As a result, there are a diverse range of employment opportunities available in the linguistic field for Irish speakers – as translators, interpreters, lawyer-linguists, proofreaders, and linguistic assistants/secretaries.
The Irish Government and the European Commission will be holding a seminar about these career opportunities in Dublin on 21 January 2026. It will include practical translation and interpretation workshops. More information and registrations, by 7 January 2026, here.
Below you will find a brief outline of each of the different roles which exist and links to open competitions where available.
Translator
Translators in the EU institutions work on a wide range of texts – legal (EU legislation), political (speeches, articles, etc.), policy and communication (brochures, webpages, etc.), among others. In addition to their own expertise, translators work with a variety of tools - dictionaries, translation memories, neural machine translation, etc. – to ensure that texts are finalised within the required deadlines.
Current and recent competitions:
The Secretariat General of the Council of the European Union is recruiting a temporary agent (grade AD5) for the post of Irish language linguist in its translation service, based in Brussels.
Full details here.
Applications must be submitted by 5 January 2026 at 11am Irish time (12 noon Brussels time)
An interinstitutional competition for contract agents
Closing date for application - none
Information about the most recent competition for permanent translators and the most recent European Commission competition for temporary agent contracts.
Alternatively, please send your CV to DGT-GA-EARCAIOCHT-EOLAS
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (DGT-GA-EARCAIOCHT-EOLAS[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
Interpreter
Interpreters work with the spoken word, ensuring that speakers can speak their own language and trust that their messages are simultaneously and correctly understood. Interpreters in the EU institutions must have a third level qualification in Conference Interpreting.
For further information about becoming an interpreter with the EU institutions, please contact SCIC-IRISH-INTERPRETERSec [dot] europa [dot] eu (SCIC-IRISH-INTERPRETERS[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu).
In addition, detailed information about working as a freelance interpreter with the EU institutions is available here.
Linguistic Assistant/Secretary
Linguistic assistants help to ensure that the work the translators do is produced on time and that it reaches the people who requested it. In addition, they provide other administrative support to the linguistic unit – helping to organise activities, process administrative requests and supporting the Head of Unit.
Current and recent competitions:
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation is seeking a Linguistic Assistant on a temporary contract for one of its Irish language units based in Brussels. Excellent spoken and written Irish is required as well as a very good knowledge of English.
Full details and the application form are available here.
Deadline for applications: 9 January 2026 at 12 noon CET (11 am Irish time).
Lawyer-Linguist
Lawyer-linguists ensure that a particular linguistic version of a law accurately reflects what was agreed and written in the original version so that an EU law is applied in the same way from one EU Member State to another. Lawyer-linguists must have a legal qualification.
Current and recent competitions:
Information about the most recent interinstitutional competition for lawyer-linguists.
Proofreader
Proofreaders prepare documents for publication – they check the text and ensure that it is presented in the required format.
Current and recent competitions:
An interinstitutional competition for contract agents:
Closing date - none
The Publications Office of the European Union is looking for Language Editors to join its English and Irish language teams in Luxembourg. For further information, contact liga [dot] ledinapublications [dot] europa [dot] eu (liga[dot]ledina[at]publications[dot]europa[dot]eu)
Traineeships
Translation traineeship in the EU institutions
Twice each year, the European Commission offers a five month internship for graduates. Applicants can choose to apply specifically for a translation internship. Please note that, for this traineeship, applicants must be in a position to use three EU languages. Registration takes place each summer for the March-July session and in January for the October-February session.
The European Parliament also offers translation traineeships. For information about other traineeships offered by the EU institutions, please visit the relevant section on ‘EU careers’ and use the drop down menu at the bottom of the page.
Irish Government internship for translators
The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport, Gaeltacht and Media calls for applications for an interinstitutional internship programme for Irish-speaking translators, proofreaders and interpreters each year. The internships last for a period of 10 months, beginning on 1 October. Applicants are not required to have a third EU language. Further information about this year’s programme is available at this link.
Further information
The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is the recruitment service for the EU institutions. It runs the competitions for all permanent and many temporary positions in the EU institutions. See 'EU Careers' for further information, create an account and upload your EU CV.
In addition, the Irish Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs runs an EU Jobs campaign to increase awareness about the career opportunities available for Irish people in the EU institutions. They can also be followed on social media @EUJobsIreland. The Government also supports candidates who have applied for permanent jobs in the EU institutions, providing information and advice for the duration of the competition.
The European Movement Ireland produces a ‘Green Book’ (updated annually) which details the internships and other job opportunities available for Irish graduates in Brussels. In addition, the European Movement issues a weekly newsletter listing up to date career opportunities and open competitions. You can subscribe to it at the following link: https://www.europeanmovement.ie/jobs-list or follow the European Movement Ireland on social media.