Conspicuous disparity displayed by state & public companies.

The total number of complaints received by the Office increased by 6% in 2023 over 2022.

Leagan Gaeilge.

The positive effects of the new language legislation (Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021) are evident from the significant increase in Irish language advertising by public bodies on various media (e.g. television, radio, social media). This follows a national awareness campaign conducted by the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga on the new legislation.

Increase in number of complaints.

39% of the 634 complaints received by Oifig an Choimisinéara Teanga in 2023 concerned commitments made by public bodies in their statutory Language Schemes.

An Coimisinéir Teanga, Séamas Ó Concheanainn commented: “This very high level of complaints reflects the need for the introduction of the new Language Standards which will replace the Language Schemes system.”

It is the function of the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to give effect to the new language standards system under the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021.

Increase in complaints.
The total number of complaints received by the Office increased by 6% in 2023, representing 634 complaints compared to 600 in 2022. The number and nature of complaints received reflect the large gaps at present in public services through Irish. Amongst the more significant gaps is a shortage of staff with sufficient competence in Irish to deliver core public services, e.g. a high standard of telephone and counter service provision through Irish. There is also a conspicuous disparity between the provision of online interactive services to the public in English and the fragmented and sparse provision available in Irish.

Formal investigations into Galway County Council and An Post also highlighted those significant gaps in online services through Irish at present.

Advice service.
The number of cases where the Office has advised public bodies regarding their statutory language obligations has increased by 140 % over the past two years. Monitoring of 18 State Departments during 2023 showed a high degree of compliance regarding recorded oral announcements used on Departmental telephone systems.

The provision of State public service delivery in the Irish language requires reconceptualisation. Sufficient staff with competency in the Irish language is required to build trust and confidence in public services for the Irish-speaking community. Public service campuses/hubs are necessary in Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas, in Gaeltacht Service Towns within and outside the Gaeltacht, within Irish Language Networks, and in Irish language Centres in urban contexts. This approach would undoubtedly help overcome some of the significant challenges faced by the Irish language community in accessing high-quality public services in the Irish language daily.

“The National Plan for the provision of public services through the medium of the Irish language, which will be published later this year, is of particular importance,” added Séamas Ó Concheanainn. "The plan must provide a clear and specific pathway toward enhancing the quantity and quality of Irish-medium public services. A realistic, progressive, and phased approach to attaining the target of 20% of recruits with Irish to the public service by 2030 is crucial to tackling the significant gaps in public services through Irish.”

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New Coimisinéir Teanga appointed to fill 9 month vacancy.

An Leagan Gaeilge

President Michael D. Higgins has today appointed Séamas Ó Concheanainn as Irish Language Commissioner (Coimisinéir Teanga). His nomination by Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, having been accepted by the Houses of the Oireachtas, President Higgins presented Mr Ó Concheanainn with his Seal of Office at a ceremony at Áras an Uachtaráin today.

Séamas Ó Concheanainn

Séamas Ó Concheanainn succeeds Rónán Ó Domhnaill, who spent 9 years as Coimisinéir Teanga before being appointed among the Commissioners at Coimisiún na Meán in the Spring of this year.

“I look forward to the opportunity to make a significant contribution as Coimisinéir Teanga to improving the public services provided by public bodies through Irish to the Irish speaking community," said Mr Ó Concheanainn. "It is a welcome development that the amended language legislation (Official Languages (Amendment) Act, 2021) is currently coming into effect to strengthen the language rights of the Irish-speaking community. The new language legislation includes significant commitments such a National Plan setting out the public sector's (comprising more than 500 public bodies) approach, to ensuring that the language rights of the Irish-speaking community are met. It will be critical to have sufficient human resources with proficiency in Irish to deliver the new public services. A national effort will be required, including a central role for the Irish-medium higher-education sector in providing the qualified staff that public bodies will require for the realisation of the language rights prescribed in the amended legislation.”

The new Coimisinéir also spoke on the provisions that have already been commenced. “I greatly welcome the evident increase in Irish language advertising across all media platforms. Section 10A (Advertising by Public Bodies) places statutory responsibilities on Public Bodies to place a significant portion of their advertising through Irish. It is important that the Irish language is central as a discursive medium in the public sphere.”

