Ireland: No Emergency Interpreter Assistance

I recently had the chance to visit Ireland and speak with members of the Irish Translators and Intepreters Association (ITIA) about telephone interpreting, which is becoming increasingly popular there.

While in Dublin, I spoke with a reporter for Metro Eireann who did a story on the lack of interpreters for emergency services (9-9-9) in Ireland. That story is available here.

So many of the telephone interpreters I've spoken with over the years have shared truly heart-warming (and sometimes tear-jerking) stories about helping people in times of emergency. Interpreters are often invaluable in high-risk settings, such as police and medical situations. As time goes on, Ireland will probably adopt processes to ensure that such services are available. Until then, tourists and immigrants (Ireland has seen tremendous growth in multilingualism due to immigration in recent years) remain at greater risk than they would be with language services in place.

Irish Translators and Interpreters Association

Special thanks to the Irish Translators and Interpreters Association (ITIA) for featuring the From Our Lips to Your Ears project in the August issue of the ITIA Bulletin!

For those who do not subscribe, this newsletter is an excellent source of information regarding interpreting issues in Ireland, as well as elsewhere in the world.

Ever since this issue came out, there have been a large number of web site hits from Ireland for both the main project site as well as the blog. With such a wonderful history of writers in Ireland, I anticipate receiving some great submissions for the book from the Emerald Isle.

Sincerest thanks to ITIA Bulletin editor Elizabeth Hayes and all of our colleagues in Ireland who work to bring interpreting issues to a more prominent place in the public's eye.

Translation Ireland

I had previously mentioned and thanked John Kearns for his excellent help in spreading the word about the From Our Lips to Your Ears project.

Now, I wish to thank him for sending me a copy of the excellent journal, Translation Ireland, a special issue called "New Vistas in Translator and Interpreter Training".

The special issue has some wonderful papers related to interpreting, including:

Interpreting with Limited Training: Experiences in the Interpreting of Academic Lectures at the North-West University, South Africa by Johan Blaauw

A Skill-Based Approach to Conference Interpreting by Agnieszka Chmiel

Training Public Service Translators and Interpreters: Difficulties in an Uncharted Field by Mustapha Taibi and Anne Martin

New Challenges for Interpreting Schools by Svetlana Carsten

Translation, Localisation and Interpreting Courses in Ireland by Mary Phelan

Activity in Ireland

A wealth of connections, recommendations and resources were kindly shared by Professor John Kearns from Ireland. Dr. Kearns is the editor of the award-winning journal Translation Ireland, published by the Irish Translators and Interpreters Association.

Dr. Kearns also works as reviews editor for the Interpreter and Translator Trainer, a journal that may be of interest to many readers of this blog, published by St. Jerome.

Another publication of potential interest to readers is the ITIA bulletin. There is a lot of great work being done in Ireland at the moment in the T&I fields.

Of special note in Ireland is the work of Mary Phelan, who is very interested in the professional status of community interpreters in Ireland, as well as the new challenges which mass immigration to the country is bringing. She is the author of the Interpreter's Resource, published by Multilingual Matters (UK).