Customised Irish Courses for State Organisations
Did you know that the Irish public has the right to request services from public sector organisations through the medium of Irish? The Official Languages Act (Amendment) 2021 aims to standardise the quality and availability of services through the medium of Irish across the public sector and also offers state bodies a detailed roadmap for the future of the language. The language rights of the Irish-speaking community are growing, and it is now more important than ever that civil servants have the language skills to provide a high-quality service in Irish to Gaeilgeoirí.
Organisations all over the country are under increased pressure to provide Irish-language training to their employees. Gaelchultúr has been selected by the state body Foras na Gaeilge to develop and provide Irish-language courses for that sector and it is with great pride that Gaelchultúr offers language training opportunities to a variety of state organisations.
Are you a public sector employee? If so, are you confident that your own organisation is fulfilling its language obligations? If not, let Gaelchultúr help you in fulfilling your Irish-language duties with a customised Irish course specially designed to cater to your language needs.
At Gaelchultúr, we understand that goals, resources, and budgets vary from organisation to organisation. However, these factors should not prevent bodies for promoting the use of Irish and fulfilling their language obligations. Gaelchultúr makes every effort to cater to all organisations who are committed to promoting the use of Irish regardless of their resources, goals, or budget.
Gaelchultúr has provided training services to over 110 public sector and local authority organisations over the past fourteen years. In recent years, Gaelchultúr has also collaborated with a range of state bodies to design and deliver bespoke Irish courses to enhance the standard of Irish among their employees. These organisations include TG4, Bank of Ireland, the Houses of the Oireachtas, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Fulbright and an Garda Síochána.
Among the updated provisions set out in the amended Act, public bodies must significantly increase their marketing and advertising activities carried out through the medium of Irish. In addition, a provision was published to ensure that the logos of public bodies will be in Irish, or in Irish and English, going forward. Not only that, it has been confirmed under the amended Act that all state bodies must respond to emails, letters, and social media correspondences in the same official language (Irish or English) in which they were originally written. Probably the most significant provision published in the Act, however, is that 20% of new recruits in the public service will be competent in Irish by the year 2030! This provision is great news, not only for the Irish language itself but for the community of Irish speakers who will benefit from increasing employment opportunities.
If your organisation needs advice or assistance in improving the standard of Irish among its employees or in fulfilling its obligations under the Official Languages Act, contact us at fios@gaelchultur.com to discuss your requirements.
It is a great advantage to be able to carry out your work through Irish. If you’re personally interested in improving your language skills to avail of employment opportunities in the public sector in the future, take a look at Gaelchultúr’s range of professional Irish-language courses. Between accredited programmes such as the Certificate in Professional Irish and short intensive courses that focus on Phone Skills and Customer Service and Giving Speeches in Irish, there are plenty of training opportunities available for those who want to improve their language ability for career progression.
