Official Languages Act 2003

Official Languages Act 2003 (as amended), with the Official Languages Act 2003 (Section 9) Regulations 2008 (S.I. No. 391 of 2008).

The Official Languages Act 2003 sets the Irish language duties of public bodies in Ireland. Its Section 9 Regulations (S.I. 391 of 2008) require every sign a public body places to be in Irish, or Irish and English, with the Irish first and no less prominent.

Read the signage regulations on irishstatutebook.ie

For signage and wayfinding

What it asks of your signs

01Every sign placed by or on behalf of a public body must be in Irish only, or in Irish and English. That covers signs you supply to a council, HSE site, university or other listed body.
02On a bilingual sign the Irish text goes first, must be no less prominent, visible or legible than the English, and its lettering must be no smaller.
03The Irish must say the same thing as the English, and an Irish word may only be abbreviated where the English word it translates is also abbreviated.
04If a single bilingual sign would be unduly big, hard to read, an obstruction or a roadside danger, the body may use two signs instead, one in each language.
05From 1 January 2026 the prominence and letter-size rules apply to all signs, including bilingual signs put up before 2009.
06Traffic signs under the Road Traffic Acts and safety signs under the General Application Regulations 2007 are outside these Regulations: follow their own rules.
07Since 21 December 2024, any new, renewed or altered logo of a public body must carry its text in Irish, or Irish first then English at no smaller size.

Who it applies to

The duties fall on public bodies as defined by the Act and its Public Bodies Regulations: government departments, local authorities, the HSE, universities, State agencies and many more. They apply to any sign placed by the body or on its behalf, so a sign contractor working for a public client carries the same obligation into the artwork. Private clients are not covered, though many choose to follow the same conventions.

The signage rules sit in Regulations 6 and 7 of S.I. No. 391 of 2008, made under section 9 of the Act. The Act was substantially amended by the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021. Its new provisions on logos, forms, advertising and language standards were commenced in stages up to December 2024. Section 9 itself was amended in December 2024, and the 2008 Regulations still stand under it.

What a bilingual sign must do

A public body's sign can be Irish only, or Irish and English. Where both appear, Regulation 7(2) sets five rules: Irish first, Irish no less prominent, visible or legible, Irish lettering no smaller, the same information in both, and no abbreviation in Irish unless the English is abbreviated too. Where 20 or more identical signs are being erected, the body may make each one Irish only or bilingual, or put up pairs with the Irish sign first. SI unit symbols can be used as they are.

Regulation 8 requires the Irish form of a placename wherever a placenames order is in force. Regulation 9 leaves a number of things untranslated: personal names, logos, brand names and the names of non-public bodies. Signs of artistic, architectural or historical interest, commemorative plaques placed on or before 1 March 2009, and signs that comply except that the English comes first do not have to be altered.

Common mistakes

Setting the Irish in a lighter weight, smaller size or paler colour than the English. Whatever device separates the two languages, it must not make the Irish less prominent or legible.
Machine-translated or unchecked Irish. The Irish must carry the same information, so have it translated and proofed before artwork approval.
Reading the safety sign exemption too widely. It covers signs to which the General Application Regulations 2007 apply. Directional, room and information signs in the same building are not exempt.
Leaving pre-2009 bilingual signs alone in a refurbishment. The prominence and size rules have applied to them since 1 January 2026.

Enforcement and the other jurisdictions

An Coimisinéir Teanga monitors compliance, investigates complaints and publishes its findings. The 2021 Act also provides for language standards to replace the old language schemes; when we checked, the statute book listed no standards regulations made under that power. Wales and Scotland take different routes: Wales sets binding standards body by body through compliance notices, and Scotland relies on Gaelic language plans agreed with Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

Editions and history

The Section 9 Regulations were made on 1 October 2008 and came into operation in stages from 1 March 2009, with a final date of 1 January 2026 for the prominence and letter-size rules on existing signs. The Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 was enacted on 22 December 2021; section 9 was amended and sections 9A to 9E (including logos, section 9C) inserted with effect from 21 December 2024 (S.I. No. 692 of 2024). The Údarás na Gaeltachta (Amendment) Act 2026 made further amendments from 1 July 2026, including to section 9C.

Sources checked

A summary in our own words, checked on 16 October 2026. It is not the document itself and not legal advice.

Equivalents and related

The same ground, elsewhere.

Working to Official Languages Act 2003 on a live project?

Wayfinding design, compliance, manufacture and installation, with the signage certificates signed off by us.

Talk to us

← Back to all 68 standards