An Bord Pleanála has ruled in favour of retaining Irish language conditions attached to new housing developments in the Galway and Kerry Gaeltachts.
A percentage of houses built in the predominantly Irish speaking districts of Na Furbacha in Co Galway and Baile an Fheirtéaraigh in Co Kerry will be reserved for speakers of Irish.
The conditions are designed to protect the survival of the language in these areas, and the number of properties reserved for speakers of Irish will reflect the percentage of Irish speakers in the area.
In Na Furbacha, 60 per cent of occupants in the development will have to be speakers of Irish.
Baile an Fheirtéaraigh will have 75 per cent reserved for speakers of the language.
Language groups and locals say that, in the past, property developments without language conditions attached have led to a reduction in Irish speakers in these areas.
