User:Jnestorius/Irish language statutes

Besides the Irish Statute Book, check also the Oireachtas debates on the bills. The debate is most likely in Irish when the text is; if it's passed in both languages this would have to be be noted at some point in the proceedings. The Constitution debates (1937 Draft and later amendments) may be unique in that the substantive debate on the English "translation" occurs first, and the Irish "original" is then waved through.


 * The Constitution is in English and Irish; the Irish text takes precedence. (The enrolled text is not the same as the "popular" text: the latter incorporates post-1940s spelling reforms.)
 * Acts of the Oireachtas may be passed in English or Irish or both.
 * If passed in both, I would guess Irish takes precedence
 * constitutional amendments are passed in both
 * and each text of the amending act amends both the English and Irish texts of the Constitution
 * bad exception: First Amendment not only passed only in English, but also amended only the English text. It was not until the Second Amendment that the Irish text was brought into line.
 * The quasi-Constitutional Republic of Ireland Act 1948 was passed in both
 * If not passed in both, an "official translation" is made into the other language
 * passed in Irish:
 * Acts relating to the Irish language
 * Illustrative case: the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003 was in English, but Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Act 2013 was in Irish; it amends the original to make translations part of the Commission's remit.
 * No longer sure of the preceding; English Act text also online; bill stages shows most debates in Irish but Explan Memo was in both langs; and debate on Seanad Committee Stage amendments referred to the English text, though doc uses both. Dáil doc ditto but Dáil cttee debates private members' proposed amendments were to English text and minister's were to Irish text.
 * Others: Place-Names (Irish Forms) Act, 1973; Bord na Gaeilge Act, 1978; Legal Practitioners (Irish Language) Act 2008
 * Official Languages Act 2003 may be bilingual?
 * Effects includes amendment of 2003 act via the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 to both English and Irish texts of 2003 act; interesting as (a) implies 2003 act was indeed bilingual and (b) seems that 2011 act was English-only.
 * Exception: Irish Legal Terms Act, 1945 was apparently in English, though the SIs under it were in Irish.
 * Acts relating to the Gaeltacht
 * Illustrative: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act, 1956 in Irish (estb Minister for the Gaeltacht; Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924 was in English
 * Instances: Housing (Gaeltacht) Act, 1929; Gaeltacht Industries Act, 1957 (estb. Gaeltarra Éireann) Údarás na Gaeltachta Act, 1979
 * Exception: An Blascaod Mór National Historic Park Act, 1989 is in English: it is still in the Gaeltacht, though uninhabited.
 * passed in English: everything else
 * Note Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 s.62 amends Official Languages Act 2003 s.7, with subsections (a) and (b) amending Irish and English texts respectively; the 2011 Act is in English though the 2003 Act is in Irish.
 * exception: The Expiring Laws Acts were in English, but schedules had bilingual headings from 1922 to 1951 and (from 1923) bilingual post-1922 list items; but 1952 was English-only. I would guess the 1922 practice was because it was so early things were unsettled, and the 1923 on was just copy-paste from 1922. The 1952 change might correspond to the 1951 Irish general election change of government.
 * exception: The British-Irish Agreement Act, 1999 was mostly English but Part VI was in Irish with an official translation included.
 * Oireachtas debates rushed through 9–11 March 1999
 * Dáil second stage Given that the part of the Bill dealing with the language body will replace the Bord na Gaeilge Act, 1978, it is set out primarily in Irish in the Bill, with an English translation attached to facilitate British and Northern Ireland readers. A courtesy translation into Irish of the relevant part of the Agreement is being supplied to Deputies and Senators with the Bill. ... I will refer on Committee Stage to the bodies dealing with the inland waterways and the Irish language. There are matters of importance that need to be teased out.
 * Dáil cttee stage only considered up to section 16 (Irish language is sections 24–30) and then guillotined "That amendments 1 to 11, inclusive, set down for Committee Stage and not disposed of are hereby made to the Bill; in respect of each of the sections undisposed of, the section or, as appropriate, the section, as amended, is hereby agreed to in Committee; the Schedule and Title are agreed to in Committee; the Bill, as amended, is accordingly reported to the House; amendments 1 and 2 set down for Fourth Stage and not disposed of are hereby made to the Bill; Fourth Stage is hereby completed; and the Bill is hereby passed"
 * Seanad cttee stage did explicitly approve sections; discussed two sections but no amendments proposed.
 * The splitscreen shows the wackiness of English and Irish in both sides.
 * The British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Act, 1999 was in English (it amended only a part of the original that was in English)
 * The British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Act, 2002 has sections in both languages, and no official translation.
 * Statutory instruments
 * I would guess that it's as for Acts: Irish for Gaelige/Gaeltacht, English otherwise.
 * Gaeilge:
 * SIs under the Irish Legal Terms Act, 1945 were in Irish
 * Placenames Orders misleading impression that switched from Irish to English when govt changed in 2011. In fact all are Irish, with English translation included.
 * Gaeltacht: 350/1982 Meath Gaeltacht limits; 202/1984 and 104/1989 Údarás election date; 59/1985 (Rossaveal harbour rates) 40/2015 transfer of functions
 * Exceptions, in Irish not English (maybe correlates with the Dept of the Taoiseach? Was the Secretary of the day a Gaeilgeoir?)
 * SR 55-57 of 1932 were in both (deputising for absent ministers)
 * SI 124/1975 and later: statistics and survey "Staidrimh" / "Suirbhéireacht(aí)" / "Staitisticí"
 * SI 274/1977 and later: junior minister delegated powers "Tharmligean"
 * SI 114/1980: vocational education grants "Gairm[-]oideachais"
 * 424/1983: Ombudsman Act appointed day
 * 735/2005: Registration of Business Names rules
 * 315/2010: Charities Act 2009 (Commencement) Order 2010. (English marked "Official Translation") Minister is also Gaeltacht minister
 * bilingual 37/2003 Solicitors' Continuing Professional Development
 * Don't think there are many Constitutional SIs:
 * S.I. No. 27/1949 - The Republic of Ireland Act, 1948 (Commencement) Order, 1949 was in English.
 * S.I. No. 377/1999 - British-Irish Agreement Act, 1999 (Commencement) Order, 1999 and S.I. No. 378/1999 - British-Irish Agreement (Amendment) Act, 1999 (Commencement) Order, 1999 both passed in English; the the 19th amendment's "declaration provided for in Article 27.7.3" was I guess (a) not an SI and (b) made in English.

