A plan drawn up by Galway County Council for the Gaeltacht village of Bearna has had to be "terminated" because it wasn't published in Irish.
The local authority has written to participants in the draft Bearna local area plan informing them that questions about the plan's validity have been raised for this reason. Submissions for the plan, which were due in on January 19th, are being returned with an explanatory note.
Ironically, the local authority has afforded recognition of the linguistic and cultural heritage of Irish-speaking communities in its county development plan, which encompasses the largest Gaeltacht area in the State.
However, it was criticised several years ago by Údarás na Gaeltachta, the Gaeltacht development agency, for failing to give proper recognition to the language implications in making planning assessments for Bearna - now under severe pressure from developers due to its closeness to Galway city.
While the status of Irish in the Bearna area was in a "very fragile state", it could be strengthened through a series of practical steps and support networks, Udaras na Gaeltachta said.Pobal Bhearna, which was set up to promote sustainable development in the former fishing village, said it hoped the local authority would initiate a new draft plan as soon as possible.
It had not complained about the failure to publish the draft in Irish, a spokesman said.
