Arcadia Ireland

The vast majority of Irish citizens go to school for 12 or 13 years. Of that majority, most learn the Irish language for that amount of time. This said, hardly any of us can string together even the most basic sentence. We all have a ‘cúpla focal’ (couple of words) but that’s about the height of it. However, the majority of our political terms are in Irish. It’s only recently that I’ve realised that asking students; ‘Do you know who the Taoiseach is?’ must be a mind boggling question. Alas, I’m here to save the day. Here’s a quick ‘how to’ on Irish politics and the bizarre Irish words we use when talking about them.

Taoiseach: Better known in most places as a Prime Minister. Our recently appointed Taoiseach is Mr. Leo Varadkar. At 38 years old he is the youngest PM Ireland has ever had. He also makes another first with being the first openly gay Taoiseach of Ireland. He has only been in office for a few weeks.

Tánaiste: This is our deputy Prime Minister. He/she is appointed her position by the President on advice from An Taoiseach. At the moment, Frances Fitzgearld is the Tánaiste in Ireland and has been since May 2016.

The Oireachtas: This is the National Parliament of Ireland. It consists of two houses; Dáil Éireann (House of Representatives) and Seanad Éireann (the Senate). Their functions and powers derive from the Constitution of Ireland enacted by the People on 1st July, 1937. The Houses of the Oireachtas are situated at Leinster House, Dublin.

Ceann Comhairle: Is the chairperson of Dáil Éireann. The Fianna Fáil TD (we’ll get the what a TD is!) Seán Ó Fearghaíl  is standing chair at the moment.

TD (Teachtaí Dála): A TD is simply a member of Dáil Éireann.

 Áras an Uachtaráin: Literally translates to “The House of the President.” The beautiful home is located off Chesterfield Avenue in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. The house and its surroundings are currently occupied by President Michael D. Higgins, his family and his two huge Burmese mountain dogs named Bród and Shadow.

So my friends go forth and impress your peers. Your cúpla focal will make you look like you know exactly what you’re talking about.

(P.S. if you are intrigued by these words and all things Irish politics, why not have a look out our Dublin Parliamentary Internship program?  At least you'll now be a step ahead of the rest!)