Lost without translation: 300 extra civil servants hired but Taoiseach left with failing headset
German chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks to members of the media at Farmleigh House as Micheál Martin looks on with what seems to be a quizzical air — as well he might, as the Taoiseach's translation headset had failed. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA
How do you turn what should be a simple press conference with two EU leaders into a complete omnishambles?
Despite hiring 300 extra civil servants as Ireland took over the presidency of the EU, Taoiseach Micheál Martin was left lost without translation as he welcomed German chancellor Friedrich Merz to Dublin on Tuesday.
“I will listen carefully to the chancellor on what is important to him and to Germany,” Martin said in his opening remarks, before he was left without any ability to ascertain what exactly Merz had to say.
As Merz began to address reporters outside Farmleigh House, the Taoiseach adopted a quizzical look. Although Martin had been given a headset, it appeared that no one had bothered to check if the thing was actually working, leaving the Taoiseach without a translation.
“This is working intermittently,” Martin said as he glanced over at his adviser and asked whether a question fielded by one of the German press had also been directed at him.
Another headset was found, but also was of no use.
In the crowd, Martin’s diplomatic ‘sherpa’ Helen Blake and Department of the Taoiseach secretary general John Callinan were fumbling with malfunctioning headsets. His chief adviser Deirdre Gillane had given up on her earpiece.
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One official who tried to come to their aid held a number of headsets aloft and dangled them about as if trying to catch a signal. A pair of bunny ear TV aerials might have worked better.
The Taoiseach’s third headset seemed to work, but by that stage, and to his relief, the questions were posed in English, with another in Irish, both languages for which he does not need the assistance of a translator.
While the Farmleigh meeting was not, strictly speaking, part of Ireland’s EU presidency — which is costing the State €293m, it still apparently required the same swarm of civil servants on site to aimlessly go about the business of not covering the basics.
Basics like having working headsets to allow the Taoiseach, his officials, and journalists to understand what was being said.
The level of security has understandably increased as Ireland begins its term of welcoming a conveyor belt of EU officials, heads of state, and commissioners here over the coming months.
Ahead of Merz’s visit, journalists were required to submit official identification in advance and were warned that no parking would be available at Farmleigh, which has been closed to the public for the duration of Ireland’s EU presidency.
Reporters and photographers left their cars outside the gates of the Phoenix Park and walked to a service entrance, where gardaí had erected an airport-style security checkpoint. Names were ticked off lists, laptops opened, and camera bags searched before media groups were escorted onto the grounds.
Security around these events is everything — until it’s not. A handful of journalists who accidentally made their way to Farmleigh’s main entrance were waved through and directed down the avenue, parking without any apparent security screening.
As the press conference got underway, groups of plain-clothes and uniformed gardaí maintained a visible presence around the venue.
Yet once proceedings ended, journalists were largely left to find their own way back. The checkpoint had been vacated and the entrance gate stood open to the public.
Wunderbar.
- Elaine Loughlin, Political Editor
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