Campbell accused of 'pure ignorance' after mocking Irish language

DUP MP Gregory Campbell has been accused of “pure ignorance” after replying to the assembly speaker during a debate on the Irish language and Ulster Scots with “curry my yoghurt”.

Sinn Féin culture minister Carál Ní Chuilín, right, said Mr Campbell’s behaviour was “not befitting a member of the assembly”.

The comments came after the pair clashed during a debate on the Irish language and Ulster Scots when Mr Campbell was invited to speak by principal deputy speaker, Mitchel McLaughlin.

In response, Mr Campbell appeared to mock the Irish language replying: “Curry my yoghurt can coca coalyer”.

The phrase was an apparent reference to “go raibh maith agat, Ceann Comhairle”, which means “thank you, speaker” in Irish.

When Mr Campbell then asked Ms Ní Chuilín about a minority languages’ strategy, the Sinn Féin minister refused to answer the question, saying that Mr Camp-bell’s behaviour was not “befitting a member of the assembly”.

“If it’s anything to go by what you just did, we don’t need a strategy for pure ignorance,” she said.

Ms Ní Chuilín later said she had complained to the Speaker’s Office about Mr Campbell’s “mockery of the Irish language”.

It is not the first time Mr Campbell has been outspoken about the Irish language.

In October 2012, the DUP MP voiced his criticism of an educational advert in Irish.

Mr Campbell said the advert, one of several being broadcast in English and Irish as part of a campaign aimed at encouraging parents to take a vital part in their children’s education, was “entirely inappropriate”.

In 1987, fellow DUP MP Sammy Wilson, a former Belfast city councillor, labelled Irish “a leprechaun language” after it was spoken during a council debate by Sinn Féin councillors.

In 2014 the DUP MP Gregory Campbell got into trouble when he began his address to the NI assembly with: "Curry my yoghurt can coca coalyer".

He posted this on his Facebook account on Sunday evening. It seems to be another parody of the Irish language. pic.twitter.com/qYrka7f07P

— Brendan Marshall (@BJPMarshall) July 27, 2020