Schools across the island of Ireland will be able to enter their students into the seventh annual edition of the Aistritheoirí Óga competition for translations into Irish.
Schools can apply to take part until 1 February 2024 and the competition will take place on 5 March in all participating schools.
Launching the competition, Patrick O’Donovan TD, Minister of State for the Gaeltacht and the Irish language said:
For the past number of years, my Department has been enthusiastic in its support for the Aistritheoirí Óga competition that we organise in conjunction with the European Commission and we are delighted by the competition’s success since it was first launched back in 2017.
This competition brings to the attention of second level students the fantastic employment opportunities that exist in Europe for those who have a high level of Irish and a flair for languages in general.
The number of opportunities in Ireland for people with strong proficiency in Irish is also increasing as a result of The Official Languages Act (Amended) 2021, giving cause for optimism to young people who are interested in the language. I wish both the schools and students who will take part in the competition this year the very best of luck.
Aislínn McCrory, Acting Head of the Irish Language Department at the European Commission, said.
One motto of the European Union is that “Languages take you further”, a motto which holds true.
Languages open doors for us, both in our professional and personal lives, and it is a huge privilege for any Irish person who can speak both Irish and English that they can master both of these languages. The translators of the European Commission are really looking forward to this year’s competition, owing to the fact that our young translators are a source of great hope. I wish them all the best in their endeavours.
Background on the competition
The ‘Aistritheoirí Óga' (Young Translators) translation competition is organised jointly by the European Commission and the Irish Government. It is open to secondary school students across the island of Ireland who were at least 15 years of age on the 1st September 2023 and who have the ability to translate from English into Irish, or from a range of other European languages into Irish.
The competition has three goals: to promote a high standard of Irish, to encourage multilingualism among secondary school students and to encourage their interest in careers with Irish.
There are five categories in the competition: the best translation into Irish in each province and the best overall translation across the island of Ireland.
All schools wishing to participate should register by 1 February 2024 by sending an email to DGT-GA-AISTRITHEOIRI-OGA
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (DGT-GA-AISTRITHEOIRI-OGA[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu).
The competition will take place on Tuesday, 5 March 2024.
At the awards ceremony in April 2024, the Minister of State for the Gaeltacht and the Irish language will present the winners with their prizes – a perpetual trophy for the overall winner and a Samsung tablet for each of the other category winners.
Further information about the competition, the registration process and the rules of the competition can be found here. Examples of previous competition texts can be found here.
The first edition of this competition was launched in October 2017.
The competition is part of a wider effort to raise awareness of the status of the Irish language as an official language of the European Union (EU) and the resulting career opportunities.
Further information
For further information, please contact Pól Ó Grádaigh at DGT-Dublinec [dot] europa [dot] eu (DGT-Dublin[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu) or 087 487 2621.
Details
- Publication date
- 5 December 2023
- Author
- Representation in Ireland