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Former State agency worker tells tribunal of 'microaggressions' against Irish

Summary

A former State agency communications officer, Seanán Ó Coistín, has detailed his experiences of 'microaggressions' against the Irish language during his time at the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). On his first day, he was directly questioned by a senior manager about his political affiliations after discovering he was a native Irish speaker. Mr Ó Coistín described a series of incidents, including being told that errors in the Irish version of an annual report would be published regardless. He also highlighted the lack of Irish language competency within the agency, stating that after his departure, there would be more Polish, Spanish, French, and Italian speakers than Irish speakers. Mr Ó Coistín is pursuing a complaint under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), arguing he was penalised as a whistleblower for sending an email criticising the lack of Irish language ability. He expressed frustration with the FSAI's handling of the situation and the lack of adherence to the Official Languages Act.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Former State agency worker tells tribunal of 'microaggressions' against Irish. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• December 2024 Other
• January 2025 Other
• 2026-07-23 Publication

Why: A lot of it is because people aren't being told about the Constitution and the Official Languages Act. CNI source report

Topics

Stage Trial

Read the original CNI report