Brussels (Brussels Morning) – Seán Kelly argued that Irish speakers in Northern Ireland, who hold Irish passports, can face difficulties in applying for jobs with the parliament.
According to the Irish MEP and former president of the GAA – Seán Kelly, “Immediate and sustained action” is required by the European Parliament to ensure the Irish have ministered equally to other European languages. He has also called for it to specify a connection with Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) to compel more Irish-speaking staff. Mr Kelly has reported to the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, presenting his concerns.
What are the gaps in Irish language services in the EU?
Irish was identified as an official language of the European Union (EU) in 2007. It is one of 24 official languages in the EU, which suggests that speeches in the parliament and papers are translated to and from Irish. But since then a deficiency of translation staff has meant that the number of EU documents summarised in Irish has been limited. A European Commission report in 2021 stated that EU institutions operated 138 Irish speakers, although over half of the jobs were momentary. It stated that although Irish translation had grown, recruiting enough Irish-speaking staff was “the main challenge” to delivering full services in Irish.
How is Seán Kelly addressing Irish language issues in the EU?
Mr Kelly in his letter to President Metsola, stated that there were still “significant gaps in the condition of Irish language services” which needed “critical and comprehensive solutions”.
He stated that there was still “ambiguity” over whether Irish orators who live in Northern Ireland, and who hold Irish passports, were qualified to apply for translation jobs in the European Parliament. Mr Kelly also called for the parliament to appoint a Memorandum of Understanding with QUB to allow it to recruit more Irish interpreters and translators. He stated this “could be instrumental in drumming into another significant pool of Irish language talent”.
Professionals from Queen’s already established bilingual translations for Belfast City Council, for example. The EU currently subsidises a postgraduate course in interpreting at the University of Galway in the Republic of Ireland.
Among the other steps Mr Kelly has proposed are for school students in Irish-speaking places to get better career guidance on operating in the European parliament and for “targeted recruitment campaigns within Gaeltacht regions”. The Gaeltacht represents parts of Ireland where Irish is the immediate spoken language rather than English. “The parliament’s responsibility to multilingualism requires that all official languages be ministered equally,” Mr Kelly’s letter concluded.
“It is critical that we address the present shortfall in Irish interpretation and translation assistance with the urgency and dedication it deserves.”
What are the challenges in recruiting Irish-speaking staff?
Separately, new Irish and Ulster-Scots language regulations for Northern Ireland were presented in 2022. But key aspects of that change have not yet come into effect. An Office of Identity and Cultural Expression has not yet been confirmed. An Irish language commissioner and a Commissioner “for the Ulster-Scots and the Ulster-British tradition” have not yet been drafted either. On 10 June, Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly informed the assembly that recruitment for the seats was “a lengthy process”.
“We are now waiting for more fragments around the legalities, the contracts, the recommendations, the job specs and all those different requirements that we need to look at,” she stated. She stated that the Executive Office hoped “to report due course” on recruiting eight staff in all for the Office and the commissioner posts.
