The Irish language gains full official and working status in the European Union

Bright future in store for the Irish language as it gains full official and working status in the institutions of the European Union

The derogation of the status of the Irish language in the European institutions ends at midnight tonight (31 December 2021) and its status will now be on a par with other official languages of the EU. The Irish language was given official and working status on 1 January 2007. However, a derogation arrangement has been in place since then due to a shortage of translation staff which restricted the amount of material translated into Irish.

Government Chief Whip and Minister of State for the Gaeltacht and Sport, Jack Chambers TD, said:

Irish was a treaty language when Ireland became a Member State in 1973, which meant that only EU treaties were translated into Irish. The Irish Government applied in 2005 for Irish to become an official and working language and it was granted this status on 1 January 2007. Due to the shortage of translation staff and Irish language technological resources at the time, the scope of the status was derogated and the number of documents to be translated into Irish were limited.

The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, in conjunction with the European institutions, has undertaken a number of initiatives under the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language to fill this gap, such as the Advanced Irish Language Skills Initiative, an Internship Scheme, the LEX / IATE terminology project and digital and technological initiatives. As a result, there are over 170 Irish language staff in the European institutions today using facilities such as terminology databases, machine translation aids and computer-aided translation software to translate all documents into Irish. That number of staff will be increased to c. 200 early in 2022.

In support of those applying for language posts with the EU in the future, NUI Galway is now providing support material in Irish as it relates to the European Union's EPSO recruitment tests.

Notes to Editor:

The use of the Irish language at an official level is an integral part of the ongoing efforts to ensure that the language is used among future generations. It is very important to the Irish Government that Irish becomes a full working language in the institutions of the European Union and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media has been committed to ending the derogation of the use of Irish as an official and working language of the European Union.

As part of this work, the Department and the Directorate-General for Translation have taken various initiatives to increase the Irish language resources available to support language services in the EU. In recent years, the Irish Government-funded LEX/IATE terminology project has been further developed, and the inter-institutional bank of translation memories has continued to grow. In addition, an agreement has been reached between the European Commission and the Irish Government to share the bilingual bodies of Irish national legislation, and this work is now well underway.

As a result of this significant work, the European Union has increased its cohort of Irish language staff and now employs over 170 people in its Irish language services. That number will be increased to c. 200 early in 2022.

Irish Language Support Schemes outside the Gaeltacht

The focus of the Irish Language Support Schemes is to provide funding for a wide range of Irish language initiatives outside the Gaeltacht and abroad. The grants are primarily aimed at organisations or groups working outside the Gaeltacht. The supports provided by the Department to end the derogation fall under the umbrella of the Irish Language Support Schemes. Listed below are the various policies put in place to end the derogation:

Aistritheoirí Óga (Young Translators)

The ‘Aistritheoirí Óga’ translation competition is organised by the European Commission in conjunction with the Department. The competition is open to students throughout Ireland who are 15 years old on 1 September (of the current academic year) and who have the ability to translate from English to Irish, or from one of 5 other European languages into Irish. The competition has three aims: to promote a high standard of Irish, to encourage multilingualism among secondary school students and to stimulate students' interest in language careers.

Seó Bóthair/Gluaiseacht (Irish-Language Roadshow)

The Department is providing funding for the ‘Seó Bóthair’ which Conradh na Gaeilge has been running since 2017. The ‘Seó Bóthair’ campaign has now been developed with interactive workshops featuring games, discussion and debate to promote the Irish language in an enjoyable way. Young people are made aware of their language rights, language services and employment opportunities in Ireland and the European Union. This is done via videoconferencing if travel is not possible due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Digital and Technological initiatives

The Department supports digital and technological initiatives that have made a significant contribution to ending the derogation, including:

Terminology in the EU – LEX/IATE, Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, Dublin City University.

Developing a database to make EU-related Irish language terminology and terminology related to Irish Statutory Instruments available to the EU Institutions and to Irish language translators generally.

Network of National Experts, Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, Dublin City University.

The Department is working with the EU institutions to build a network of Irish-speaking domain terminology experts in Ireland. Funding has been provided to DCU to help build this network.

Internship Scheme in the Institutions of the European Union

The Department administers an internship scheme in the institutions of the European Union in cooperation with the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council, the Committee of the Regions and the EU Publications Office. The scheme is focused on the provision of opportunities for graduates to acquire work placements in the specialised fields of translation and proofreading. The scheme contributes to the Government's objective of providing assistance and support to the European Union in implementing the decision to make Irish a working and official language in the EU as set out in the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030. A total of up to ten people are appointed for a period of 10 months starting in October each year.

Funding, according to available resources, is provided for Irish language courses in third level institutions in Ireland.

National Centre of Excellence for Irish Language Careers in the European Union

The National Centre of Excellence plays a key role as a Steering Group for a coordinated approach to the education of students wishing to work in the Union. The third level institutions are the educators and experts on the needs of the Union’s institutions and the Centre now plays a critical role as a point of contact for Union Institutions wishing to recruit Irish speakers.

Advanced Irish Language Skills Initiative

The provision of a cohort of qualified people with Irish language skills to help meet recruitment needs in the EU is being achieved through the Advanced Irish Language Skills Initiative under which the Department provides funding for 12 specialist third level Irish language courses in areas such as translation, interpretation and law.

A handbook entitled 'The Ultimate EU Testbook – Administrators 2020' is being translated by the National University of Ireland Galway, with the support of the Department, as a resource for those interested in entering EPSO competitions and chapter three is available at the following link: http://www.acadamh.ie/acadamh/tionscadail/tastail-epso-abhar-tacaiochta/

The Irish Language in the European Union – Derogation

The Commission adopted the report entitled ‘An Ghaeilge san AE: ar an mbóthar go stádas iomlán faoi 2022’ on 21 June 2021 – this report addresses the potential for translating Union documents and legislation into Irish. Further information on this report is available at this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/irish2022.