The North / South Language Body Annual Report & Accounts 2009

the exchange of information and good practice and affords an opportunity tocollect and publish information on the use of language and language policywithin the European Union.Foras na Gaeilge functioned as a guest organisation at the 2009 AnnualCongress of EFNIL which was held in Dublin Castle from the 4 th to the 6 th ofNovember. The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs,Éamon Ó Cuív TD, performed the official opening and about sixtyrepresentatives from every corner of Europe attended the congress to discussthe theme ‘the relationship between official languages and regional and lesserspoken languages in Europe.’Research in the area of TerminologyTraining workTerminology workshops were held or talks given in various third levelinstitutes and students on work experience from the Acadamh nahOllscolaíochta Gaeilge were given training.HandbookAdditional material was added to the Terminology Handbook and feedbackwas received from experts in the field. An updated edition is being prepared.Material on the Foras na Gaeilge websiteInformation texts, terminology resources and terminology for an CoisteTéarmaíochta were made available on Foras na Gaeilge’s website.Task Workers PanelA panel of external experts was set up to undertake various tasks in the fieldof terminology which the office staff do not have the capacity to carry out.Planning was done in respect of the tasks which could be accomplished inthis way, a list of priorities was drawn up and 9 of the tasks were completed.Grammar mattersThe Secretary took part in grammar meetings concerning the style guide forthe new English-Irish dictionary and provided feedback which members ofthe public sent to the Committee’s office regarding certain points ofgrammar.The Advisory Committee on Legal TermsThe Secretary was appointed as a member of the Advisory Committee onLegal Terms in August 2009 and she attended a number of meetings whereterms and expressions in the forms of the Rules of the Circuit Court werediscussed.Other ResearchOther Research: The Irish Books ProgrammeThe review of the schemes of the Irish Books Programme was continued in2009 and assessment criteria were developed for the Writing Schemes. Thesewere implemented when the 2010 Writing Schemes were being assessed.Further work was also carried out on the Publishing Scheme. A meeting withthe publishers was organised in September 2009 to discuss Irish languagepublishing matters. In addition, a series of individual meetings with thepublishers was organised at the end of November 2009 to discuss plans for2010 and any particular points.42