The Gaeltacht will die without more planning permissions, MEP says

Eva Osborne

Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú has said native Irish speakers are being pushed out of Gaeltacht areas because local authorities are refusing planning permissions to build on family lands.

She has described an overly rigid planning system in Gaeltacht areas as a direct threat to the future of the Irish language.

There are seven counties in Ireland which contain a Gaeltacht area, most of which have seen year-on-year declines in the numbers who speak Irish on a daily basis.

Ní Mhurchú said planning permission is becoming impossible for young native speakers who have land but are refused permission to build in Gaeltacht areas.

Conradh na Gaeilge is bringing a petition to the European Parliament on the housing crisis and how it is impacting on Gaeltacht areas.

As part of this petition, Gaeltacht residents will travel to the European Parliament to address MEPs and EU Commission officials in May on the issues they face, one of which is the fact that County Councils operate an overly restrictive planning policy in Gaeltacht areas.

Ní Mhurchú has called for the Gaeltacht planning guidelines to be published and hopes they will allow local authorities to be more flexible in granting planning permission in Gaeltacht areas – in particular for fluent Irish speakers.