(Seo alt ónár bhfoireann Gaeltachta. Is féidir an bunleagan as Gaeilge a léamh anseo)
THERE WILL BE a referendum on the independence of Wales but only when its people decide to hold it, the newly elected Prif Weinidog/First Minister, Rhun Ap Iorwerth, said on visit to Dublin today.
Speaking to The Journal on the margins of the Ireland-Wales Forum, the Welsh First Minister said he had “no interest in breaking things up or driving separatism”.
“I believe in building Wales up, and I don’t want it to be built up in an isolationist way. I want – I’m an internationalist – I want it to be a nation that thrives in conjunction with partners, and that is why being here in Ireland is so important to me,” he said.
“And to me, it’s as simple as this: it’s a redesigning of the relationship between nations within these islands.”
In Ireland, Sinn Féin has set a target of 2030 for a referendum on Irish unity, the Welsh first minister is not stressing the timing of an independence referendum on his side of the Irish Sea.
“That’s in the hands of the people of Wales,” he said.
“My job is to guide the people of Wales in having a conversation about how high is our level of ambition.
“I know where my ambition is, and I want to guide Wales to match that level of ambition, to be confident in what we are, to face the challenging questions.”
The Plaid Cymru leader led his party into a minority government in Cardiff following the Senedd elections in May and is now settling into government, a process which has not been helped by what he termed the “waste of time” as a result of the instability in Westminister.
Ap Iorwerth said what he described as a “time of real uncertainty and instability” was a cause of worry for him. ‘
“We have now in Wales a stable, ambitious, forward-looking government, and I think people see that in contrast to the instability of the United Kingdom – hold on, we can do government in Wales and do it well.”
“My immediate concern, of course, is that we’re losing time every day, the inability to have a constructive relationship between the Welsh First Minister and the UK Prime Minister,
“Because of chaos in Westminster, means that I’m unable to make that pitch to make the case for different approaches from UK government on funding on the powers that we need to build our future.
He expressed the hope that things would “stabilise” in Westminister so he could continue to uphold his pledge to stand up for the people of Wales.
The son of Welsh language activists, Ap Iorwerth began his political life as a language campaigner and, as leader of Plaid Cymru, traditionally the home of the struggle for the restoration of Welsh/Cymraeg, it now forms a central part of his Government’s programme.
“Quite simply to me, it is all about Wales, and the language is an integral part of Wales, so they are one and the same to me,” he said.
“It [Welsh] is at the heart of who we are as a nation, and therefore who we are as a party.”
Questions relating to language, culture and heritage were the agenda for the meeting of the Ireland-Wales Forum at Iveagh House today but a number of other areas of co-operation were also discussed at different meetings.
These included political and official engagement; climate, energy, environment and sustainability; economy and trade; education, research and innovation; and communities, diaspora and sport.
In a joint communique from Minister for Foreign Affairs, Helen McEntee and the Welsh First Minister, the pair “agreed to continue working together to strengthen bilateral relations and to advance areas of mutual interest for the benefit of the people of Ireland and Wales”.
Tá tacaíocht á fháil ag Beartas Gaeltachta The Journal ón Scéim Tuairiscithe ar Dhaonlathas Áitiúil