{"id":116770,"date":"2026-08-16T05:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T05:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/116770\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T05:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T05:14:09","slug":"if-you-want-to-get-a-job-immediately-in-brussels-speak-irish-and-do-a-law-degree-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/116770\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018If you want to get a job immediately in Brussels, speak Irish and do a law degree\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lying at the centre of the European Union<\/a> and hosting many of its key institutions, Brussels is a melting pot of European nations where a wide variety of languages can be heard. Those unfamiliar with the Belgian<\/a> capital may be surprised to hear how much the Irish language is now part this linguistic tapestry. <\/p>\n

\u201cWalking around the EU quarter you constantly hear Irish voices, and you are more likely to hear Irish being spoken on the streets than just about anywhere else on earth,\u201d says Jim Maher, a Tipperary native for whom Brussels has been home for more than 12 years. <\/p>\n

Growing up on a dairy farm gave him an early appreciation of the importance of the EU and he is happy to have found a niche within one of its key institutions.<\/p>\n

Maher is one of two deputy spokespersons for the European Parliament<\/a>. Proficiency in languages has helped him forge a successful career in Brussels after studying Irish and German in UCD<\/a> followed by a degree in European history and politics at the University of Konstanz in Germany. <\/p>\n

Having completed a Fulbright scholarship in the United States, a spell teaching Irish in Minneapolis and an internship at the EU council of ministers, Maher joined the European Parliament in 2014 as a digital communications specialist, working on campaigns in the run-up to the parliament\u2019s elections that year. <\/p>\n

He moved on to other roles, including building relationships with southeast Asia, before switching to his current position last year where he works as part of a small team whose job is to explain the European Parliament\u2019s position to journalists. <\/p>\n

While I love living here there\u2019s something special about the warmth you get in Ireland<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0James Maher<\/p>\n

Among the many issues the parliament has on its agenda this year are Common Agricultural Policy<\/a> reform, the recently passed AI<\/a> Act, external relations, migration<\/a>, climate action<\/a> and gender equality.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the course of its 74-year history, the EU has built up more and more responsibilities. As spokespeople, we need to be on top of all the current issues and we\u2019re supported in that role by a team of press officers who have specialist knowledge of their areas,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe parliament adopts legislation and makes decisions that affect the lives of 450 million people directly, as well as others including those making applications to join the union. It\u2019s a varied and interesting job.\u201d <\/p>\n

One of the unique aspects of the job is that the parliament sits in two locations, moving to its official seat in Strasbourg for four days each month. Maher decamps to the French city along with the parliament\u2019s 720 members and key officials, with most travelling there by train.<\/p>\n

Jobs in EU institutions generally require proficiency in at least two languages and preferably three. Maher says that being fluent in both Irish and English has been a big advantage for him, with Irish becoming an official language of the union in 2007. <\/p>\n

Brexit<\/a> has copper-fastened the advantage of being a native English speaker in Brussels. \u201cA lot of people here can speak English but there\u2019s a real difference between speaking it and having a mastery of the language as you would have coming from Ireland. Malta with a population of around half a million is the only other country in the EU where English is the main language spoken.\u201d <\/p>\n

Maher\u2019s has a hot tip for Irish people looking for a career in one of the European institutions in Brussels. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to get a job immediately in Brussels, speak Irish and do a law degree because there is a huge need here for lawyer linguists, people with a high proficiency in the language as well as a background in law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing about Brussels is that it is a very international city, among the most racially diverse cities in the world. It doesn\u2019t get the recognition it deserves. It\u2019s sometimes seen as a place full of Eurocrats, which isn\u2019t the case. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe nightlife is good here and it really comes to life in the summer with festivals and concerts. It\u2019s also a very beautiful city architecturally and in terms of the parks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother key advantage of living here is that you are in the centre of Europe while also being so close to home. It\u2019s very easy to get a flight to Dublin or Cork and be home in 70 minutes. You can also hop on a train to Paris or Germany and be there in around the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0A Dublin businesswoman in Cannes: \u2018The locals love my accent. Being Irish is definitely an advantage\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Maher and his partner live just minutes\u2019 walk from the Grand Place, the famous large open square in the centre of the city featuring ornate gothic and Baroque guild halls. Property prices in the city compare favourably with Ireland. The couple was able to buy a spacious two-bedroomed apartment for \u20ac290,000 in December 2021. <\/p>\n

Rents also compare very favourably with Dublin levels although the cost of food and meals out is closer to Ireland.<\/p>\n

While firmly rooted in Brussels for the foreseeable future, Maher doesn\u2019t rule out a return to Ireland one day. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I love living here there\u2019s something special about the warmth you get in Ireland. It always a lovely feeling when you go through passport control and you hear \u2018Welcome home, James\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lying at the centre of the European Union and hosting many of its key institutions, Brussels is a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1485,234,1294,16331,39,258,40,97,32028,58557,58556,2652],"class_list":["post-116770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eu","tag-belgium","tag-brexit","tag-climate-change","tag-common-agricultural-policy-cap","tag-eu","tag-european-parliament","tag-european-union","tag-immigration","tag-irish-abroad","tag-irish-language","tag-wild-geese","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}