A row has erupted on social media tonight in a private group ( Union 1st Facebook forum ) as it has emerged that the Ullans Centre in Ballymoney which promotes Ulster Scots will be partaking in a joint Irish Language / Ulster Scots objective in the near future.
The Ullans Centre has DUP elected representatives and activists on it’s board of directors, this has drawn criticism from many corners of the Unionist community as they claim that this is a hypocritical step considering the current political deadlock, where the Irish language and its use is a major stumbling block to restore power sharing to the Stormont executive .
The project being debated is being rolled out by LCDI and funded by the Peace IV Partnership.
A spokesperson for the Ullans centre this evening said “The Ullans Speakers Association are participants and facilitators in the current Peace IV progects in the CCGBC area.
One of these projects is co ordinated by LCDI and is focused on the Ulster Scots and Irish cultures in equal measures with a group based in Limavady and group based in Ballymoney taking part. The programme is delivered in a non political way and the individuals are both from a mixed background and have voluntarily chose to take park.
The language, both Ulster Scots and Irish makes up a very small and short portion of the programme. As far as the makeup of the board members of the Ullans and their political preferences, this has no impact on the decisions or work carried out by the organisation.”
