Sinn Fein Member of the European Parliament Lynn Boylan has drawn criticism after she stated that the Irish language, or Gaelic, could not be used in a European Parliament committee meeting, only to retract her statement seconds later when informed she could indeed speak it. Boylan was addressing a committee on EU Foreign Affairs when she prefaced her remarks by saying, "It is unfortunate that we can't use our own language in this committee, but I will continue now in English."
However, the committee's vice-chair, Hana Jalloul Muro, quickly interrupted, stating, "You can, you can." Caught off guard, the Dublin MEP responded, "Ah, okay. We didn't know. Sorry." She then added, "I will continue in English because I wasn't prepared."
The incident has led to accusations that Sinn Fein is more interested in using the Irish language for political point-scoring than in genuinely promoting its use. The party has historically positioned itself as a proponent of the language in Ireland. Critics noted the irony of a Sinn Fein representative appearing unaware of the ability to use Irish within an EU setting, where translation services are readily available, as Irish has been a working language within the EU since January 1, 2022.
Jonathan Jackson of the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) commented on the situation, calling it "hypocrisy of Sinn Fein." He stated, "Unionists have long suspected that Sinn Fein are more interested in weaponising Irish and forcing it down the throat of communities who have no interest in it than genuinely promoting it because of love for the language."
This is not the first time Sinn Fein's engagement with the Irish language has faced public scrutiny. Earlier in July 2026, during a cost of living debate in the Dail (Irish Parliament), Sinn Fein TDs appeared to vote against their own amendment when the Ceann Comhairle (speaker) called for a vote in Irish. Aontu leader Peader Toibin pointed out the apparent discrepancy, and a Sinn Fein politician from Donegal later stated he had "no fluent Irish." The speaker then repeated the question in English, leading to laughter before the TDs agreed to their amendment.
Lynn Boylan was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the Dublin constituency in July 2024 and also serves as the Chair of the EU Delegation for Relations with Palestine. Irish is recognized as Ireland's first official language and is one of the 24 official languages of the EU, meaning speeches and documents are translated to and from Irish.