Watch your language if you want a home in West
Friday November 14 2003
WATCH your language if you wan't to get a house.
That's the new rule in a Connemara village where anyone dreaming of a home would be well advised to do so as Gaeilge.
A scheme of new houses to be built in the Gaeltacht village of Carraroe can only be occupied by people who speak fluent Irish.
Galway Co Council has granted permission to Lettermullen developer and businessman Padraig Lee for 12 houses in the picturesque village a 45-minute drive from Galway city.
But the council is insisting that the occupants speak Irish and has made this a condition of planning permission, the first time any local authority has imposed such a ruling, it is believed.
It has inserted the condition in an effort to protect the linguistic and cultural heritage of the area and in accordance with the Co Galway Development Plan adopted six months ago.
The plan states that any development (in the Gaeltacht) which would have a negative impact on the language would be refused.
It also commits to granting planning permission in the Gaeltacht by imposing conditions which would ensure the stabilisation and the protection of Irish as a community language.
The council planners stated: "Prior to the commencement of the development, the applicant shall enter into a legal agreement with the planning authority, the purpose of which shall be to restrict or regulate the development here permitted for the exclusive use of occupants who have an appropriate competence/fluency in the Irish language.
"Details of the standard of Irish to be achieved and methods of evaluating same shall be agreed in writing with the planning authority prior to the finalisation of the legal agreement here conditioned."
It is expected that the method of deciding on the competence of anyone seeking to occupy one of the new Carraroe homes will be the same as that used to assess applicants for housing grants in the Gaeltacht.
The planning condition was enthusiastically received by Comhdhail Naisiunta na Gaeilge and Irish language activists. Lecturer Donncha O hEallaithe said: "It sets a precedent which, if followed in other Gaeltacht areas under threat, could arrest the decline of Irish as a community language."
- Brian McDonald
