In Scotland they are called "white settlers". They're native, English-speaking Scots who buy homes in the Scottish Gaeltacht. In Ireland, they're the cubs of the Celtic Tiger and they are fast turning the Connemara Gaeltacht, the most vibrant of all Gaeltacht regions, into an English-speaking suburb of Galway city. Areas such as Barna and Furbo, which border the city, were once recognisable rural areas to native speakers. Now, they've become "the Bearla burbs".
Galway city's huge expansion has brought in a workforce from throughout Connacht and the rest of Ireland. Those who can't find houses in the city seek them in the suburbs - and they happen to be Gaeltacht regions. It is English speakers "for the most part" who are doing the buying, says Padraig O hAolain, head of information with Udaras na Gaeltachta whose headquarters are in Furbo. "There is no doubt about that." Though, he adds, most are unaware of the language's existence.
Udaras has noticed the sharp rise in property prices with concern. "For the last three years the problem has become worse and more acute and it is becoming worse all the time. The price of land has risen at a very fast rate. We are worried now." Udaras estimates that land prices in Barna and Furbo have risen by 200 per cent; between Spiddal and Inverin by 150 per cent and from Inverin west by 100 per cent in the last three years.
The organisation frequently buys land to build factories and industrial estates. However, in Connemara now, land is based on the price of individual sites and sites are in the region of "between £35,000 and £50,000", says O hAolain. A few years ago, a site would have cost between £15,000 to £20,000 on the eastern side of Spiddal village and substantially less the further west one travelled. "Those days are gone," he says.
Rising house prices have meant that young Gaeltacht couples are leaving the country for the city to find accommodation. In the process, they are sundering their links with what was, until very recently, a homogeneous linguistic community. An added difficulty is that much of Connemara is, in effect, a green belt due to special amenity status. Sites are often beyond young people's financial reach. If they are available (and affordable), there's no guarantee of planning permission.
O hAolain is certain that the current development will herald the demise of Irish as a community language. "One thing is very clear at this moment: if there isn't an integrated language plan in a very short time, there is no doubt that English will have the upper hand at the end of the day." And, as he points out, there is no plan.
It is a situation that Comhdhail Naisiunta na Gaeilge, the co-ordinating group for Irish-language voluntary bodies, is unhappy with. It wants to see the Government issuing "regulations to the planning authorities in relation to planning applications which are likely to have an adverse effect on linguistic factors in Gaeltacht areas," says Aine Ni Chonghaile, an executive with the organisation. The disparity between the way in which land and language are treated are there for all to see, says Comhdhail.
"Recently, an Act has been passed which gives the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the power to issue guidelines to planning authorities for the protection of the architectural and archaeological heritage. It seems a little perverse that the same Minister cannot issue similar guidelines in relation to Irish in Gaeltacht areas," she says.
Breandan Delap, editor of the weekly newspaper, Foinse, based in Carraroe, has been watching this crisis develop. He is in no doubt that "it is very bad. Galway is moving west the whole time. Suburbs like Furbo and Spiddal seem to be under siege. Young people in the area can't afford sites and they are moving. There is a danger that the whole language community will be eroded."
Delap highlights that there are, in effect, two distinct regions in the Connemara Gaeltacht: the area between Galway and Spiddal which is rapidly becoming "suburbs for yuppie English speakers" and the more westerly parts of the region, such as Rosmuck and Ceantar na nOilean which are linguistically strong but also "ravaged by emigration" and suffering from lack of investment. One area is being bought up by outsiders while the other is being depopulated at a frightening rate. The implications for the language are clear.
Cumas, an organisation which promotes community development in the region, estimates that the population in Rosmuck has dropped by 30 per cent in the past 30 years. Research carried out by the ERSI and published in this year's Udaras annual report, shows 6,000 people left all the Gaeltachts in the past five years: 40 per cent were under the age of 25 years and 50 per cent of them had third-level qualifications. It is the sort of loss which no community can afford and certainly not one as fragile as the Gaeltacht.
Delap believes that "any new development should have a language assessment as well as the usual environmental ones" and that "it should be used rigorously". To do that, however, the Gaeltacht borders need to be changed to remove English-speaking estates in Galway city which fall within the official Gaeltacht borders. In addition, he suggests that a light-rail system for east Galway would "make it more accessible and take the pressure off the Gaeltacht".
He points out that (and it is a point echoed again and again by locals): "It's not that we want to be xenophobic. Connemara people have travelled throughout the world and we agree with Maastricht that people should be able to travel, work and live where they want. But in this case it's unique. There is a language community involved. There is an unbroken language link between generations, and that seems to be coming to an end."
Mandy Ni Mhurchu is a resettlement officer with Galway Rural Development and has lived and worked in Connemara for the past 20 years. She has noticed disturbing trends.
"I think the main problem is that young couples and young single people are having to move into Galway to find accommodation. The problem with that is that the family support structures in the Gaeltacht are breaking down. They don't have the contact with the family they used to have and that could exacerbate the social problems that are beginning in the area and that are certainly in urban areas.
"It may certainly indicate that we are coming to the end of that pobal or community that was traditionally in existence in Gaeltacht and country areas."
She wants to see "special recognition" being given to the Gaeltacht for its "cultural status" and schemes which help young people buy their own properties. Ni Mhurchu stresses that there is property available but the best use is not being made of it.
"People tend to come and build new properties where there is an enormous amount of vernacular architecture which could be refurbished if there was money available to do so. It would mean that it would be worthwhile for people to redo old houses, young people could use them. I'd very much like the Government to consider this as an option," she says.
That option, if acted on, would maintain the local population, local services and infrastructures and, most importantly, the language. Failing a proper policy which considers both housing and linguistic needs, the Connemara Gaeltacht is faced with meltdown. She adds: "The warning signs are there."
