A Bord Pleanála ruling that all houses in a new development in the Ring Gaeltacht in Waterford must be sold to either Irish speakers or local people has been welcomed by residents.
The Bord Pleanála ruling on the 17-house development in Maoil a' Chóirne stated that no fewer than 10 houses should be occupied by people with "a reasonable fluency in the Irish language".
The standard of fluency is the same standard demanded by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for people getting grants under the Gaeltacht Housing Scheme.
The planning body ruled that the remaining seven houses should be restricted to people native to Ring.
Caomhnóirí na Gaeltachta, the Waterford Gaeltacht planning action group, said the ruling was a "victory for common sense".
The local group had objected to the development because no Irish language conditions were attached. Aodh MacCraith, spokesman for the group, said it was a historic decision as all 17 houses had been reserved for Irish speakers or locals.
"We see this landmark decision as a first positive step on a long road to limiting the damage already done to the Gaeltacht," he said and pointed to the rezoning of 270 acres in the area.
Mr MacCraith said young Gaeltacht couples had been forced out of the area because of exorbitant house prices. "Emotions have been running so high locally that people feel they are being ethnically cleansed from the Gaeltacht."
He said he and his wife had good jobs but they would not have been able to afford to build in the Gaeltacht, were it not for the fact that his father had provided a site.
Mr MacCraith, a teacher in the local national school, said the school was set to have the lowest number of new pupils since its foundation, this September. Even though the population had mushroomed houses were priced out of the reach of young couples ready to start families, he said.
The group also praised the ruling by An Bord Pleanála that no work should begin on the site until an agreement was put in place between the developer and the planning authority to ensure full compliance with the conditions.
The Bord Pleanála ruling said the conditions were put in place "in order to protect the language and cultural heritage of this Gaeltacht area".
Mr MacCraith said Caomhnóirí na Gaeltachta would like to see an end to large housing projects in the Gaeltacht. "But if the planning authority insists on granting planning for urban-style estates, we will go to An Bord Pleanála each and every time from now on and we hope and expect that they will use this decision as a precedent in all future applicants for housing estates in the Gaeltacht."
