Irish Want Language Recognized by EU

Dublin has applied for Irish to become an official language of the European Union. Ireland's ambassador Anne Anderson formally tabled a proposal at a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels on Wednesday. The proposal stops short of asking that all documents be translated into Irish. "We recognize that there is a problem with the linguistic services -- that they are overworked," said an Irish diplomat. Instead, for a temporary period of four years, Irish would have a status similar to that of Maltese which means that while joint regulations adopted by the council and parliament would be translated into Irish, rulings from the European Court of Justice would not. This proposal, if agreed by the member states, would represent a significant positive and practical step forward for the Irish language in the EU," said Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern on Wednesday. According to sources, reactions from other member states were generally positive. Ireland's application, which has to be formally approved by all 25 member states before it can go into effect, is expected to strongly influence a similar debate in Spain. There is large political pressure in Spain to have regional languages such as Catalan, Basque and Galician recognized at the EU level. For its part, Ireland is hoping to move "as fast as possible" to see Irish as an official EU language. (EUobserver.com)