An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for a large housing development in the Gaeltacht village of Spiddal, Co Galway.
The potential impact on the Irish language in the area is one of a series of reasons given for the board's decision to uphold the appeal against permission granted by Galway County Council last year.
The development by Pádraig McCluskey was to have comprised three detached houses, 24 semi-detached and 24 town houses on a site to the north of the village. Appeals were lodged by Airdeall, an Irish language protection group under the auspices of Comdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, and Cóiste Ghlór na nGael an Spidéil.
Upholding the appeals, An Bord Pleanála found the scale of the development would constitute an "excessive amount", given the infrastructural deficiencies in the village.
It also found that the scale, form and layout of the proposed development would be "suburban", would be "piecemeal and disorderly" in form, would be inconsistent with the established pattern of development, and would "militate against the preservation of the environmental amenities of the village".
The board found the development would be contrary to the protection of the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Gaeltacht, as provided for in the Galway County Development Plan 2003-09. The lack of a proper public sewerage network for Spiddal was also identified as a key factor, as the board considered that discharge from a private sewage plant into an inadequate public system would be "prejudicial to public health".
The ruling is the latest in a series by An Bord Pleanála which supports the language policy on housing adopted by local authorities in Gaeltacht areas, and underpins such provisions in the Planning and Development Act 2000.
The appeals board has said it will be guided by census figures for daily use of Irish in determining how many dwellings should be occupied by Irish-speakers, but in some cases it may seek to increase the number of units above the census percentage.
For instance, a recent ruling relating to a development in the Gaeltacht village of Furbo stipulated that the proportion of houses restricted to Irish speakers should be higher than the proportion of daily Irish speakers in the area.
Airdeall has urged Galway County Council to apply "clear language conditions when granting planning permission for developments in the Gaeltacht".
"It is now more important than ever that Gaeltacht councillors take a stand for the future of the Gaeltacht," the organisation says. It has urged councillors to resist pressure to make any changes to the Galway County Development Plan which "would ease the way for developments that could be detrimental to the Gaeltacht as an Irish speaking district".
