State moves to halt Gaeltacht decline

THE Government is to undertake a major review of Gaeltacht areas amid concerns of a dramatic fall-off in Irish language use in many areas.

It is also poised to instruct local authorities to ease restrictions on the number of new houses built in these areas in a bid to halt the falling population levels.

The language review means many areas, such as suburbs of Galway City, will lose their Gaeltacht status and accompanying grant aid.

The level of Irish language use within families is just 1% in Galway suburbs, while overall just a quarter of households in the Gaeltacht have a fluency in Irish.

Gaeltacht Minister Eamon Ó Cuív yesterday asked the committee undertaking the review to consider whether giving a special language recognition to Galway city would be useful, as it is the only city adjacent to a Gaeltacht.

He said targeted Irish language development plans would be implemented in areas where the language is found to be weakest.

Mr Ó Cuív also hinted that his department would be seeking a relaxation in the planning policies which have limited the number of one-off houses in rural areas.

On previous occasions he has warned that the population in rural areas could decline by up to 20% if there are restrictions on new houses in these areas.

Yesterday he said the department intended making a policy announcement on this issue before any local authority made final decisions regarding planning in their area.

This policy will be shortly issued to all councils with a Gaeltacht in their county area.

A recent study found there were only 20,000 people living in Gaeltacht areas in which a majority of the eligible households are judged to be Irish-speaking.

The committee undertaking the language review is to examine Gaeltacht boundaries by measuring the number of daily Irish speakers and residents’ identity as a Gaeltacht community.

It will also look at the number of voters in Údarás na Gaeltachta elections and various grants being drawn down.

A study into Irish language use, carried out by the Mayo Institute of Technology, found that the Irish language was on the “brink of extinction” in four Gaeltacht counties.

It showed the number of Irish-speaking families with schoolchildren in the Gaeltacht counties of Mayo, Cork, Waterford and Meath had dropped to 53.

The analysis was carried out by Donncha Ó hÉalaithe, a lecturer at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, who said large areas of the three remaining Gaeltacht counties of Galway, Donegal and Kerry showed the same trend.

Mr Ó hÉalaithe has predicted that unless radical measures are taken, more communities will lose the language in the next 10 to 20 years, including the Cois Fharraige area of Galway.