Const
Article 25
 * 4
 * 3° Every Bill shall be signed by the President in the text in which it was passed or deemed to have been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas, and if a Bill is so passed or deemed to have been passed in both the official languages, the President shall sign the text of the Bill in each of those languages.
 * 4° Where the President signs the text of a Bill in one only of the official languages, an official translation shall be issued in the other official language.
 * 5° As soon as may be after the signature and promulgation of a Bill as a law, the text of such law which was signed by the President or, where the President has signed the text of such law in each of the official languages, both the signed texts shall be enrolled for record in the office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court, and the text, or both the texts, so enrolled shall be conclusive evidence of the provisions of such law.
 * 6° In case of conflict between the texts of a law enrolled under this section in both the official languages, the text in the national language shall prevail.
 * 5
 * 1° It shall be lawful for the Taoiseach, from time to time as occasion appears to him to require, to cause to be prepared under his supervision a text (in both the official languages) of this Constitution as then in force embodying all amendments theretofore made therein.
 * 2° A copy of every text so prepared, when authenticated by the signatures of the Taoiseach and the Chief Justice, shall be signed by the President and shall be enrolled for record in the office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court.
 * 3° The copy so signed and enrolled which is for the time being the latest text so prepared shall, upon such enrolment, be conclusive evidence of this Constitution as at the date of such enrolment and shall for that purpose supersede all texts of this Constitution of which copies were so enrolled.
 * 4° In case of conflict between the texts of any copy of this Constitution enrolled under this section, the text in the national language shall prevail.

1948 debate
1 December 1948 Vol.113 No.6 p.58 cc.826-9:


 * Peadar Cowan: If it will help the situation, I will move the amendment that is down in the names of Deputies Con Lehane and Timoney:—
 * Section 2.:1. In line 28, before the word “the” to insert the words “Poblacht na hÉireann or in the English language.”
 * Alt 2.::Na focail “nó sa tSacs-Bhéarla the Republic of Ireland” a chur i líne 27 roimh an bhfocal “is.”


