A bid to stop "environmental terrorism" in the Ring Gaeltacht of Co Waterford will continue today. Protesters intend to march on Waterford County Council's Civic Offices in nearby Dungarvan to protest against ongoing developments in the Gaeltacht area.
The campaign began earlier this week at a highly charged public meeting, which was attended by almost 350 concerned people from the parish who want the building of "ugly estates" - comprising large two-storey and two-storey over basement houses - to stop.
"The straw that broke the camel's back is the 12 new houses that are being developed in Cnocán an Phaoraigh," says Eibhlís Ní Dhonnchadha, one of the organisers of the meeting and a teacher at the local secondary school, Meánscoil San Nioclás.
"I'm not prepared to see the Gaeltacht vanish," she said. Those who signed the petition, which will be handed in to the county council today, want to "halt the bad planning in the Gaeltacht area, which is under threat and the language and our heritage is being destroyed by these huge ugly estates that are being erected".
"Caithfimid an fód a sheasamh mar ní bheidh Gaeltacht anseo againn sa Déise muna dhéanaimid troid ar a son," she added.
One individual at the public meeting, which was chaired by local resident and freelance cameraman Fionn Mac Giolla Chuda, called the developments "environmental terrorism at its worst". A unanimous vote of no confidence was passed at the meeting in the planning strategy adopted by the Waterford County Council for the Ring Gaeltacht.
The reason the latest development has caused so much anger is because "there are so many houses and they are so big. This view is like the jewel in the crown of the scenic beauty of the area, it's panoramic and it's being obliterated," said Siobhán Mhic Craith, another resident and mother, who lives in Ring.
Other concerns were raised about the inability of young local people to afford these houses, which cost in the region of €500,000.
"It is these kinds of developments which are tearing the very soul out of our parish," said Ní Dhonnchadha.
"Local people who want to build houses find it extremely difficult to get planning permission while at the same time developers can get permission for houses that are clearly not suitable," said Mhic Craith.
The organisers of the meeting and the demonstration today have issued an invitation to the Minister of the Gaeltacht, Éamonn Ó Cuív, to visit Ring and see the building that is going on for himself.
