Cork council finally gets parts of its development plan translated into Irish

Cllr Gobnait Moynihan spoke of the importance of the  County Development Plan being bilingual, making it accessible to all its citizens but also showing how seriously the local authority took its commitment to the Irish language.  Picture: Howard Crowdy

After being unable to source a company to translate its draft County Development Plan into Irish, as required by law, Cork County Council has now managed to get some sections which are pertinent to its Gaeltacht areas translated.

Some weeks ago, senior council officials shocked local public representatives when they revealed they'd tried, unsuccessfully, to get somebody to tender for translating the plan into Irish.

It is a mammoth task as the document — the blueprint for future development in the county from 2022 – 2028 — is split up into seven volumes and covers thousands of pages.

Repeated attempts to get a company to translate all the documents in time for publication failed again, despite the best efforts of officials.

At the time, Gaeltacht-based Fianna Fáil councillor Gobnait Moynihan spoke of the importance of the draft plan being bilingual, making it not just accessible to all its citizens but also showing how seriously the local authority took its commitment to the Irish language.

"I pleaded with the council that day to try to publish at least the most relevant chapters to the Irish language and Gaeltacht areas of the plan, in time for public consultation." 

The full draft plans were published on April 20, but without any Irish translation.

Council officials have now announced as a compromise they've been able to get translations of documents published which are relevant to Irish-speaking communities living on Cape Clear (Oileán Chléire) and in the West Muskerry Gaeltacht area which includes places such as Ballyvourney (Baile Mhúirne), Ballingeary (Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh), Kilnamartyra (Cill na Martra) and Coolea (Cúil Aodha).

Ms Moynihan said not publishing a bilingual version of the CDP was a clear breach by Cork County Council of its statutory language obligation enshrined in the Official Languages Act 2003.

However, she welcomed the new announcement by council officials.

“Though the council haven't made all the plan bilingual, they have at least taken a big step in the right direction; making efforts to give Irish language a more equal status,” Ms Moynihan said.

She added it is important that people in the Gaeltacht areas look at the plans.

The deadline for the public to make submissions to the CDP is July 1.