The European Union’s institutions are to take a joint stand at this year’s Higher Options expo as they seek to tempt Irish students to head for Brussels for a career in interpretation when they complete their degrees.
Higher Options is expected to draw up to 30,000 students from across Ireland, offering them a opportunities to meet representatives of third-level institutions from Ireland, Britain, continental Europe and further afield.
The EU institutions’ interpreting service is the largest in the world, according to careersportal.ie. Its conference interpreters ensure discussions held at meetings are correctly interpreted into an official language of the EU, using either simultaneous or consecutive interpreting.
EU interpreters must be able to communicate effectively; grasp varied and often complex issues; react and adapt swiftly to changing circumstances; and work under pressure independently and as part of a team.
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The institutions are looking for candidates who are competent in analysis and problem solving and who have the ability to identify the critical facts in complex issues and develop creative and practical solutions.
Salaries range from €31,000 to €100,000 annually depending on experience. Basic monthly permanent salaries range from around €2,300 a month for a newly recruited assistant-secretary official; €4,500 for an entry level graduate administrator grade; and up to €16,000 per month for a limited number of top level administrators at director general level.
Hanna-Liisa Glaser, spokeswoman for the Directorate-General for Logistics and Interpretation for Conferences at the European Parliament, said the stand at Higher Options will aim to “promote interpretation as a profession”.
“Interpretation services are used in the parliament, where I work, but also in the European Commission and the Court of Justice of the EU,” she said. “We will have two interpreter colleagues there to meet people who might potentially be interested in a career in languages.”
Ms Glaser said the EU institutions have a need for English but also Irish-language interpreters.
[ Irish speakers in demand in Brussels and even in sunny GreeceOpens in new window ]
“We are taking the stand because we have a real need for Irish-language interpreters,” she said. “We have a big, big shortage, so we are really trying to encourage those who have the language skills to think of interpreting or translating.
“People can come and have a go at interpreting, see what it feels like, and whether this is something for them.”
There are 24 official languages in the EU. All of the EU’s institutions provide interpreters in all of those languages according to need and demand.
“A union that has 27 member states and 24 different languages could not function without interpreters and translators,” said Ms Glaser. “It is down to the main principle that every language is equal. Every member of parliament is equal and is entitled to speak their mother tongue in the parliament.
“If you think about elections, it would not be fair to have people casting votes on the basis of their foreign language skills when they should be voting on the basis of their ideals and their political views.
“It’s also about accountability to EU citizens, many of whom do not speak a foreign language. It’s about making Europe accessible to its citizens.”
To become an interpreter for the European institutions you need a master’s level degree in interpreting, but “you don’t need to be a linguist”, she said. “Your first degree can be in anything, but you need certain language skills, of course. Once you have completed the course, you can present yourself for accreditation at the European institutions. Your interpretation skills will be tested.
“Most start off working as freelance interpreters for the institutions and then can become staff members through an open competition if there is a need for staff members.”
Ms Glaser worked as an interpreter for 15 years and said she has “a fairly good understanding of what it is like”.
“It is a very exciting job because no day is the same as another,” she said. “There is no routine as such. Every meeting and sitting is different, so there is a lot of variety.
“There is a need and requirement for further development. When you graduate, like with many jobs, you have to constantly keep learning and stay interested in the world, because of course people can talk about anything and we don’t have a script in front of us.
“There is a lot of preparation that goes in but it is very exciting and versatile and, for people who love languages, it is extremely rewarding because not only do you need to know the language, but you need to know the culture [too].”
She said the job is more about interpreting messages rather than words and phrases. “You need to understand how the people think and act,” she said. “There is a lot of that involved. It is not only words. We are not dictionaries. We interpret meanings rather than word for word interpretations.
“So in order to be as accurate and as good an interpreter as you can between two people who do not understand each other, you need to understand what it is that they are trying to get at. We are translating messages rather than words.
“It’s a wonderful job for anybody who has an interest in languages, is a good communicator and who wants to see the world and maybe get involved in politics.”
While the EU institutions’ stand at Higher Options will focus on interpretation, it will be able provide information about translation as well.
“Interpreters only interpret the spoken word,” Ms Glaser pointed out. “Translators are concerned with the written word. But of course we are there for the same principle, which is multilingualism, which is one the main principles of the EU.”