A native of An Spidéal in County Galway Séamas Ó Concheanainn has spent three years working as Director of Oifig an Choimisinéara Teanga. Prior to that, he held the position of Director of Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge's Gaeltacht Centre in Carna, Co. Galway, where he had both academic and management responsibilities. Séamas has also been involved in various Irish language-based research topics, including Fios Físe, a national research project that aimed to measure the popularity of TG4 among the Irish-speaking community. He has a particular interest in language planning and community development and has volunteered with a wide range of organisations and community committees over the years.

This is the first time the position of An Coimisinéir Teanga has been filled following a public recruitment campaign. The appointment of An Coimisinéir Teanga is for a term of 6 years.

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How fares our language?

Coimisinéir Teanga issues 2022 report.

In preparation for the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 coming into effect, the Office (OCT) rolled out one of the most extensive awareness-raising programmes since its establishment. Over 2,100 participants attended webinars delivered by the Office in 2022, some of which were run in conjunction with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Of particular note was the 81% increase, from 189 to 284, in the number of cases that OCT shared advice with public bodies regarding their obligations under the Act. A large portion of the increase in advisory cases related in particular to public bodies seeking advice on section 10A. (Advertising by Public Bodies) of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021, which came into effect in October 2022.

Leagan Gaeilge Highlights  ❖ 81% increase in advice issued to public bodies in 2022 ❖ 600 complaints received by OCT in 2022 – 25% from Co. Dublin ❖ Largest ever information campaign undertaken by OCT – more than 2,100 participants in online seminars. ❖ 5 investigations carried out in 2022 – 3 investigations relating to local authorities; the failure by the Health Service Executive to provide vaccine registration through Irish; and an investigation into Iarnród Éireann signage. ❖ Housing planning in the Gaeltacht and Iris

Advertising: Section 10A prescribes an obligation on public bodies that at least 20% of their advertising in any given year is placed through the medium of Irish and that at least 5% of the public body's annual advertising budget is also spent on Irish media. 

Complaints: The Office received 600 complaints in 2022 and although this figure is a decrease from the 727 complaints OCT received in 2021, it is comparable to the number of complaints received in recent years, e.g. 604 complaints in 2020. In addition, one in every five complaints came from the Gaeltacht, and one in every four complaints on a county basis came from County Dublin.

Investigations: Three of the five investigations completed in 2022 involved local authorities. One of those investigations concerned Offaly County Council. In order to complete this investigation, an Coimisinéir Teanga had to take the unusual step of invoking section 22(1) of the Act. Section 22(1) requires of any person from whom an Coimisinéir Teanga requests any information, to provide that information and where appropriate, may require the person to attend before him for the purpose of implementing his functions.

Another investigation revealed that the Health Service Executive (HSE) breached the statutory language duty prescribed in subsection 9 (2) of the Official Languages Act 2003. The breach arose as a result of the HSE implementing an online vaccine appointments service without due consideration for the language rights set out in subsection 9 (2) where the public have the right to communicate in writing, in Irish, with a public body.

During 2022 the Office also monitored the implementation of investigation recommendations in the case of 10 public bodies. Topics relating to housing planning in Gaeltacht areas and Irish language broadcasting were among the most significant issues monitored.

Planning in the Gaeltacht: The number of complaints that have arisen in recent years relating to planning matters in the Gaeltacht is noteworthy. Under section 10(2)(m) of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, planning authorities with Gaeltacht areas in their jurisdiction are required to set specific objectives in their County Development Plan for the protection of the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Gaeltacht including the promotion of Irish as the community language. 

Rónán Ó Domhnaill
Coimisinéir Teanga 2014-2023

An investigation in 2019 showed that Meath County Council failed to meet objectives set out in its County Development Plan regarding this obligation when processing and determining planning applications for housing developments in the Gaeltacht. Whilst Meath County Council is making a genuine effort to implement the recommendations of the investigation, this case highlights the need for clarification in the form of regulations for local authorities with Gaeltacht language planning areas under their aegis along with other cases relating to housing planning in the Gaeltacht brought to the Office’s attention in recent years. To that end, the new statutory guidelines expected to be issued by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage this year will be significant to ensure the implementation of section 10(2)(m) of the Planning and Development Act, 2000.

