Use of Irish in Brussels urged

Government Ministers were yesterday encouraged to contribute to EU Council of Ministers meetings in the Irish language.

The injunction to use Irish came from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, who urged his colleagues to use the language at EU meetings as a translation service was now mandatory after years of pressure from the Government.

However, in a briefing to his fellow Cabinet members, Mr Ahern told them that there was a problem finding suitably qualified people to translate EU legal documents into Irish and the job was being done for the moment by the translators in the Oireachtas.

When asked if Ministers were also encouraged to use the Irish language at Cabinet meetings and in Dáil debates, a Government spokesman said that those who had proficiency in the language should use it. He said Mr Ahern had encouraged Ministers who were proficient in the language to use it at EU meetings as there was a mandatory requirement to have their contributions translated into Irish.

However, the spokesman did concede that politicians from a number of countries who spoke lesser-used languages regularly used English at EU meetings to ensure that they were clearly understood.

Also at the Cabinet yesterday the Government agreed to an amendment to the Civil Law Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, 2006, which will end the mandatory requirement for all newly qualified solicitors and barristers to pass an Irish qualifying exam.

In future, there will be a requirement to have a register of suitably qualified solicitors and barristers so that people wishing to avail of their services will be able to find a legal representative who can speak the language.