Gaelgeoiri have welcomed a landmark decision by Galway County Council to approve a new housing development on condition that it is used exclusively by Irish-speaking residents.
Mr Padraig Lee was granted planning permission last month by the local authority to build 12 houses in Carraroe village in Connemara. The conditions attached include a stipulation that the applicant will enter into a legal agreement with the planning authority before construction on use of Irish by occupants of the development.
This reflects provisions in the latest Planning Act and a commitment in Galway county's new development plan to protect the linguistic and cultural heritage of the State's largest and most populated Gaeltacht area.
The condition says the details of the standard of Irish to be achieved, and methods of evaluating it, "shall be agreed in writing with the planning authority prior to the finalisation of the legal agreement here conditioned".
The developer, who proposes to build 12 low-cost houses, has welcomed the planning approval, and it has also received a positive reaction from Comhdháil Naisiúnta na Gaeilge. Mr Padraig O Ceathearnaigh, acting director of Comhdhail, described it as a historic decision, and congratulated both Galway County Council and the developer.
Earlier this year Galway county councillors were split on a proposal by a Fine Gael councillor, Mr Pol O Foighil, to restrict all planning developments to Irish-language speakers in an area of south Connemara from Furbo to Carna.
Mr Séamus Walsh, independent councillor and chairman of the Connemara group of councillors, described the proposal in the draft county plan as reflecting a "fanatical way of thinking" about the language and said it would split the Gaeltacht and discriminate against returning emigrants.
Galway councillors subsequently agreed a compromise which would include a language stipulation for schemes in the Gaeltacht of more than one house.
This was provided for in the 2000 Planning Act, which allows for inclusion of objectives in county plans to protect linguistic and cultural heritage. Carraroe is also identified as a centre in the county development plan, to discourage one-off housing.
Under section 10 (5) of the Galway plan, any development which the planning authority believes might have a significant negative impact on the Irish language and Gaeltacht will be refused.
The Galway county plan lists 11 types of development to which it will be favourably disposed, with three of these relating to housing. The three favoured housing schemes are listed as: houses for native Irish speakers; low-cost houses for Irish-speaking couples; and houses for Irish-speaking families who want to settle in Gaeltacht areas.
Mr Albert Comer of Galway County Council said details still had to be finalised with the builder before building started.
