Ciarán Ó Cofaigh, 51, is taking on the State after medics at University Hospital Galway, where he is getting radiotherapy treatment, told him they could not include the fadas on his name. Mr Ó Cofaigh said the HSE, Bank of Ireland and New Ireland Assurance have refused to correct his name on records and correspondence. Fadas on Irish names are “not an optional extra or a pretentious affectation,” he said. Graham Doyle, head of communications for the Data Protection Commission, said Article 16 of the GDPR “clearly sets out” the rights of a person to have their records corrected. The HSE is taking steps to ensure that, where it is possible, new software will have the capability to input the síneadh fada,” a spokesperson added.

Source: Irish Examiner February 04, 2019 03:11 UTC