Gaeltacht revamp could cut 'population in half'
Monday March 24 2008
The population of the Gaeltacht could be cut by more than half and Dingle could lose its designated all-Irish status if the Government introduced new linguistic criteria.
The criteria are set out in a detailed study on the use of Irish in Gaeltacht areas which was commissioned by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and published late last year.
Now a detailed analysis of that study, carried out by maths lecturer and Connemara-based Gaeltacht expert Donncha O hEallaithe, has revealed the full implications of the findings and recommendations.
Currently, the Gaeltacht areas of the country have a population of 95,500, but following a comprehensive analysis of each of the 162 electoral divisions making up the official Gaeltacht, Mr O hEallaithe has revealed that the population would drop to 44,000.
Towns such as Dingle, Belmullet in Co Mayo, Dungloe and Burtonport, in Co Donegal, and parts of Galway city would all lose their Gaeltacht status if the linguistic criteria were to be implemented.
Grant
This would come as a huge blow to all of these areas, with preferential infrastructural and personal grant aid available to people living in official Gaeltacht areas.
Housing, roads, footpaths and piers in Gaeltacht areas all qualify for enhanced grant aid from government departments. In addition, professionals such as teachers and gardai are entitled to extra payments for conducting their duties in the Gaeltacht as Gaeilge.
The two-year study entitled 'A Comprehensive Linguistic Study of the Use of Irish in the Gaeltacht' was commissioned by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in 2004.
Mr O hEallaithe used data on language recently issued by the Central Statistics Office and from the Dept of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to assess each Gaeltacht area.
He found that about 17,000 people live in areas which would satisfy Category A, the strongest Irish-speaking areas; about 10,000 people live in areas where there is substantial use of Irish among the community; while 17,000 people live in weak Gaeltacht areas.
This leaves the remaining 51,000 people living in officially designated Gaeltacht areas, but in which Irish has effectively ceased to exist as a community language.
- Brian McDonald
