Translation services in Irish

Madam, - The arguments advanced by Niall Ginty (July 21st) have been addressed ad nauseam by both Minister Éamonn Ó Cuív and …

Madam, - The arguments advanced by Niall Ginty (July 21st) have been addressed ad nauseam by both Minister Éamonn Ó Cuív and by informed members of the public in your Letters page in recent years.

The cost of implementing the Official Languages Act for each State department amounts, on average, to approximately 3 per cent of that Department's overall budget - nothing like the "millions of taxpayers' money" to which Mr Ginty refers.

This alleged "creeping legislation" has been implemented on a phased basis for the past three years to give State departments enough time to adjust to its requirements. Not only that, but when it was first introduced as a Bill, Mr Ó Cuív informed all media outlets of its future implementation.

Not surprisingly, however, the mainstream media had no interest in what he had to say. Since then, media coverage of the costs involved has not been one of Irish journalism's finer moments, to put it mildly.

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Regarding the relevance of State documents being translated into Irish, we should bear in mind that a native Irish speaker from Donegal recently exposed a loophole in the Irish legal system after being caught speeding, when he could not receive, among other things, a copy of the Road Traffic Act in Irish (to which he was legally entitled). Consequently, his case was thrown out.

It is precisely because of cases such as this that State documents must be available in both of the official languages. In the meantime, why should journalists working with Raidió na Gaeltachta or TG4 be denied Irish versions of those same documents and consequently not be able to meet certain deadlines which their line of work requires?

Translation services are only a small part of a greater effort to provide State services to the Irish-speaking community in a language of their choice, a basic civil right which they had been denied until now. This Act seeks to lend practical reality to the constitutional status of the language. It has nothing to do with Unionist ambitions - another matter entirely.

Anyone seeking to deny Irish speakers the right to services in their own language adopts a grossly anti-liberal position which is "wholly inappropriate" and, furthermore, has no place in the 21st century. - Is mise,

KEVIN HICKEY, Larchfield Road, Goatstown, Dublin 14.