For Firms new to Irish Language Publicity Material
Private Companies do not at present come under the terms of the Official Languages Act. However the scope of the Act may be extended (under Section 1 (5) of the First Schedule) to such institutions and companies as Banks, Insurance Companies, Telecommunication Companies etc.
Some private companies are watching developments to see if public interest in the Irish language has sufficient driving force to extend beyond the enactment of the Official Languages Bill which guarantees basic rights before deciding whether to raise their profile among the Irish speaking community and ensure a greater degree of good will toward their organisation among what may yet prove to be a substantial proportion of the Irish population.
In March 2005 the first Report of the Irish Language Commissioner was published. Do you provide
publicity literature directed at an Irish speaking readership? If you change your priorities or alter
your existing policies regarding dual language publications please
consult us.
We provide a translation
and editing service which can be strictly conservative or adapted
and restructured for today's needs.
If
you are thinking of providing Irish language material for the first
time we feel sure that we can find the right words to translate
your existing material as well as providing and advisory service
on how best to adapt your message to the Irish language.
FocalFactory
will translate any kind of document into Irish, from one page letters
to technical manuals, legal contracts and tenders, promotional or
informatative literature, in short any conceivable document.
How you might
redefine your company's Irish Language policies?
We are prepared to help companies or organisations
to produce Irish language publications which will get read and
at
the same time accurately project the desired image.
Let it be clearly understood that there is sometimes a
very fine line between interpreting and translating and that providing
an
accurate
written
translation which we promise, is a serious business and should
not involve interpreting, except in those cases where the original
is so vaguely written as to make some measure of interpretation necessary.
Unless a prior agreement gives a green light
to proceed in such cases Focalfactory will seek clarification
before going
ahead.
Focalfactory guarantees to provide an accurate translation according
to Official Standard Irish (An Caighdeán Oifigiúil),
which is a measure of correctness easily understood by all speakers
of Irish. May I say also that this is the default and will be
complied with in all cases where clients do not advise us to the
contrary.
It may not however be in your organisation's best interest that
the translation of your publicity material to Irish be so constrained
by the strict grammatical forms of Standard written Irish as to
seem dull, out of step with the times. You
are at liberty to consider the questions of style and language register.
All questions and enquiries are welcome and we are prepared to work
closely and continuously with any client who wishes to clarify and
redefine their own needs so that those needs will be reflected in
all translation work. Strict client confidentiality is guaranteed
at all times.
A brief summary of the types of Irish:
The three main dialects of Modern Irish spoken in Ireland are those of Ulster, Munster and Connacht. Some people speak loosely of a fourth or central dialect i.e. a more neutral composite which is often the kind spoken by those born outside the Gaeltacht (officially defined Irish speaking regions).
21,000 adults within the Gaeltacht and 50,000 without claim to speak Irish on a daily basis and whereas these figures are small, a far greater number, probably more than half the population, do understand Irish and are sympathetic to Irish.
This is also reflected in the large numbers of Irish parents who wish to have their children educated through Irish.