Cork County Council found to be in breach of Irish language scheme

CORK County Council has agreed to write to two government departments after it was found to be in breach of a scheme to publish official documents in both English and Irish.

According to the Annual Report for 2022 from the Office of An Choimisinéir Teanga, Cork County Council was the subject of an investigation by the language commissioner for failing to publish a draft version of the County Development Plan in Irish when it published its English version in 2022.

The commissioner also said the council had breached the Official Languages Act 2003 by using unofficial English versions of Gaeltacht place names.

The matter was discussed at Monday’s full council meeting. At the meeting, Fianna Fáil councillor Gobnait Moynihan said she was “not happy” to see Cork County Council on the report.

“The reason Cork County Council are on is because the Draft County Development Plan wasn’t published in Irish, and areas in the Gaeltacht were named in English as opposed to in Irish which is a legal obligation,” she explained. 

Her party colleague councillor Gearoid Murphy echoed her sentiments. “It is imperative that we as a council do everything in our power to comply with our obligations and vindicate the language rights of native speakers of our national language,” he said.

Cork County Council deputy chief executive Clodagh Henehen said: “Cork County Council takes obligations under legislation very seriously and acknowledges in this case the council was unable to comply with our statutory duties with regards to a public consultation document. We wish to note this was not done deliberately or with any disregard for the Irish language or for the legislation.”

Director of services with planning Michael Lynch added: “We have taken steps across the organisation to ensure such errors don’t happen again. 

“Regarding the translation there is an issue. When we publish the English version, we have to publish the Irish version at the same time. The timelines are catching us,” he said. 

“We are engaging with the planning bill to recover additional time.”

Ms Moynihan suggested that the council write to the Gaeltacht and planning departments and outline their issues with the timelines to ensure the council is not in the same situation again.

Her proposal was accepted by Mr Lynch who said: “We can write to the two departments as a proactive measure.”