Irish Sign Language Glossary of Parliamentary Terms wins award


The team behind the creation of an Irish Sign Language glossary of parliamentary terms has received a Civil Service Excellence and Innovation Award.

IPEN members Caroline O’Leary and Ciara Grant from the Irish Sign Language team at the Houses of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) initiated the creation of the glossary in collaboration with Deaf interpreting students from the Centre for Deaf Studies, Trinity College Dublin, back in 2020.

The Irish Sign Language glossary of parliamentary terminology saw the creation of 80 signs for parliamentary terms where an ISL equivalent was unknown to the interpreting team or not widely used within the Irish Deaf community.

The Civil Service Excellence and Innovation Awards were established in 2015 in Ireland to highlight innovations in policy and service delivery across the Civil Service where best practice and lessons can be shared.

At a ceremony in June, the Houses of the Oireachtas team and integral project partners from the Centre for Deaf Studies received the award for the World Class Civil Service category. This award ‘recognises teams and projects that are a source of inspiration to other public administrations at home and abroad’.

Caroline O’Leary said:

“I believed in the value and aims of the project right from the start. Collaborating with deaf interpreters and in person engagement with the wider deaf community for feedback was vital to the success and future use of new signs within the glossary.”

Ciara Grant added:

“In our roles, we aim to provide greater accessibility to parliamentary proceedings through ISL. This project has created a culture of collaboration with deaf interpreters which will continue to be fostered in our work.

“Along with collaboration with the broader deaf community and sign language academics, this has resulted in a sustainable glossary which is hoped will further enhance language access to political discourse.”

At an IPEN seminar in December 2023, Caroline and Ciara shared how the ISL Interpreting Team were working towards improving Irish Sign Language access into aspects of the Irish parliament. Attendees were treated to an exclusive preview of the new glossary (which launched the following day to coincide with National ISL Day) and a demonstration of some of the new signs created, including three ISL variations of the sign for ‘amendment’.

Cristina Leston-Bandeira, Chair of IPEN and Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds, said:

“The whole IPEN community sends their congratulations to the ISL team at the Oireachtas for their very well deserved prize, which recognises true trail blazing work in providing for more inclusive public engagement practices within parliament.”

Find out more about the award, the glossary and the work of the ISL Team at the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Images

(1) A win for the ISL glossary project team and the Irish Deaf community in creating 80 new Irish Sign Language signs for parliamentary discourse. Photo © Public Service Transformation Delivery Unit.
(2) Receiving the Civil Service Excellence and Innovation Award ceremony, Dublin Castle, 20 June 2024. Photo © Public Service Transformation Delivery Unit.
(3) Screenshots of an interview with Teresa Lynch from the Centre for Deaf Studies, Trinity College Dublin, and Ciara Grant demonstrating one of the three sign variations for ‘Amendment’ from the ISL Glossary of parliamentary terminology.