Irish used for first time at EU level

The Irish language was officially used for the first time, since it became an official EU language on 1 January 2007, during a plenary session of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) in Brussels on February 14.

Seamus Murray, leader of the Irish delegation and member of Meath County Council, said it was a 'great honour' to be the first to address the EU consultative assembly in Irish, the first language of the Irish State.

Mr Murray, a member of the Union for a Europe of the Nations-European Alliance group (UEN-EA), took the opportunity to welcome the CoR's new members from Romania and Bulgaria, following their countries' accession to the EU.