Mr Campbell said,
“Whilst there is much detail in the report, essentially the Advisory Committee says Irish identity and language is fine but British culture and identity is political. This is a disgraceful conclusion to reach and the Committee should immediately retract their assertion.
The argument behind recommendation 159 states:
“the legislative conflation of Ulster Scots and Ulster British may unnecessarily provoke instrumentalisation of this group for political ends in the context of Northern Ireland.”
This is an incredible statement from the Advisory Committee and points to a lack of understanding and awareness of those of us with an Ulster Scots and / or an Ulster British Identity.
The DUP insisted on the provision of an Ulster British Commissioner during the New Decade New Approach arrangements so they can promote the language, arts and literature associated with the Ulster Scots and the Ulster British tradition in Northern Ireland. This includes the full spectrum of unionist culture, where ‘Ulster British’ describes the unionist culture of unionists who may not regard themselves as Ulster Scots.
One area where the Advisory Committee could do further work would be to consider the massive funding disparity between Ulster British Identity and the Irish language and culture. They have managed to portray a picture which is almost the reverse of the reality on the ground.”