Aodán Finnerty of Coláiste na Coiribe in Galway is this year’s winner of the all-island Aistritheoirí Óga (Young Translators) competition, Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht Dara Calleary TD and the European Commission announced today.
Minister Calleary also handed prizes for the best translation in each province to the following students at an awards ceremony in Europe House in Dublin today:
- Connacht: Méabh Ní Ghionnáin, Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiaráin, An Cheathrú Rua
- Leinster: Faith Nic Aogáin, Gaelcholáiste Cheatharlach, Carlow
- Munster: Orla Ní Alluráin, Coláiste Íde, Dingle
- Ulster: Aoibhin Nic Dhónaill, Coláiste Feirste, Belfast
Minister Calleary said:
“I would like to congratulate all the entrants who took part in this year's competition. The competition was of a very high standard again this year and I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to this year's winners from the four Provinces and to the overall winner, your work has truly shown its value. With the high quality of entries we see in this competition each year, I have no doubt that some of this year's winners will be our colleagues in the European institutions in the years to come and the Young Translators competition gives our young people a great taste of the employment opportunities available in Europe through the medium of Irish.”
Colm Duffin of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation said:
“The Commission’s translators were once again extremely impressed by the standard of this year’s translations and the students’ efforts prove that we have young Irish translators par excellence in Ireland. The future of the Irish translation sector is most certainly in safe hands with such able and creative young people who are keen to go into the profession. I wish to congratulate them on their achievements and long may they continue writing in Irish!”
The Contest
This is the ninth edition of 'Aistritheoirí Óga', a now annual translation contest organised jointly by the European Commission and the Irish Government. The contest has three goals: to promote a high standard of Irish, to encourage multilingualism among secondary school students and to encourage their interest in linguistic professions.
This year 62 students from 22 schools took part in the contest, translating from English, French, German and Spanish to Irish.
There are five categories in the competition: a prize for the best translation from each province and an overall prize for the best translation across the island of Ireland.
The list of 2026 winners:
The best translation across the island of Ireland:
Aodán Finnerty Coláiste na Coiribe, Galway
The best translation from Connacht:
Méabh Ní Ghionnáin Scoil Chuimsitheach Chiaráin, An Cheathrú Rua
The best translation from Leinster:
Faith Nic Aogáin Gaelcholáiste Cheatharlach, Carlow
The best translation from Munster:
Orla Ní Alluráin Coláiste Íde, Dingle
The best translation from Ulster:
Aoibhin Nic Dhónaill Coláiste Feirste, Belfast
The background to the competition
The first edition of the contest was launched in October 2017. It is open to pupils who are at least 15 years of age.
The competition is part of a wider effort to raise awareness of the importance and benefits of the full status of the Irish language as an official working language of the European Union. Since 1 January 2022, all legislation which is enacted in the Union is now translated into Irish (as was already the case for the other 23 official languages). Moving forward the EU institutions need to ensure that they continue to have sufficient qualified staff to fulfil these new obligations.
Podrobnosti
- Dátum uverejnenia
- 6. mája 2026
- Autor/autorka
- Zastúpenie v Írsku