Did you know that Irish Gaelic became an official language of the European Union on January 1, 2007? What the edict meant in practical terms, is that anyone who speaks Irish Gaelic fluently, may address the European Union officially using the Irish Gaelic language. This applies to parliamentary sessions, as well as any European Union committee meetings. With regard to committee meetings, the only requirement is that if an Irish Gaelic speaking session has been planned, that the committee be notified prior in writing, that way a suitable interpreter can be provided. The translators are usually provided by the Irish government itself, who has made it a priority to keep on staff a large number of competent Gaelic to English translators for any official government related Gaelic speaking sessions. All of the costs related to translating Gaelic to any other European Union languages, are at the expense of the Irish tax payers.
