Councillors invite Gregory Campbell to meeting

A county council body has written to unionist MP Gregory Campbell inviting the controversial politician to meet it.

Donegal County Council has invited the MP for East Londonderry to the county in the wake of his controversial remarks about the Irish language.

Coiste na Gaeilge, a committee of the council, is to write to express its concern to the MP for East Londonderry who has been heavily criticised for remarks made in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Councillors also agreed at Monday’s meeting of Coiste na Gaeilge to invite Mr Campbell to a meeting.

But independent councillor Michael Cholm Mac Giolla Easbuig, who proposed the motion to write to Mr Campbell, said he would not be meeting the DUP politician, unless he apologised.

“I proposed the council would write to Gregory Campbell and express our disgust at his recent comments. I am really angry with his comments, especially as someone who comes from an Irish-speaking area. To be honest I just wanted to write to him and express our outrage and dissatisfaction at his comments myself. Personally I would have no interest in seeing Gregory Campbell if he was to take up that invite to come to the Gaeltacht and I would have no interest in coming to meet him unless he apologised.”

Mr Campbell was barred from addressing the Assembly for a day earlier this month after failing to apologise for controversial remarks.

He had begun an address to the chamber with: “Curry my yoghurt can coca coal yer.”

The sentence “go raibh maith agat, Ceann Comhairle” is used by nationalist MLAs in the chamber.