Friday morning at 10:30 am, the Trinity College Dublin Students Union (AMLCT/TCDSU) taped a banner reading “Cá bhfuil an Ghaeilge?” (Where is the Irish language?) to the Campanile. The action was taken in protest of College’s lack of support for Irish language rights.
TCDSU President Jenny Maguire, when explaining the flaws with current College action, commented, “The basics are that they’re not following the law. It’s signage, it’s when you go to college services not being able to do it through Irish. It’s the broader thing of needing more Irish speakers that aren’t just forced to go into a course solely for the Irish language. We need courses available in Irish that are far wider and have a far broader scope because Irish is not just an interest or a hobby, it’s a way to do everything.”
Pádraig Mac Brádaigh, TCDSU Oifigeach na Gaeilge, referring to the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 stated that “the government now has a goal based on the Irish language Act of 2021 that 20% of civil service workers will have fluent or a high upper intermediate level of Irish. That’s a ridiculous goal if institutions like Trinity are not willing to provide Irish language training to students, especially students going into civil service jobs, that doesn’t make any sense at all. The Irish language has to be part of our third level education, that’s the only way the language will have a chance at surviving in professional life in Ireland.”
Mac Brádaigh then presented the letter that he would be delivering to Provost Linda Doyle, which includes calls for a tripling in funding for the College’s Irish Language Office and an ambitious Irish Language Action Plan, both of which should be referenced in the Strategic Plan 2025-2029 due to soon be published. The letter also includes a call for an audit on all signage, stationary and audio recordings in College. With clear frustration Mac Brádaigh pointed to the sign behind him welcoming people to Trinity.
“Look at that sign behind you: ‘Welcome to Trinity College Dublin’, no Irish on that sign even. It’s so clear everywhere that Irish is an afterthought and we’re not going to let it be an afterthought.”
A report was also sent to Trinity’s Department of Estates and Facilities, calling attention to College’s failure to comply with the Official Languages Act 2003, which places on College a responsibility to ensure all signage, stationary and audio recordings include the Irish language.
