He said: “The police have confirmed arrangements for this Friday at 11am with an Irish language speaker in attendance.
“Aontú, along with other groups, fought for the Irish Language Act to be put in place in 2022. The Act gave Irish speakers the right to use the language within the state in the north where possible.
“The Act is not an ornament. It’s supposed to used. The life of a language is in the speaking: Is beatha teaga i an labhairt.
“I think this is a good opportunity for the PSNI to use their Irish.
“There is a fall in the number of Catholics and nationalists joining the PSNI and there is no point in complaining about that if the police service is to be accepted as a cold house for Irish culture.”
The Meath West TD will be available to speak to the media outside the station, shortly before he attends the interview.
He said: “I believe in co-operating fully with the PSNI investigation. I will be attending the meeting with the PSNI and will be answering any questions they have.
The Aontú leader said the PSNI wrote to him last week to ask him to attend as part of their investigation into the Garvaghy Road protests in September.
The letter informed him it is suspected he has committed offences linked to his appearance at Garvaghy during the height of the standoff.
Demonstrators took to the road in an effort to prevent the Orange Order passing down the route.
He asked for the interview to be conducted in Irish and it was postponed to arrange for this request to be facilitated. It has now been rescheduled for this Friday morning.
Said Peadar Tóibín: “I believe in co-operating fully with the PSNI investigation. I will be attending the meeting with the PSNI and will be answering any questions they have. However, it’s a monumental waste of PSNI time and of elected representatives’ time to go through the charade of these meetings.”
