By Adam Jackson
The Irish Government will be providing interpretation services for meetings held in Ireland throughout the country’s first EU Presidency since Irish reached full status as an official EU language.
European Affairs and Defence Minister Thomas Byrne signed an agreement in January providing interpretation services for informal ministerial meetings and summits in Ireland.
These services will last the duration of Ireland’s eighth European Union Presidency from July to December this year, meaning that Irish will be given equal status to the other 23 official languages of the EU.
This is the first time that Ireland has held the Presidency since the Irish language gained full status as an official language of the EU, and the Irish Government is taking the opportunity to promote the language.
“The agreement marks a significant milestone in Ireland’s linguistic and cultural engagement with the EU and provides an opportunity to reaffirm Ireland’s commitment to multilingualism, and the full integration of the Irish language, in European affairs,” the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement.
Interpretation provisions, as well as the establishment of Irish as an official EU language, are part of the Government’s ongoing attempts to promote the use of the Irish language in an official capacity.
“I believe that the ability for Ministers and officials, from across the EU, to engage fully in their own languages supports meaningful dialogue, effective negotiations and good decision making,” Minister Byrne said in the statement.
By using the Irish language at an official level, the Government seeks to promote the use of the language more broadly and create more jobs for Irish speakers within the Government.
“I think it’s incredibly important that Irish, like any other official language, be given the necessary provisions for interpretations within the EU,” said Hannah Ní Dhoimhín, manager of Dréimire Language Services.
Dréimire is a company that provides resources for Irish language translation to organisations and individuals across Ireland. It is one of many organisations dedicated to current Irish language revitalisation efforts.
“It’s necessary that provisions be given to Irish language translation, in all areas, not only because Irish is our official language, but because Irish speakers are a minority group that the government needs to consider,” said Ní Dhoimhín.
While emphasising the importance of translation services, Ní Dhoimhín also acknowledged that the Government has been lacking in its engagement with Irish speakers, claiming it has not been taking its responsibilities to Irish speakers seriously enough.
“They just have to engage with Irish in a much more meaningful and serious way; because it is a minority language, the Government has been able to back away from any actual responsibility to the language,” Ní Dhoimhín said.
Despite its status as the official language of Ireland, Irish is not the primary language of most people living in Ireland.Of the 40% of the population who reported speaking Irish in the 2022 census, over half of that number said they couldn’t speak it very well.
“Any minority language revitalization effort should be led at the micro level. It must be a bottom-up situation, but bottom-up doesn’t mean that there is no responsibility at the top. It’s a stalactite-stalagmite situation. They need to meet in the middle,” Ms Ní Dhoimhín said.
In January Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht Minister, Dara Calleary announced that the Action Plan for Irish Language Public Services 2026-2028 had been approved by the Government.
This plan seeks to provide public services in Irish on the same level as they are in English. This includes public services such as healthcare, policing and social welfare.
It remains unclear how effective this plan, or the interpretation provisions for Ireland’s EU Presidency, will be in the preservation and revitalisation of the Irish language.