From The Irish Times, Saturday, 9 April 1994, page 1. Irish language seeks its place in the official corridors of EU talking shop By Uinsionn Mac Dubhghaill, Irish Language Editor The European Union is set to become the most expensive talking shop in history, with the possible exception of the gathering of stonemasons, architects, and labourers who built the Tower of Babel. The Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish languages will be accorded full official and working status if these countries join the EU, according to a spokesman for the European Commission in Brussels. This will increase the number of official EU languages from nine to 12--or twice the number of official languages used by the United Nations. The move will have considerable dfinancial implications for the EU budget: in 1988 the budget for official translations in the EC was 100 million ECUs, or about IEP80 million. It will also pose huge logistical and administrative problems, as hordes of translators and interpreters trip over themselves at official functions, excusing themselves with multilingual ease. Already, the Brussels bureaucracy consumes the equivalent of a small forest in waste paper every dayk, and its consumption of paper clips is likely to assume Kafkaesque proportions if the move goes ahead. The decision has been seized upon by Comhdha/il Na/isiu/nta na Gaeilge, the co-ordinating body for Irish language organisations, as an opportunity for the Government to right a historic wrong and lobby for Irish to be included in the official list. Irish is not a working language of the EU, although it has limited recognition as an official language for major texts, such as the Maastricht Treaty. In the negotiations concerning Ireland's membership of the EEC in 1971, the then Fianna Fa/il government decided not to seek full status for Irish, much to the surprise of EEC officials. The comhdha/il says that up to 250 well-=paid jobs for Irish-speaking translators and interpreters could be creted if the language is recognised as a working language. It says such a move would bolster the language in education and other areas and has written to the Ta/naiste, Mr Spring, asking him to lobby his European colleagues on the issue. A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the comhdha/il's letter had not yet been received by the Ta/naiste, possibly due to problems with the postal service. According to a spokesman for the European Commission in Brussels, there would be no practical difficulties in giving Irish full working status, although it would cause "great surprise" in Brussels if the Government were to adopt such a stance. Norwegian and Swedish were closely related languages, he pointed out, yet they would both be accorded official status, even though the negotiations for membership are being conducted through English. ========== Michael Everson School of Architecture, UCD; Richview, Clonskeagh; Dublin 14; E/ire Phone: +353 1 706-2745 Fax: +353 1 283-7778 Home: +353 1 478-2597