Broadcasting: As regards Irish language broadcasting, an investigation of RTÉ in 2018 showed that statutory duties relating to the provision of a comprehensive range of programming in the Irish and English languages on its broadcasting services were breached. There has been a significant increase in the number of hours broadcast in Irish on RTÉ television services since the investigation, and it is expected that this increase will continue, on an incremental basis, in the coming years. As a direct result of implementing the recommendations of this investigation, RTÉ has indicated that a television current affairs programme in the Irish language shall be broadcast on RTÉ 1 in 2023 for the first time in over twenty years.

Early this year (2023) the Coimisinéir Teanga, Rónán Ó Domhnaill, resigned to take up a position as Media Development Commissioner in the recently instituted Coimisiún na Meán.

20% complaints related to a lack of services through Irish during the pandemic.

 Leagan Gaeilge 

The statutory duty to provide a service in Irish does not depend on the particular situation involved, the priorities or resources of the public body.

An Coimisinéir Teanga Rónán Ó Domhnaill has said that many people who contacted his office last year expressed serious disappointment that state services through Irish were often marginalised during the pandemic. One third of Covid-19 complaints concerned interactive services, such as booking a PCR Test or a vaccine appointment online, not being available in the first official language of the State.

The Commisinéir said: “A total of 123 complaints were received this year related to the health crisis. Many of those complaints could not be investigated due to a lack of provision in legislation requiring satisfactory service through Irish. The matter highlights again the importance on giving effect to the provisions in new Official Languages Act which came into law late last year.

“My Office will be undertaking a substantial information and public awareness campaign later this year to emphasise the importance of the new legislative provisions to both the public and public bodies. If the various provisions of the new Act are properly implemented, the public shall benefit from the availablity of a wider range of services through Irish than heretofore.”

Some of the main provisions in the new Act include:

• An objective that by 2030 20% of new recruits to the public service and Civil Service be proficient in Irish
• A provision requiring public bodies to ensure that at least 20% of their annual advertising is in Irish
• A provision to ensure communications with a public body on social media are answered in the same language.

Other Reports

• Complaints up 20% in 2021, more than a fifth due to access to Covid-19 services (RTÉ)
• Jump in complaints to Irish language commissioner (Irish Times)

The monitoring function of An Coimisinéir Teanga continued last year and is highlighted in the annual report. The monitoring included following-up on recommendations in previous investigations relating to public bodies such as the Department of Education, the Educational Research Centre and RTÉ. 

The Coimisinéir Teanga looks forward in due course to utilising a new function in the revised Official Languages Act which will enable him to monitor any enactments relating to the use of the Irish language, not just the Official Languages Act as is at present. 

Five formal investigations were concluded by the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga in 2021. One investigation found that Meath County Council breached the Meath County Development Plan by not ensuring the linguistic heritage of the Gaeltacht there was protected when determining planning applications in Ráth Chairn.

Two other investigations related to Dún-Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and their failure to appoint an Irish-language officer and their failure to ensure that a newsletter distributed throughout the area was available in Irish also.

A total of 727 complaints were made to the Office last year – a 20% increase on 2020. 27% of complaints came from Dublin, with a further 27% from Gaeltacht regions – a 4% increase on 2020.

@CeartaTeanga

Trydar, Tweets or Giolcacha!

There is an interesting article in todays Guardian (Am I the only person who still thinks of it as the Manchester Guardian - like the Examiner I still think of it's original local affiliation?).

It is talking about an English speaking journalist who spent many years abroad serving the English press returning home and finding that his country has "reverted" to a truly respectful attitude to its own ancient heritage. There are some similarities perhaps to Ireland too.

I mostly follow the Irish language media, Raidío na Gaeltachta, TG4, Tuairisc, Meoin Eile and Nós and all too few print publications - no daily or weekly is published.

I do not follow the English Language media published in Ireland (The Irish media?) - though it is almost impossible to ignore it's smothering presence. Anyway back to the hillsides of Wales. The language there is respected. The Welsh Government tries to truly represent all the people. They even have two twitter accounts, @LlywodraethCym and @WelshGovernment.

Respect or?

What has Ireland got? 

@merrionstreet is an English Language presence with the odd tweet in Irish - mostly about Language issues though more recently some other topics have sneaked through. Even the President is @PresidentIRL and of late seems to have abandoned routine tweets in the National Language. The Taoiseach never tweets in Irish.

