Did you, by chance, attend a Gaelscoil or Gaelcholáiste, or did your upbringing involve the Irish language? Alternatively, you may have taken courses at a Gaeltacht summer school, where you discovered your love for the Irish language, or maybe your interest was sparked while at school.
If you have an enduring interest in the Irish language and wish to incorporate it into your future profession, it could be beneficial to visit An Cheathrú Gaeltachta during Higher Options this week. Students will be supplied with relevant information about potential careers and opportunities for studying in the Irish language.
Since the establishment of the state, fluency in Irish was an employment prerequisite for civil service newbies, although this was revoked in 1974 as the state distanced itself from the reinvigoration and revival of the Irish language.
Interestingly, just before this reversal, in 1970 the Irish language was granted full status within the European Community. Sadly, the Irish Government declined to recognise this. As a result, when European bureaucratic positions were proclaimed, applicants were required to be proficient in English plus one additional official language. Within this context, Irish was not considered.
Happily, the situation has improved. Echoing the sentiment of the proverb ‘hope is every distress’, tenacious collective action has led to significant progress.
In 2005, the Irish Government lodged a plea to have Irish recognised as an official and working language. This was approved in 2007. However, due to an insufficient number of translation personnel and Irish language technology resources, an exemption was implemented until it was uplifted in 2021. Now, Irish has been accorded full and equal status with other official union languages.
This has opened up various job opportunities, resulting in numerous individuals being employed in the EU as Irish language translators, interpreters, and lawyer-linguists.
The prospect of increased job opportunities in Ireland is being anticipated. According to the Official Languages Act, by 2030 one fifth of new recruits in the public sector must have competency in the Irish language. All public services in the Gaeltacht region will be promised to be given in Irish as well.
Hence, it is crucial to ensure a sufficient number of graduates are equipped with these qualifications by the stipulated deadline. The Department of the Gaeltacht plans to launch a national campaign in the near future, with a focus on job prospects within civil services for Irish speakers.
Over 130 stalls will be featured in the main RDS hall this year at Higher Options, where universities and other higher educational organisations will provide secondary school students critical information about tertiary level courses.
As part of the yearly event, expert-led discussion panels will be organised on the topic of ‘Careers with Irish’, expected to garner significant interaction from participants. These dialogues will occur in the Gaeltacht Quarter on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10.15-10.35 and 13.25-13.45, along with a Friday session from 11.25-11.45.
Notable speakers will include Páidí Ó Lionáird, who worked as Communications Manager with the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga for two years. His job involved making the public aware of their rights, as well as public bodies of their responsibilities. Earlier in his career, he was a broadcaster, teacher, and journalist, having a successful tenure with RTÉ and TG4 for a quarter of a century.
Ruadhán Mac Cormaic is another praiseworthy speaker who became an editor in 2022. Before this, from 2017 to 2022, he was a deputy editor. His initiation into journalism began in 2007 when he claimed the honoured prize of The Douglas Gageby fellowship for young journalists. Since then, he has held several impressive posts such as migration correspondent, Paris correspondent, legal affairs correspondent, and foreign affairs correspondent.
In the European Commission, Pól Ó Grádaigh holds the role of Language Affairs Officer, proactively motivating the Irish community to learn different languages and further, to pursue job opportunities within EU institutions. Before working for the Representation, Pól served in Brussels for two years as a translator working primarily with the Irish language at the Commission’s central office. His prior experience includes a stint as a journalist, reporting from Cairo for the German dpa press agency at the time of the political unrest following Egypt’s 2011 revolution. Later, from 2017 to 2020, he reported in Paris as well. He also worked in the Irish civil service, where one of his tasks involved addressing the status of the Irish language in local governance.
Orlaith Nic Ghearailt, who grew up in Tipperary, began her journey with Conradh na Gaeilge in 2016. She presently serves as the organisation’s human resources manager whilst also being involved in awareness campaigns. Her pivotal role includes managing Seachtain na Gaeilge le hEnergia, the global festival that is celebrated by as many as one million participants annually, marking it as the largest festival that revels in the Irish language.