Permission for housing development in Waterford Gaeltacht refused over impact on Irish language

Cork-based company Shinebright had sought planning to construct 46 houses on the outskirts of the Gaeltacht village of An Rinn

Under council policy, 60% of units in any proposed housing development within the Gaeltacht area must have a language condition attached to their occupancy, whereby the resident would have to demonstrate a reasonable fluency in Irish. File picture

An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for a housing development in the Waterford Gaeltacht because of the negative impact it would have on efforts to protect the Irish language heritage of the area.

The board upheld the decision of Waterford City and County Council to reject the application by development firm Shinebright to construct 46 houses on the outskirts of the Gaeltacht village of An Rinn (Ring).

It rejected an appeal by the Cork-based company against the council’s refusal of planning permission to develop the 3.3-hectare site at Maoil a’Choirne (Mweelahorna) on the Ring peninsula.

Under council policy, 60% of units in any proposed housing development within the Gaeltacht area must have a language condition attached to their occupancy, whereby the resident would have to demonstrate a reasonable fluency in Irish.

Shinebright had claimed its project represented a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to provide affordable homes for local people wanting to stay in the area.

'Linguistic integrity'

In its ruling, however, An Bord Pleanála said the company had failed to demonstrate the proposed development would not detrimentally impact on “the linguistic integrity of the area”. 

The board said the scale and suburban-style layout of the houses would be out of character with the established pattern of development in rural Gaeltacht areas.

It also rejected the appeal by Shinebright on the basis it is a policy of the Waterford City and County Development Plan 2022-2028 that rural villages like An Rinn can only support the development of a maximum of 20 new houses during the lifetime of the plan.

The board said the development would also pose a risk to public health as it would be premature pending the upgrade of the local sewage network.

An inspector with An Bord Pleanála agreed with the council that a linguistic impact statement provided by Shinebright was “not sufficiently robust or grounded in information” to support its contention that the development would not have a negative impact on the Irish language or culture of An Rinn.

The inspector said she was also not satisfied the development would not adversely affect Dungarvan Harbour Special Protection Area during the construction phase.

Conradh na Gaeilge had warned that it would be unlikely there would be enough Irish speakers with sufficient fluency to buy the number of houses required under the language conditions.

“For that reason, the company will have to sell houses to people who don’t speak Irish which consequently will reduce the percentage of Irish speakers in the area,” it added.

The Irish language body said it could see the socio-linguistic status of the Waterford Gaeltacht being “profoundly damaged” if the development was allowed to go ahead.

Holiday homes

Waterford City and County Council’s Irish officer Máire Seó Breathnach expressed concern there was a strong demand for private houses in the area which most locals could not afford to buy, and which were often purchased by outsiders as holiday homes.

“The lack of affordable and social housing within Gaeltacht na nDéise is a critical problem and may be the single most challenging threat to the continued survival of this community,” the official stated.

Ms Breathnach claimed the Waterford Gaeltacht and Irish language levels within the community were under pressure “from the pervasive influence of the English language”. 

She said a linguistic study of the Gaeltacht undertaken in 2007 identified how the proportion of people needed to speak Irish on a daily basis was 67% or more in order to ensure the survival of the Irish-speaking community.

Local Sinn Féin councillor Conor McGuinness, who lives in An Rinn, claimed it was obvious the development was not aimed at a demand coming from within the Gaeltacht.

Opposing the plan, Mr McGuinness said: “The majority of the houses will be sold to people who have no connection with the area.” 

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The development was also opposed by Fianna Fáil senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee, a fluent Irish speaker based in Dublin, whose grandparents come from the area.

Ms Clifford-Lee said the board had a legal duty to protect the Irish language and pointed out the scale of housing proposed by Shinebright was excessive with respect to local demand.

The Department of An Gaeltacht had called for a condition to be applied that 60% of the houses would be provided to Irish speakers if planning permission had been granted.

Another property company, Blackwater Properties, which unsuccessfully sought planning permission in 2007 to build 49 new homes on the site, claimed linguistic conditions imposed by the council were unconstitutional and discriminatory.