Even the Department with responsibility for the Gaeltacht - @DeptCulturelRL - is in English. Only one unlikely Government Department has the Irish name for its twitter handle - can you guess which?

Indeed the European Parliament with it's Irish twitter account seems to tweet more in this official language than the account of most if not all Government Departments or the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Only two State Bodies regularly publish bilingually on twitter (or at all), both based in the Gaeltacht - Udarás na Gaeltachta and the Coimisinéir Teanga. (Raidío na Gaeltachta and TG4 do mostly publish in Irish of course.) The only State Organisation that has both an Irish & English Language twitter account is The Central Statistic Office @POStaidrimh  and @CSOIreland. Who'll be next?

Even when a Government Department provides an Irish version of a release or policy or a consultation it rarely if ever publicises it. 

The article in the Guardian makes good and encouraging reading for those anxious to ensure the continuation (no not preservation!) of the original language of the Britons. It does however slip into some of the misconceptions people who speak Irish will recognise. It condescendingly describes Hew Edwards, long time anchor of BBC TV News, as an "evangelical Welsh speaker." We are used to this condescension in any obituaries or descriptions have we in Ireland seen, "Irish language enthusiast," "fluent Irish Speaker" "Inverterate Irish speaker" etc etc. I have heard Hew Edwards speak in Welsh on television once. It is his language. He is hardly an evangelist. Was Angela Merkel a language evangelist because she only spoke publicly in German?

A lot of people speak in Irish, my neighbours do, because it is the language of the place. It is their language. Few if any can be described as "evangelists" or even "enthusiasts." They speak Irish because it is their means of communication. Yet the state makes it virtually impossible for them to communicate indeed actually discourages it use. 

Recently I sense that Irish does seem to be more alive on line - like Welsh because of Raidío na Gaeltachta and TG4 but also I believe because of the influence of the Irish Speaking schools. There are other outlets too in radio, print and social media (and not all with State support).

It looks like there will be a long wait however for our Government to emulate the Welsh example. Maybe it's time for another commission or study group.

More than seven minutes and one hundred years!

During this time of centennial commemorations it is perhaps interesting to see just how advanced our country has advanced as a nation.

Shortly before his death and after he signed the treaty and taken Dublin Castle Collins oar as he signed himself, Mícheál Ó Coilean said, "We have now won the first victory... the biggest task will be the restoration of the language ... Irish will scarcely be our language in this generation, not even perhaps in the next. But until we have it again on our tongues and in our minds we are not free ..." (The Path to Freedom - published some months after his death in 1922).

There are those who feel that the low-key transfer of power in Dublin Castle marked the end of the struggle. Of course it was, as the "Big Fella" said "the first victory." There was more to be achieved.

Of course there are some good signs to be seen. The Oireachtas Committee on Irish & The Irish Speaking Communities, first established in 2016 under the intrepid Galway TD, Catherine Connolly (@catherinegalway) and continued in the current Oireachtas under Aenghus Ó Snodaigh (@aosnodaigh) has been doing real thoughtful work. Although initially contributions featured the usual encomiums to the language and hope the contributors loved it and tributes to its beauty it has now settled down to really important work and in no small measure has contributed to the debates in both ouses of the Oireachtas. 

The final measures in the recognition of our language as an official language of Europe should also help increase respect and its use in officialdom. Seán Kelly's works in trying to encourage its use in the Parliament is also meeting some success.

The treaty of accession to the European Community (now European Union) in 1973 was signed by the then Taoiseach in Irish.

Not least of these was the reconciliation with those who still felt a loyalty to the Westminster Parliament and and whose leader, Dublin man Edward Carson, expressed the year before as the New Northern Ireland was set up in 1921, "What a fool I was. I was only a puppet, and so was Ulster, and so was Ireland, in the political game that was to get the Conservative party into power.” (plus ça change!)  Many believe that the treaty of December 1921 set up Northern Ireland. This is not so. It was established by a Westminster Act of Parliament in May 1920 and the first session of the Northern Ireland Parliament was opened by King George V in June 1921 thus it was a entity at the time that the treaty negotiations commenced during Autumn 1921.

The other victory Collins looked forward to was the reversal of the policy of those who "destroyed our language, all but destroyed it, and in giving us their own they cursed us so that we have become its slaves."

