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(Seo alt ónár bhfoireann Gaeltachta. Is féidir an bunleagan as Gaeilge a léamh anseo)
DRIVERS COULD BE forgiven for feeling confused as they travel the road through Emyvale in County Monaghan, as a speed sign erected there indicates in Irish that they are in Co na hIarmhí (County Westmeath), while the very same sign reads ‘County Monaghan’ in English.
The village of Emyvale is 123km from County Westmeath.
Sinn Féin county councillor Niamh McCooey of Monaghan who brought the error to light, after Irish language activists working on Conradh na Gaeilge’s AthGhaelú campaign in the area pointed out the faulty sign to her.
The councillor told The Journal that she was surprised by the level of attention her post on social media had attracted.
She praised the efforts of the local authority to promote Irish.
“Monaghan County Council are making huge strides in their commitment to the Irish language, with confirmation only last week that they will be appointing a full-time Irish language officer,” she said.
“This is something I have been calling for since joining the council, working alongside Irish language activists. This will hopefully help ensure these same mistakes are not happening time and time again.”
A spokesperson for Monaghan County Council confirmed that it was TII who erected the mistranslated sign in this case.
“Monaghan County Council has reported the error and TII has confirmed that it will erect a new sign before the end of the month.”
A statement has been sought from TII.
The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
This article was originally written in the reporter’s native Irish and has been translated to English here. AI was used as part of the translation process before final edits.
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