 * John A. Costello: The amendment that was put down was not precisely in the form that I said it had been my intention to introduce by way of official amendment on the Committee Stage. I had intended to put down an amendment providing that Section 2 should read:
 * “It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be, in the Irish language, ‘Poblacht na hÉireann’ and, in the English language, ‘The Republic of Ireland.’”
 * That is not quite the same as the form of the amendment that Deputy Lehane has down. It is very near it but there is rather a significant change. In the amendment put down by Deputy Lehane he has not the words that I had “in the Irish language” before the words “Poblacht na hÉireann.” Having taken advice on this matter from the Attorney General and the Draftsman, I was advised that it would not be proper to put down the words in the amendment. The point that I wished to cover was that when you were speaking English you would refer to the description of the State as “the Republic of Ireland” and when you were speaking Irish you would refer to it as “Poblacht na hEireann.” I wanted to see that the kind of malicious jokes that have been made on the subject of Eire and the other matters that I referred to on the Second Stage of this Bill should not be possible by reference to the description of this State as “Poblacht na hEireann.”
 * The draftsman and the AttorneyGeneral have advised me and the Government that, by reason of the fact that this Bill is being enacted in both languages, it might cause confusion, would be tautological and, in any event, it ought not to be done; that in addition to that, it would be a departure from the pattern that has been followed in the Constitution which is enacted in Irish and English and that, accordingly, it should not be done for that reason also.
 * If Deputies will refer, for instance, to Article 25 (5) they will find that in a Bill of this kind which is enacted in both languages, both texts are conclusive evidence, so that when you look at the Irish text you have the Irish description of the State, as Poblacht na hÉireann, and when you look at the English text you have “the Republic of Ireland”. In other words, you are doing scientifically and in accordance with the pattern adopted in the Constitution and other articles what I had intended to do by the amendment I was thinking of putting down. Article 25 (5) provides that where the President has signed the text of such law in each of the official languages both texts shall be conclusive evidence of the provisions of such law. It is only in case of conflict that the Irish language prevails. There can be no conflict in this because they are both describing the same. Conflict connotes a different meaning but the two texts we propose to pass have the same meaning. Therefore, if you do anything like this, you are only introducing confusion.
 * That is what I am advised would be the effect of this and, if Deputies look at some of the other Articles, they will see that that was what was done in the Constitution. Article 34 (4) 1º, for instance, deals with the courts and deals with the name of the courts and in the Irish version the title of the Court of Final Appeal is given in the Irish language as “An Cuirt Uachtarach”. In the English language it is “the Supreme Court”. So that you have the English version, “the Supreme Court” and the Irish version, “An Cuirt Uachtarach”. If this amendment was followed out in this pattern you would have to call the Court of Appeal “An Cuirt Uachtarach” or in the English language the Supreme Court. There are several other Articles in which the same design is followed and, accordingly, I was convinced that the scheme as settled in the Bill at the moment being enacted both in the Irish language and English language is the proper one to adopt. People outside this country who may be disposed to jeer at our State, as they have done before in connection with the word “Éire”, will look at this and see that in the English text—which is the only one they can understand—of this statute, when it is a statute, the description of the State is “the Republic of Ireland” and that is what they are to call it. I want to stop any further nonsense.


 * Éamon de Valera: I was of Deputy Lehane's opinion at the start, and that is why when the Taoiseach mentioned the other thing that I said to him that he did not quite catch my point. A reason for this would be if one wanted to bring in the use of the name Poblacht na hÉireann into ordinary speech, as the words “Taoiseach”, “Oireachtas”, “Dáil Éireann” have been brought into ordinary speech. Although I would like to see as many Irish words as possible come into the institutions of our State, I came to the conclusion that the Taoiseach is taking a better view. I think it is better for us in this case not to bring the Irish word into the English text; it is better to keep the English appellation, the English description, in the English text for some of the reasons the Taoiseach has mentioned. I am afraid that nothing we can do will prevent enemies from jibing at us. Jibing is a very convenient substitute for arguments of various kinds and even when we have done this we will have to face jibes. This is simply a description of the State and declaring that the State shall be described in a particular manner and I think it is better to leave the English text standing as it stands and have the Irish text with the Irish term in it as the two are being enacted simultaneously. Therefore, I would be against the amendment.

Placenames
Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1993 section 9 uses "or, in the English language" as per Constitution:

Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 s.48, replacing Part VIII of Local Government Act 2001 includes:
 * Daingean Uí Chúis. 191.— (1) The townland, civil parish, electoral division and non-municipal town that, immediately before the commencement of this section, was known (pursuant to the Order of 2004) as An Daingean shall, from such commencement, be known, in the Irish language, as Daingean Uí Chúis and, in the English language, as Dingle.

Other official names
Central Bank Act, 1942, sec.5
 * 5.—(1) On the appointed day there shall be and is hereby established in accordance with this Act a body to be called and known as Banc Ceannais na hEireann or, in the English language, the Central Bank of Ireland, to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

Arts Act, 1951
 * 2.—(1) On the passing of this Act there shall by virtue of this subsection stand established a body to be called An Chomhairle Ealaíon to fulfil the functions assigned to them by or under this Act.
 * Schedule, 2(a) a member, who shall be called An Stiúrthóir, or (in the English language) the Director

Postal and Telecommunications Services Act, 1983, sec.10
 * 10.—(1) The names of the companies shall be, respectively—
 * (a) An Post or, in the English language, The Post Office, and
 * (b) Bord Telecom Éireann or, in the English language, The Irish Telecommunications Board.

