Annual Report 2025 Entire Book - Flipbook - Page 140
Collaboration with Enterprise and Employers
Action: 4.A
Visitors to CareersPortal.ie proole: 295K
Overview:
Throughout the year, PPLI worked with employers, enterprise bodies and the trade sector to strengthen
students9 understanding of the real-world value of language skills. These partnerships highlighted how
languages support employability, enterprise growth and international engagement across a wide range of
professional contexts.
Main Aims:
•
Increase student awareness of the relevance of language skills to business, enterprise and diverse career
pathways, with employers playing an active role in this messaging.
•
Provide students with opportunities to see how languages are used in workplace and business settings.
•
Engage with industry stakeholders to explore attitudes to language skills, identify emerging workforce
needs and encourage the expansion of language-related work experience opportunities.=
•
Recognise and validate language learning through enterprise-focused competitions and events to
support student motivation and conodence.
Activity:
Collaboration with the Department of Foreign Afairs and Trade (DFAT)
In 2025, PPLI continued its collaboration with the Department of Foreign Afairs and Trade (DFAT) to support
Languages Connect: Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education and the A Career for EU strategy.
At events for post-primary students, PPLI and the DFAT highlighted career opportunities within the European
Union and the central role of language skills in EU work. Where PPLI was not directly represented, DFAT
colleagues shared Languages Connect materials to reinforce key messages around languages and career
development, and PPLI distributed DFAT resources at selected events.
The DFAT also supported #ThinkLanguages Week, sponsoring the Champion Team Competition prize - a trip
to Brussels - providing students with direct insights into EU career pathways.
PPLI developed targeted content focusing on language-related careers within the EU and across sectors
including media, enterprise and trade. Journalist Méabh McMahon, who specialises in European afairs,
contributed to a dedicated video and attended the #ThinkLanguages Champion Team Final, ofering
orsthand insights into how language skills support varied professional roles.
Media Engagement
To broaden public awareness of the importance of developing Ireland9s domestic language capacity, PPLI
collaborated with Minister of State for European Afairs and Defence Thomas Byrne on a national media
article. Why learning EU languages matters for Ireland’s place in Europe appeared in a special Irish Independent
supplement.
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- PPLI ANNUAL REPORT 2025 -
