LONG-awaited legislation for the Irish language will be introduced at Westminster ahead of the assembly election, according to Northern Ireland Office minister Conor Burns.
He said the cultural package agreed more than two years ago as part of the New Decade New Approach (NDNA) would be better passed in the coming weeks to ensure it "didn't become a contentious element of what is already going to be a pretty contentious election campaign".
The Stormont mandate will expire on March 28, marking the official start to campaigning ahead of the May 5 poll.
Giving evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee yesterday, Mr Burns said the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill, which includes measures for the creation both Irish language and Ulster Scots commissioners and the establishment of an Office of Identity and Cultural Expression, was "pretty much ready".
He said despite the Secretary of State Brandon Lewis's "genuine" desire to legislate for the package in the autumn, it had not happened "for a variety of reasons, other business, timing, matters politically".
However, he said the British government was "committed to the undertaking that we've given".
"I think what I can say very candidly is that it is our expectation that this is not going to be passed by Stormont before the end of the mandate and that we are absolutely expecting that we are going to have to do this in Westminster and we remain committed to bringing this legislation forward in Westminster," he said.
Pressed further, Mr Burns said: "It is very firmly the government's intention that we bring the legislation forward before the elections."
However, the minister's words were last night met with a degree of scepticism, with SDLP MP Claire Hanna saying she hoped what had been outlined was "not going to be another false dawn", noting that advocates of the Irish language and Ulster Scots had been "badly let down and used by others for far too long".
"It’s time to get this over the line," she said.
Sinn Féin MLA Aisling Reilly said the British government needed to "stop dragging its feet".
"The British government needs to end the delays, honour its commitments and implement its agreements and end the denial of rights to the Irish language community," she said
Conradh na Gaeilge advocacy manager Conchúr Ó Muadaigh said Mr Burns "failed once more to provide any concrete timeline" for the legislation.
"The painful experience of the last 20 years shows that we can't trust the British government on this issue," he said.
"Now is the time for action, not further half promises or political delays."
