EU gibberish gets Irish intervention

BRUSSELS - It may be incomprehensible in English, but help is at hand for those who want to translate "Eurospeak" - arguably some of the continent's worst jargon - into Irish.

With the EU preparing for the advent of Irish as an official language - and failing to fill vacancies for interpreters - one Irish MEP has launched a translation website which incorporates EU terminology.

Those who, from January 1, 2007, wish to exercise their right to converse in the EU's corridors of power in Irish will be able to get the correct terminology for, say "intervention" ("idirghabhail"). Translated into English, "intervention" is the mechanism the EU uses to support the price of some agricultural products.

Sean O Neachtain is the MEP who launched the website, which is at www.focal.ie.

- INDEPENDENT