Plans to establish an Ulster Scots Academy have been put out for consultation. The consultation will last for 12 weeks and will include an "equality impact assessment exercise". The consultation document sets out proposals for the governance, staffing and location of an Ulster-Scots Academy, together with a three year outline business plan. The Chairman of the Ulster-Scots Academy Implementation Group, Dr Philip Robinson, explained that the proposal to resource a fully-functioning Academy stemmed from commitments made in the Good Friday Agreement 1998 and in the 2003 Joint Declaration between the British and Irish governments. Commenting on the latest developments in Ulster, Michael Hance of the Scots Language Centre said, "It's always encouraging to hear about language communities getting their share of government money. However, it shows again how far the Scottish Executive has fallen behind both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in supporting Scots. I hope it won't be too long before we hear news from the new Scottish government about how it plans to support Scots." Further information about the consultation document can be accessed at www.dcalni.gov.uk