Time to give equal status to Irish language

There is a huge support at home and abroad to designate Irish as an official language of the EU, writes Sam Boland

COME May, the accession of 10 new member states means that the EU will have 20 languages with official working status. EU Council regulation 1/1958 will be amended to include Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Slovene and Maltese as languages vital to the operation of the EU.

Irish, however, remains a 'treaty language' - a category that includes other minority tongues such as Flemish and Basque. The position of Irish has been the same since Ireland joined the then EEC in 1973, despite its protection in Article 8 of the Irish Constitution as the first official language of the State.

The consequences of this second- class status are many. EU law, which is enforced directly in Irish courts, will not be available in Irish. All employment opportunities with the EU require a knowledge of at least two official EU languages, but Irish people are disadvantaged as they cannot count Irish whether as a mother tongue or as a second, third or fourth language.

Although Irish citizens contribute to the EU translation budget (2 per European citizen per year) they won't have the benefit of essential EU documents in Irish nor employment for Irish translators. For each new official language, the EU will engage 110 new translators and 40 new interpreters. These jobs are not available to an estimated 380,000 native Irish speakers unless they are fluent in a third language.

Moreover, fluent Irish speakers such as Fianna Fáil MEP Seán Ó Neachtain and even EU President Pat Cox cannot use their native tongue in EU proceedings, unless they obtain prior permission.

"The EU has an express policy of recognising diversity of language and culture within its borders," says Pól Ruiséal, head of University College Cork's Department of Spoken Irish (Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha).

The problem, he says, is not with Brussels, but with the Irish Government itself, which, while it holds the EU presidency, does not want to be seen as pushing its own agenda, but rather as neutral administrators.

"But this is such a small issue in terms of cost and effort that it would not upset the Government agenda or interrupt diplomatic protocol," says Mr Ruiséal.

In fact, the State's original decision in 1973, when Jack Lynch was Taoiseach, to relegate Irish to treaty status surprised EU officials.

"What an astonishing proposal from the Irish," wrote one German bureaucrat in the margins of the Irish Government's 1972 submission for accession, a comment that has gone down as folklore among Irish language activists.

Earlier this month a motion was tabled in Britain's House of Commons, calling on the Irish Government to give its first official language equal status with languages such as Maltese, of which there are a similar number of native speakers.

The Irish Government's reticence on the matter is even more baffling, says Mr Ruiséal, when you consider the work done in the last 10 years to encourage its revival.

Radio na Gaeilge, set up in 1972, now broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. TG4, set up in 1996 has shown the fastest growth in a television channel in Ireland. The University of Ireland Act of 1997 demands third-level institutes demonstrate how they will promote the Irish language.

UCC reports a rise from 837 students of spoken Irish in 1998 to 1,368 in 2003. Irish, once considered a dying language, will be one of the 10% of the world's 6,800 languages to survive into the next century.

Moreover, the Official Languages Act, passed only last year, enshrines the right to use Irish before the Dáil and Seanad, and any of its committees, and in court proceedings.

County councils must now have designated Irish officers, and public bodies must produce any documentation of interest to the public in English and Irish. The Act also provided for the establishment of the Office of the Official Languages Commissioner to monitor and ensure compliance with the Act.

Support for the proposal of Irish as a working EU language is widespread. Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny backs the movement. "Fine Gael is fully behind the proposal. Now, during the Irish presidency is the time for action," said FG senator Jim Higgins.

Labour's Michael D Higgins, former minister for the Gaeltacht, said: "We have the opportunity now, but this opportunity may not be available again for many years. I believe we should make a proposal to the European Council."

"Not only is it nationwide, it is worldwide too. Radio na Gaeilge broadcasts worldwide over the internet 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," said Mr Ruiséal.

"When I talk to language specialists in Bochum University in Germany and Lille University in France, they think we're mad not to promote our own language in the EU.

An online petition at www.cnag.ie, has more than 74,000 signatures 75,000 are needed to force a referendum), and a common comment is 'Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam' which translates as 'a country without its language is a country without a soul'. For many, this is a human rights issue. "Imagine waking up one morning and being told your own government thinks your native tongue is second-class," says Mr Ruiséal.

"That's the reality for countless native speakers in the country. It's the most commonly-learned language in the country and the second most spoken. Surely the full recognition of your own language in a democratic forum is a basic human right."