Irish Life gets anti-jargon accolade

It's often speculated that English may, in fact, not be the first language of the pensions industry.

Such torturous terms as "contributions equivalent premium" or "superannuated guarantee payments" are usually met with something less than a glazed expression.

So it is perhaps surprising that an Irish pensions firm should receive recognition for its avoidance of jargon-based literature and its use of plain English.

Irish Life today won top prize in the "Best at Plain English" category at the annual Plain English Campaign (PEC) awards.

The London-based campaign, which lobbies to remove gobbledygook from public life, chose Irish Life ahead of some 12,000 organisations in 80 countries for giving "clear, honest and straightforward information" to its customers.

The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), however, received a "Golden Bull" award for one of the year's worst examples of waffle from an organisation.

The DAA got the accolade for a 109-word clause published in a contractor's agreement.

"(c) Neither the execution and delivery by the Consultant of this Agreement nor the consummation by it of any of the transactions contemplated hereby, requires, with respect to it, the consent or approval of the giving of notice to, the registration with, the recording or filing of any document with, or the taking of any other action in respect of any government authority, except such as are not yet required (as to which it has no reason to believe that the same will not be readily obtainable in the ordinary course of business upon due application therefore) or which have been duly obtained and are in full force and effect."

PEC’s notorious "Foot in Mouth" prize, a single award for the most baffling quote by a public figure, this year went to British business minister Peter Mandelson for a comment he made at the height of the investigation into the MPs' expenses.

"Perhaps we need not more people looking round more corners but the same people looking round more corners more thoroughly to avoid the small things detracting from the big things the prime minister is getting right," Lord Mandelson said in radio interview.

American Airlines also received a “Golden Bull” award for a rather poetic description of lost luggage, after it sent a bereft passenger a ''Property Irregularity Receipt'' - which PEC described as ''an acknowledgement sent to a passenger that avoids the real problem of lost luggage''.