Today, one hundred years on how has this task progressed. If we look at communications from the Irish Parliament in Leinster House - Houses og the Oireachtas - which tweets message for the most part in English as @OireachtasNews. (The European Parliament in contrast has an Irish label and tweets almost daily in Irish as @Europarl_GA with  the "Nuacht is déanaí de chuid na Parlaiminte.").

Uachtarán na hÉireann, Michael D Higgins, inexplicably tweets under the title @PresidentIRL has usually tweeted each message in Irish and in English (though this practise seems to have fallen into abeyance in the last few months).

The current Taoiseach (@MichealMartinTD) rarely tweets in Irish (the last time was 9th December), indeed he even expressed his sorrow at the death of Máire Mhac an tSaoi, the great poet in our language, not in the language of her poetry but in the language of the Bard of Avon.

The Government Departments rarely tweet anything in Irish - even the so-called Department of Culture (@DeptCulturelRL).

In a country that officially espouses bilingualism as a state policy no Government Department has a truly bi-lingual website. The only State organisations that have truly bilingual websites are Udarás na Gaeltachta and that of the Comisinéir Teanga.  Foras na Gaeilge,  which is a cross-border body, also mantains a bilingual website.

Not one elected political has a website that can be remotely be called bi-lingual. Thus no political party can truly be said to represent the Irish speaking community or the Gaeltacht Areas. (The same may be said for the websites of any of the Church groups including those which contain the largest Gaeltacht areas within their dioceses.

There is little sign of the slavery referred by Michael Collins being cast aside even as we commemorate him and his patriotism. The picture (from Journal.ie) at the top shows members of the army with covered mouths - unknowingly symbols of this slavery?

For my own part I will feel the the so-called language policy success is when I can renew my driving license or public service card without difficulty or question in what our constitution calls the National Language.

Significant advancement of language rights.

Tá sé ina dlí

An Coimisinéir Teanga welcomes enactmentof new Official Languages Bill but also stresses the importance of the full implementation of the Act.

Having considered the Official Languages (Amendment) Bill 2019, the President, Michael D Higgins, has signed the Bill and it has accordingly become law.

An Coimisinéir Teanga has said there has been significant progress as regards language rights as a result of the enactmentof a new Official Languages Act. Rónán Ó Domhnaill also said, however, that what’s most important now is that the Act is implemented as intended.

President signs Irish language rights legislation into law (Irish Times) Official Languages Act (Amendment) 2021 signed by the President of Ireland (Dept of Culture Irl)

“The enactmentof this legislationcertainly signifies progress as regards language rights. The State must act in a practical and proactive way to give effect to the clear objective in the Act that by 2030 20% of new recruits to the public sector and to the Civil Service be proficient in Irish. It’s clear that the work of the Advisory Committee, to be established under the Act, and the National Plan for the Provision of State Services through Irish, which will have a statutory basis, will be critical in ensuring an increase of Irish speakers in the public service.”

Some of the provisions in the new legislation include:

• An objective that by 2030 20% of new recruits to the public sector and the Civil Service be proficient in Irish.
• Confirmation that a deadline will be set wherebyall State services in Gaeltacht regions will be available through Irish.
• A new monitoring function for An Coimisinéir Teanga.
• A provision to end the language scheme system and replace it with a system of language standards.
• A provision to ensure that communications with a public body on social media are answered in the same language.
• A provision requiringpublic bodies to ensure that marketing material distributed to a class of the public be in Irish.
• A provision requiringpublic bodies to ensure that 20% of their annual advertising is in Irish.
• A provision to ensure application forms are available in Irish.
• A provision to ensure that the logos of public bodies are in Irish or in Irish and English.

Rónán Ó Domhnaill said that his Office will be advising the public regarding the strengthening of language rights as a result of the new legislation. His Office will also advise public bodies regarding their new statutory obligations. The provisions will take effect over time and this work must begin without delay, An Coimisinéir Teanga declared.

The Commisonéir's office is currently reviewing the website to take into account the amendments to the legislation arising from the new Act. It is hoped to conclude this review early in the New Year. In the interim, any question in respect of any specific provision of the new Act may be made directly with his office.

@PresidentIRL @Ceartateanga @OireachtasNews #AchtTeanga