Translating reports - Requirement sees money thrown away

Spending hundreds of thousands of euro on something nobody wants is economic lunacy.

Those who wish to promote the Irish language are certainly not helping their cause by wasting money on translating reports for which there is no demand.

Cork County Council spent €90,000 on bringing out local development plans in Irish, but so far there has not been a single request for a copy. It cost an extra €26,000 to bring out an Irish version of the county development plan in Waterford that nobody has requested.

Local authorities are required to have such plans translated under the terms of the Official Languages Act, which came into effect in 2003. This is going to cost local bodies hundreds of thousands around the country.

The Irish language is important, but spending money on reports that nobody wants and nobody will read is a complete waste. This will inevitably strengthen the arguments of those who are opposed to the whole language revival movement.

There have been imaginative language initiatives that have had public appeal. Surely those behind such projects can come up with practical ways of interesting people in the language.

Throwing money away on translating material that nobody wants to read is an obscene absurdity.