Calling all young translators – the 2026 all-island ‘Aistritheoirí Óga’ (Young Translators) competition is now open

Schools across the island of Ireland will be able to enter their students into the ninth annual edition of the Aistritheoirí Óga competition for translations into Irish.

Schools can apply to take part until 23 January 2026 and the competition will take place on 5 March in all participating schools.

Launching the competition, Aislínn McCrory, Head of Unit in the European Commission said: 

‘It is a great privilege for us here in the European Commission to organise this competition every year with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht. The Commission’s “old translators” are really looking forward to reading our young translators’ translation efforts again this year. It has been 5 years since the exceptional status of Irish in the European Union was lifted and the enthusiasm and creativity of Ireland’s young translators remains a source of inspiration and encouragement for our Irish translation team.’ 

‘I am lucky enough to have been working in the Commission when the competition was first launched and I love to follow the feats of our past winners as they progress in their careers after the competition. Better still, I have even been able to welcome some of our past winners onto our translation team in recent years!’ 

Aislínn McCrory added. 

The project is run in conjunction with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, who also co-sponsor it. Minister Dara Calleary TD had the following to say about the competition: 

‘Since 2017, my Department, in conjunction with the Directorate-General for Translation in the European Commission, has enthusiastically supported the Young Translator’s competition, and the competition has been growing every year since then. The competition presents an excellent opportunity for secondary school students to consider the fantastic employment opportunities that are available in Europe for those who have a high standard of Irish and are multilingual.’

He continued by saying, 

‘The number of opportunities for those who have a good standard of Irish are growing here in Ireland also as a result of the Official Languages Act (Amended) 2021, and this is a source of optimism for those who are interested in the language. I wish all of the students, the teachers and parents who support and encourage them, the best of luck in this year’s edition of the competition.’

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 students across the island of Ireland who were at least 15 years of age on the 1 September 2025 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 the 23 January 2026 by sending an email to DGT-GA-AISTRITHEOIRI-OGAec [dot] europa [dot] eu (DGT-GA-AISTRITHEOIRI-OGA[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu). 

The competition will take place on Thursday, the 5 March 2025.

At the awards ceremony in May 2026, the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht will present the winners with their prizes, including a perpetual trophy for the overall winner.

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.

Career opportunities with Irish in the EU institutions