Plans for Irish EU presidency lost in translation

Government plans to use the EU presidency as a shop window to promote Ireland are getting lost in translation, with one French journalist refusing to attend.

As part of cost-saving measures, the Government decided not to provide translation services for foreign media.

As a result, at least one journalist has refused the all-expenses paid trip to Ireland for the inauguration of the EU presidency in January as the Government refused to provide him with translation services. Jean Quatremer, a journalist with the French daily newspaper Liberation, denounced the Government for failing to provide translation into Europe’s other working languages.