Official Languages Act Compliance

Under the Official Languages Act 2003, Trinity College Dublin has certain obligations regarding the use of the Irish language in its stationery, business cards and other written communications. These obligations are detailed below. Please contact the Irish Language Officer (ext. 3652, gaeloifig@tcd.ie) if you have any queries about these matters or if you would like to request a translation. Click here for further information about the Official Languages Act and its application in Trinity.

Stationery

All pre-printed text (e.g. headers) on the following stationery items must be in Irish only or in both Irish and English: letterheads / notepaper, compliment slips and envelopes.

Business cards

While business cards do not fall under the remit of the Official Languages Act, Trinity has decided that business cards should be in Irish on one side and English on the other. For this purpose, the Irish-only and English-only versions of the logo are used on either side of the card.

English-only cards are permitted for staff who carry out Trinity business outside the State, to avoid confusion and cost. In such cases, the main Trinity logo is to be used.

Printed invitations

Trinity is committed in its Language Scheme to the issuing in English and Irish of printed invitations. Which order the languages are displayed in is at the discretion of the area issuing the invitation; however, the same information should be conveyed in each language, and the same size and type of lettering should be used for each language.

Publications

Under the Official Languages Act 2003, Trinity College Dublin is legally obliged to publish certain core documents simultaneously in Irish and English, including: the College's Annual Report; audited accounts or financial statements; statements of strategy and public policy proposals (e.g. the Strategic Plan) and any document that has been appropriately prescribed as being of major public importance.

For design purposes, please note that on average an Irish text will require 20% more space than the equivalent English text. For assistance with sourcing translation services, please contact the Irish Language Officer.

Translation service

The Irish Language Office provides a free English – Irish translation service for staff. Please send the English text for translation to gaeloifig@tcd.ie. Completed translations are normally returned within 3 working days, however please be aware that the process may take longer, for example if a text is particularly long, or if staff are on leave. Therefore it is recommended that you submit your text for translation well in advance.

The Irish titles of College academic areas, services, jobs, venues and addresses can be found on the Irish Language Office website. However, no local translations should be used without first being approved by the Irish Language Officer to ensure accuracy and consistency.

Where used, academic prefixes such as 'Dr' or 'Prof.' should be submitted for translation into Irish, but forenames and surnames need not be "translated" unless so desired.

On stationery and business cards, please do not use any prefixes for email or web addresses.

At the proofing stage, for both externally-printed and internally-produced material, please pass all translations by the Irish Language Officer as typing errors can easily be introduced during the design process.