Winners of ‘Aistritheoirí Óga 2022’ (Young Translators) announced

Five secondary school students made the list - one from each of the four provinces in Ireland, who translated from English to Irish, and one who was selected for her excellent translation from French to Irish. 

This year's winners come from Carlow, Galway, Kerry, Roscommon and Tyrone (see list below). 

Cainnear Nic Réamoinn from Coláiste Chroí Mhuire in Galway was awarded the overall prize for the best translation in the country. 

Speaking at today’s awards ceremony, Jack Chambers TD, Minister of State for the Gaeltacht and Sport reminded those attending that the derogation relating to the Irish language in the EU institutions came to an end on 31 December 2021.  He said that it was ‘extremely important that the people hoping to fill the positions in the EU institutions in the years to come will have exemplary translation skills.’  He said that ‘today’s winners have demonstrated excellent skills and I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the winners and to all of the candidates who participated in the competition this year.  Well done!’

Seán Hade, Head of the Irish Language Department at the European Commission said that the participants in this year’s competition should be ‘very proud of what they have achieved’ and that ‘the high standard and accuracy demonstrated by the winners in their translations lift my heart.’ Seán went on to point to the range of languages used by the students in this year’s competition as ‘a very welcome development’ and one that ‘we hope to build on in the years ahead.’  Finally, he said that he hoped all participants would be ‘inspired to consider translation as a future career.’ 

The Contest

This is the fifth 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. 

Students from 22 schools took part in this year's contest, translating from English, French, German and Spanish to Irish. 

There are six categories in the competition: a prize for the best translation from each province, an overall prize for the best translation across the island of Ireland, and a prize for the best translation from a language other than English.

The list of 2022 winners:

The best translation across the island of Ireland:

Cainnear Nic Réamoinn, Coláiste Chroí Mhuire, Galway

The best translation (English to Irish) from Connacht:

Tomás Ó hUiginn, Coláiste Pobail Roscomáin, Roscommon

The best translation (English to Irish) from Leinster:

Seán Holt, Gaelcholáiste Cheatharlach, Carlow

The best translation (English to Irish) from Munster:

Liam Ó hÓgáin, Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, Kerry

The best translation from (English to Irish) Ulster:

Niamh Ní Mhuirí, Scoil Iósaef, Tyrone

The best translation from a language other than English (translation from French to Irish):

Cainnear Nic Réamoinn, Coláiste Chroí Mhuire, Galway                                              

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. From 1 January 2022, all legislation which is enacted in the Union must be translated into Irish (as is already the case for the other 23 official languages).  For that reason, the EU institutions will need to ensure that they have sufficient qualified staff to fulfil the new obligations.