The developers of a housing scheme in the Gaeltacht village of Spiddal have lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanála against Galway County Council's decision to attach an Irish language condition to the project.
The scheme of 17 houses was approved recently by the local authority at Bothúna on the outskirts of Spiddal. Local residents have objected to the development on several grounds, including impact on Irish language use in the area.
The developers' challenge to the language condition comes less than a year after Galway County Council imposed the first such stipulation on a housing project in the State's largest Gaeltacht area under the terms of its new county development plan.
Under the new county plan, which aims to protect the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Gaeltacht, developers must sign up to legal agreements to restrict use - including rental - of new housing schemes to occupants with an appropriate competency or fluency in Irish.
The first such legal agreement was signed with a developer in Spiddal last month and applies to 18 of 29 apartments constructed in the village - but for 10 years only.
Hyberg Development aims to build its 17-house scheme on more than two acres formerly owned by Lord Killanin, for which it paid over €1 million. It argues that outline planning permission given to the project did not include the language condition. This outline permission was awarded under the old county development plan.
A spokesman for the group told The Irish Times that it was not objecting to the language condition per se, but was seeking clarification on the percentage of houses to which the condition would apply.
However, the county council said the old county plan did include provision for a language impact statement.
"It was not the practice under the old county plan to ask for these statements, but this does not mean that it does not apply," a spokeswoman said. A legal agreement would be required with the developer, but the timing of this depended on the outcome of the appeal, she added.
The Bothúna residents are also concerned about the language condition, but for very different reasons to the developers. Local people believe the condition may not be strong enough, in that the legal agreement signed for the apartments in Spiddal applied to only 62 per cent, rather than 100 per cent of the development and is only in force for 10 years.
The residents believe the provision in the county development plan stipulates 100 per cent use by Irish speakers. The relevant wording states that "prior to the commencement of the development, the applicant shall enter into a legal agreement with the planning authority (under the provisions of section 47 of the Planning and Development Act 2000), the purpose of which shall be to restrict or regulate the development here permitted for the exclusive use of occupants who have an appropriate competence/fluency in the Irish language. Details of the standard of Irish to be achieved and methods of evaluating same shall be agreed in writing with the planning authority prior to the finalisation of the legal agreement."
