Madam, - As Fianna Fáil spokesperson in the European Parliament on cultural matters, I recently addressed the National Forum on Europe on the status of the Irish language in the European Union.
As a native Irish speaker, I was pleased that the whole session of the Forum was conducted "as Gaeilge". Unfortunately, I do not have that facility in the European Parliament, where I am prevented from using my mother tongue during debates.
I fully support the aims of the "Stádas na Gaeilge" campaign to have Gaeilge declared an official language of the European Union. I have been working towards that goal since becoming a member of the European Parliament and have liaised on the matter with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, the Minister for the Gaeltacht, Mr Ó Cuiv and the Minister for Europe, Mr Roche as well as with the European Commission.
Some improvements in the status of Irish have been achieved. The European Commission has now agreed to recognise Gaeilge for the purposes of job promotion within the EU. I am now pushing the Commission further so that our first national language will be recognised on equal terms for recruitment purposes. This would give a huge boost to fluent Irish speakers.
Now that EU legislation is being amended to create 10 new "official languages" upon enlargement of the Union, I will continue the crusade within Europe to have Gaeilge upgraded from its current "treaty language" status. I want to see an end to linguistic discrimination and second-class treatment for speakers of Irish.
Under current rules, the Irish Government needs only to make a formal request in order for "official" status to be granted to Irish. The Government must use this window of opportunity and make the request to the EU. - Yours, etc.,
SEAN Ó NEACHTAIN, MEP,
Prospect Hill,
Galway.