Translators in the various EU institutions and bodies work in a “challenging, multicultural environment”, and help 500 million Europeans in different EU countries understand EU policies, according to careersportal.ie.
EU linguists play “an essential role” in the development of EU policy and legislation, and support and strengthen multilingual communication in Europe.
Working to some strict deadlines, the job may involve translating a broad range of political, legal, financial, scientific and technical texts, as well as providing wide-ranging linguistic advice to colleagues. The salary ranges from €27,000-€54,000 per year, depending on experience.
The Irish language achieved full parity with the European Union’s other 23 official languages in 2022, which means all legislation enacted must be translated into Irish.
The move has resulted in new career opportunities for graduates interested in working with the language.
Separately, by no later than December 31st, 2030, 20 per cent of recruits to the Irish public service must be Irish speakers, according to the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021. The purpose of this is to ensure that high quality services are available to the public through Irish.
A “critical period” lies ahead for the Government to strengthen the language rights of the Irish language community, an Coimisinéir Teanga Séamas Ó Concheanainn said in recent months.
Mr Ó Concheanainn said the “continuous trend” and the type of complaints received annually by his office demonstrates that the State will have to tackle “large gaps” in the public services provided to the Irish-language community.
Julian de Spáinn, general secretary of Conradh na Gaeilge, described the new law as “groundbreaking”.
“We need to be ambitious in how we address this and get to that point where we have 20 per cent,” he said. “We will see what the Government are trying to do when they publish they national plan to specify all these things but we haven’t seen that yet.
“The State hasn’t really catered for Irish speakers and this legislation is groundbreaking in that it will be the first time that we are actually going to provide services to speakers of Irish.
“That is really important in ensuring people in Gaeltacht areas survive and thrive and continue into the future. If they can’t depend on their own State to provide services to them in their own native language, we are in a bad situation.
“We see the number of daily speakers in Gaeltacht areas reducing in every Census in recent years. We need to address that, and this is one of the ways to do that.
“The State has never really had the capacity to provide services through the medium of Irish since the 1970s. The provision of services through Irish has been reducing since then and it is really non-existent at this stage in many respects.”
Mr de Spáinn said one way to tackle issues around the Irish-language system was to revamp its place in the education system.
“We believe the education system needs to change,” he said. “Competency is going to be based on the European common framework of languages, which is basically a skills-based system that is being used more and more throughout Europe.
“We believe the education system we have, from preschool all the way to third level, should also be based on this European common framework. If it was, it would mean that students coming out of school, some of them would already have attained that level to provide services through the medium of Irish.
“It would also mean that any other student who may have attained a lower grade, that they would know where they are on the ladder in terms of getting to that point where they have the competency to be able to provide services through Irish as well.”
He called for many more third-level courses to be provided through Irish and said Irish-language courses should be available to students in higher education studying courses relevant to the public sector, such as medicine, in order to allow them to achieve the required level of competency.
People have never been more proud of the language, and there are less inhibitions with using it publicly, which can only be a good thing
— Julian de Spáinn
“We want to make is possible for anybody to achieve that level, whether they do it in school or after school, or even if they are not in formal education, that you would have opportunities to learn the language,” Mr de Spáinn said.
“In Wales for example, anybody under the age of 25 or in education can do a course in Welsh for free.”
Another provision of the Act is that public bodies are required to carry out 20 per cent of their advertising in Irish every year.
Mr de Spáinn said this has led to greater exposure for the language. “We’re hearing and seeing the language a lot more now than we did in the past,” he said. “That has led to a great conversation about the language now as well.”
He also pointed to the success of Irish-speaking rap group Kneecap, as well as the success of the movie An Cailín Ciúin, which was nominated in the International Feature Film category of the Oscars in 2023.
“The Kneecap film is very funny, and a lot of people are describing it as the Irish Trainspotting,” he said. “It really shows the language in a different light. We also had An Cailín Ciúin as well, so there are plenty of things going on.
“People have never been more proud of the language, and there are less inhibitions with using it publicly, which can only be a good thing. I’ve always believed that as the world gets smaller with internet and travel, people are looking to see what identifies them more.”
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