Education Act, 1998 sec 39
 * (1) There shall stand established on the establishment day a body to be known as the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, or in the Irish language An Chomhairle Náisiúnta Curaclaim agus Measúnachta (in this Act referred to as “the Council”) to perform the functions assigned to it by or under this Act.

S.I. No. 530/2002 - Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) (No. 2) Regulations 2002 Schedule has a list of bodies, some of which have bilingual or alternative names stated in a variety of ways:
 * Foras na Mara or, in the English language, the Marine Institute,
 * Horse Racing Ireland or, in the Irish language, Rásaíocht Capall Éireann,
 * An Bord Bia, or in the English language, The Irish Food Board,
 * An Bord Glas -The Horticultural Development Board,
 * Teagasc -The Agriculture and Food Development Authority,
 * Cólucht Groighe Náisiúnta na hEireann Teoranta (The Irish National Stud Company Limited),
 * An tÚdarás urn Bóithre Náisiúnta or, in the English language, the National Roads Authority,
 * The Railway Procurement Agency or, in the Irish language, An Ghníomhaireacht um Fháil Iarnród,

State Airports Act 2004
 * (3) The name of the company to have vested in it, manage, operate and develop—
 * (a) Cork Airport, on the Cork appointed day, shall be in the English language, Cork Airport Authority, public limited company, or in the Irish language Údarás Aerfort Chorcaí, cuideachta phoiblí theoranta, and
 * (b) Shannon Airport, on the Shannon appointed day, shall be in the English language, Shannon Airport Authority, public limited company, or in the Irish language Údarás Aerfort na Sionna, cuideachta phoiblí theoranta.

Broadcasting Act 2009, sec.125
 * (2) The Commission of the Houses of the Oireachtas may establish, fund and provide a television broadcasting service to be known as, in the Irish language, Bealach Thithe an Oireachtais or, in the English language, the Houses of the Oireachtas Channel, which shall have the character of a public service, be a free-to-air service and be made available, in so far as it is reasonably practicable, to the whole community on the island of Ireland.

Student Support Act 2011, sec.25
 * (2) On the establishment day referred to in subsection (1), there shall stand established a body to be known as an Bord Achomhairc i Leith Deontas Mac Léinn, or, in the English language, the Student Grants Appeals Board (to be known and referred to in this Act as the “Appeals Board”) to consider and determine appeals made pursuant to this Act.

S.I. No. 246/2011 - Foreign Affairs (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2011 and others back to 1980 or earlier:
 * The name of the Department of State, the present name of which is, in the Irish language, an Roinn Gnóthaí Eachtracha and, in the English language, the Department of Foreign Affairs, is altered, in the Irish language, to that of an Roinn Gnóthaí Eachtracha agus Trádála and, in the English language, to that of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

ESB (Electronic Communications Networks) Act 2014 sec.8(1)
 * The name of the body (established by section 7 of the Gas Act 1976 ) the present name of which is, in the Irish language, Bord Gáis Éireann and, in the English language, The Irish Gas Board, shall, on and from such day as the Minister appoints by order, be Ervia.

National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Act 2015
 * 5. (1) There shall stand established on the establishment day, a body to be known, in the Irish language as An Ceoláras Náisiúnta or, in the English language, the National Concert Hall (in this Act referred to as the “NCH”), situated, for the time being, at Earlsfort Terrace in the city of Dublin, to perform the functions conferred on it by or under this Act.

Meta
Customs and Excise (Mutual Assistance) Act, 2001 sec.2:
 * (2) For convenience of reference there are set out in the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Schedules, respectively, to this Act—
 * (a) the text in the English language of the CIS Convention,
 * (b) the text in the English language of the Agreement,
 * (c) the text in the English language of the 1996 Protocol,
 * (d) the text in the English language of the Customs Co-operation Convention,
 * (e) the text in the English language of the 1999 Protocol,
 * (f) the text in the Irish language of the CIS Convention,
 * (g) the text in the Irish language of the Agreement,
 * (h) the text in the Irish language of the 1996 Protocol,
 * (i) the text in the Irish language of the Customs Co-operation Convention,
 * (j) the text in the Irish language of the 1999 Protocol.

Refs

 * Notes:


 * Sources:


 * Unread:


 * References: