms Ui Dhochartaigh described Mr Givan as a “great sport”.
“I think he has enjoyed the visit, most importantly the ceili swing and he was very proficient at his ceili dancing,” she said.
Mr Givan said he was “delighted” to attend the school adding he had vowed” from day one that I would be a minister of education for everybody in Northern Ireland, across all of our sectors”.
“And that includes the Irish medium,” he said.
“And I think it’s important for me to be here today to send out that message that I will be a minister for all of the various sectors within education and I will advocate on behalf of the Irish medium sector.”
The DUP MLA also reflected on the language and its place within society in Northern Ireland.
“When you look at the history of the Irish language, it was Presbyterians that came from Scotland that kept the language alive,” he said.
“And I think it’s important that we remember that the language isn’t unique to one particular community in Northern Ireland.
“It does have value right across our community. And we think of even the townlands and the names of our places have a steep history in the Irish language.
“So I think it’s important that, politically, we say that the Irish language should not be something that is politicised, that it is something that I believe can be a shared language for everybody in Northern Ireland.”
Mr Givan’s visit comes eight years after his tenure as communities minister saw him provoke controversy when he axed a £50,000 Irish language bursary scheme called Líofa, which helped people improve their Irish language skills in the Donegal Gaeltacht.
His department said at the time that the programme would not run due to the need to find efficiency savings.
Mr Givan later reversed the decision, saying he did not want Sinn Féin to use it as a “political weapon.”
He said on Wednesday that the Líofa “was in the past” adding “this is today”.
