The High Court has overturned planning permission for a development of 18 local authority houses at the Gaelic-speaking village of An Ceathrú Rua (Carraroe), Co Galway.
Mr Justice Ó Caoimh found that Galway County Council had a duty to have regard to the requirement in its own County Development Plan for a "linguistic impact statement" to accompany all planning applications in the area. He ruled that the council had failed to fulfil that duty.
He directed that the council must require such statements to accompany all planning applications. This would include applications for single dwellings.
The judge was delivering his reserved judgment upholding a challenge by eight residents to the development at Cuileann, An Ceathrú Rua. He also awarded costs to the residents, who were represented by Mr Séamas Ó Tuathail SC, with Mr Gerard Humphreys.
The judicial review proceedings were heard in Irish and yesterday's judgment was delivered in Irish.
Planning permission for the development was granted in September 2001 after which the legal proceedings were taken.
The residents had claimed their village and the Irish language might become casualties of rapid urbanisation if the development proceeded.
They argued that the council, as the planning authority, had breached its most recent development plan, which required it to carry out a linguistic impact statement in relation to the proposed housing scheme.