Irish language activists, concerned about the declining level of Irish usage within the State's Gaeltacht regions, are to campaign for a deferral of this year's Udaras na Gaeltachta elections so that a revision of Gaeltacht boundaries could be considered.
The move follows a recent survey which shows that less than one quarter of the Gaeltacht population now live within areas where Irish could be regarded as the dominant community language.
The survey based on the most up to date census figures was conducted for the Irish language magazine, Cuisle, by Galway lecturer and member of the magazine's editorial committee, Mr Donacha O hEallaithe. Mr O hEallaithe is now spearheading the campaign to examine the boundaries of existing Gaeltacht areas.
"A number of people are working towards forming a lobby group regarding Irish in Gaeltacht areas and one issue we are focusing on is a realistic redrawing of boundaries. At present areas are included in the Gaeltacht when no more Irish is spoken than in north Tipperary or Leitrim," Mr O hEallaithe stresses.
He points to areas in Galway city and east of the city which are still designated as Gaeltacht although Irish is no longer spoken there. The Gaeltacht designation means that people are entitled to vote in Udaras elections which is the body responsible for the industrial and economic development of Gaeltacht regions.
"In Galway city and places like Claregalway about 10,500 people are entitled to vote in these elections. That is more than the population of the entire Munster Gaeltacht and it is not democratic," said Mr O hEallaithe
He welcomed legislation, which was recently announced by the Minister for the Gaeltacht, Mr O Cuiv, to increase the number of elected members of Udaras from 7 to 16 to make that body more representative.
However, he insists "going ahead with the elections under present circumstances would be wrong".
However, Mr O Cuiv argues that redrawing boundaries in isolation would not benefit the language and would have an adverse effect on families in Gaeltacht areas who speak Irish.
The Minister, who explained that there would be no boundary changes before the forthcoming Udaras elections points out that other issues such as planning, the provision of State services through Irish, and a co-ordinated linguistic policy also need to be addressed to protect Gaeltacht regions.