Sinn Féin spokesperson for Gaeilge, Gaeltacht, Arts and Culture, Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD has today submitted over 200 amendments specifically to protect Gaeltacht communities, the Irish language and cultural spaces in planning legislation, as part of a wider package of amendments to radically improve the Government’s Planning and Development Bill 2023.
The Bill is due to come before the Dáil Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for scrutiny in the coming weeks.
Teachta Ó Snodaigh said:
“Sinn Féin set out a vision for how planning law and housing delivery could be used to support the survival of Gaeltacht communities back in June 2022 when we launched our 10-point policy “Ag Pleanáil don Athchóiriú”, which called for language impact assessments, recognition of Gaeltacht settlement patterns, evidence-based population planning and respect for language plans, to name but a few.
“We published that document after being promised by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien that much-needed guidelines on Gaeltacht planning, demanded by planning authorities as well as communities, would already be in place by then. A year and a half on, and there is still no sign of the guidelines, with himself and the Minister of State for the Gaeltacht Patrick O’Donovan playing a blame game all while Gaeltacht families are being pushed out because they have nowhere to live.
“The Gaeltacht is in crisis. The number of daily Irish speakers has declined for two censuses in a row. The amendments we are putting forward attempt to address that crisis, and include many of the proposals we set out in 2022, more recent submissions from Conradh na Gaeilge, and other changes that would strengthen the role of the Irish language in the Bill and provide for Irish language promotion efforts and facilities outside the Gaeltacht.”
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