If apathy ruled in the Government's recent by-election, there is one group that wants to ensure it doesn't happen in the next political campaign. When the new membership of Udaras na Gaeltachta is voted in on December 4th, Plearaca Chonamara aims to leave it in no doubt about the challenges ahead.
"Once the debate might have been focused exclusively on jobs and industrial development, but there are far wider issues at stake," Donncha O hEallaithe, chairman of Plearaca, says.
Housing is one such issue.
Many Irish-speaking young people can no longer afford to buy or build their first home in their native Gaeltacht.
Cois Fharraige, west of Galway, is the obvious extreme example. "First of all, you are competing with people who have been pushed out of the city area. Then you are competing with people who can afford to buy the land. And if you can overcome those barriers, you might be waiting two years to secure a site with planning permission," Mr O hEallaithe says.
It is a problem that affects the Udaras directly, given the implications for both the language and the supply of labour to grant-aided industry in the Gaeltacht. Plearaca believes the authority should extend its land acquisition brief to cover purchase of sites for social housing development.
The perceived imbalance in investment, channelled through the Udaras, is also a bone of contention. "Some areas are oversubscribed, to the extent that factories in certain parts of Connemara have to bus workers out from Galway," O hEallaithe says. The fact that people no longer have to opt for lower-paid employment in some areas is also a factor; the Connemara fish factory had to fly non-Irish speaking workers in from Finland.
"The imbalance is reflected in national school populations, and you can almost draw a line at An Cheathru Rua," O hEallaithe says.
"West of it, in areas like Ros Muc and Cill Chiarain, the schools are suffering from a serious population decline and are fighting to hold on to teachers. East of it, the schools are bulging. This is a direct result of the Udaras failing to direct industry at areas where the population is decreasing."
And yet what industrialist would be attracted to a region where there is a problem with labour supply? "This can be a difficulty," O hEallaithe agrees. "But there are ways around this, like providing free transport schemes and taking a broader approach to development, which places emphasis on quality of life, social environment and access to work."
Some of these issues were raised at a recent debate on the revised legislation for the authority, hosted by Plearaca Chonamara. Under the new Act, the board has been expanded from 13 to 16 members, with four coming from Donegal; two each from Mayo and Kerry; and one each representing Meath, Cork and Waterford.
Plans to redraw Gaeltacht boundaries are not provided for - being too controversial, perhaps - although it is widely recognised that some Gaeltacht areas have undergone significant population change.
Following criticisms levelled at the Plearaca meeting, the Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Eamon O Cuiv, indicated that he might consider an application from the authority to widen its remit.
In fact, it is understood the authority has already been in communication with the Department, not about extending its remit, but about trying to widen its influence through a shift in a rigid State system. The authority believes a new policy of "language-proofing" within State mechanisms would allow it to take an integrated approach to development.
Prof Gearoid O Tuathaigh, chairman of the authority, argues that the Udaras has been trying to expand its range of options in terms of involvement in healthcare, the arts, cultural tourism and pre-school education, areas which national agencies have responsibility for. It has also expressed interest in social housing, but this would require that it be permitted to take the integrated approach to development.
Prof O Tuathaigh believes the authority must develop a labour force strategy which can retain more higher-educated young people within the Gaeltacht, and it must also identify strategic "growth poles", where social infrastructure would be built in a planned way to support employment opportunities, rather than leaving development to politics and private industry.
As for a strategy on the language, Prof O Tuathaigh says a policy does exist and there is "nothing casual" about the way grant-aid is approved. The policy might not be as sophisticated as that in Wales or Catalonia, he acknowledges.
"The problem is that the Gaeltacht is not a linguistically homogenous area." The fact that the Udaras Bill did not re draw boundaries, and that parts of west Galway, such as Knocknacarra and Tirellan, are technically in the Gaeltacht, even if little of the language is spoken there, adds to the complexity.
Prof O Tuathaigh is due to outline his vision for the future at a forum organised by Comdhail Naisiunta na Gaeilge and Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta in the Connemara Coast Hotel, Furbo, Co Galway, this weekend (November 12th-13th). The forum will open on Friday at 8 p.m., with a session entitled Freagair an Cheist.
Among the panel will be the Minister of State, Mr Eamon O Cuiv, Mr Michael D. Higgins TD, Mr Enda Kenny TD, and Mr O hEallaithe of Plearaca Chonamara. On Saturday at 9.30 a.m. Prof O Tuathaigh will open the session with his address, and the forum continues all day. For further details contact Comdhail Naisiunta na Gaeilge at (01) 6794780.
