Irish language seeks its place in the official corridors of EU
talking shop
By Uinsionn Mac Dubhghaill, Irish Language Editor
The European Union is set to become the most expensive talking
shop in history, with the possible exception of the gathering of
stonemasons, architects, and labourers who built the Tower of
Babel.
The Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish languages will be accorded full
official and working status if these countries join the EU,
according to a spokesman for the European Commission in Brussels.
This will increase the number of official EU languages from nine
to 12--or twice the number of official languages used by the
United Nations. The move will have considerable financial
implications for the EU budget: in 1988 the budget for official
translations in the EC was 100 million ECUs, or about IEP80
million.
It will also pose huge logistical and administrative problems, as
hordes of translators and interpreters trip over themselves at
official functions, excusing themselves with multilingual ease.
Already, the Brussels bureaucracy consumes the equivalent of a
small forest in waste paper every day, and its consumption of
paper clips is likely to assume Kafkaesque proportions if the move
goes ahead.
The decision has been seized upon by Comhdha/il Na/isiu/nta na
Gaeilge, the co-ordinating body for Irish language organisations,
as an opportunity for the Government to right a historic wrong and
lobby for Irish to be included in the official list.
Irish is not a working language of the EU, although it has limited
recognition as an official language for major texts, such as the
Maastricht Treaty. In the negotiations concerning Ireland's
membership of the EEC in 1971, the then Fianna Fa/il government
decided not to seek full status for Irish, much to the surprise of
EEC officials.
The comhdha/il says that up to 250 well-paid jobs for
Irish-speaking translators and interpreters could be created if the
language is recognised as a working language. It says such a move
would bolster the language in education and other areas and has
written to the Ta/naiste, Mr Spring, asking him to lobby his
European colleagues on the issue. A spokesman for the Department
of Foreign Affairs said the comhdha/il's letter had not yet been
received by the Ta/naiste, possibly due to problems with the
postal service.
According to a spokesman for the European Commission in Brussels,
there would be no practical difficulties in giving Irish full
working status, although it would cause "great surprise" in
Brussels if the Government were to adopt such a stance.
Norwegian and Swedish were closely related languages, he pointed
out, yet they would both be accorded official status, even though
the negotiations for membership are being conducted through
English.
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Michael Everson
School of Architecture, UCD; Richview, Clonskeagh; Dublin 14; E/ire
Phone: +353 1 706-2745 Fax: +353 1 283-7778 Home: +353 1 478-2597