The impact of large-scale housing in Gaeltacht areas is likely to be a priority for the new board of Údarás na Gaeltachta, following the reappointment of Liam Ó Cuinneagáin as chairman.
The appointment, to be announced today by Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív, is one of three Government nominations to the Gaeltacht development authority.
Fianna Fáil secured a majority on the board during elections to 17 of the 20 board posts in the seven Gaeltacht areas earlier this month. But the authority earned the new nickname "Údarás na Galltachta" in Connemara due to the election of three candidates in Galway from non-Irish speaking areas of the city.
Mr Ó Cuinneagáin, a teacher and director of Oideas Gael, the Irish language tuition and culture centre in Donegal, was chairman from 1999 to 2005. The Minister has described him as "energetic and diligent","particularly committed to Gaeltacht life" and someone who "fully understands the approach necessary to take on the huge challenges confronting both the Gaeltacht and the Irish language".
In his end-of-year review, Mr Ó Cuinneagáin identified the need to improve and expand housing stock in the Gaeltacht for the benefit of local communities. But he was concerned about the "potentially negative implications" for the Irish language and for communities arising from "multi-unit housing, apartment and retail schemes on a scale not experienced before in Gaeltacht areas", saying these were more appropriate for urban settings.
This week An Bord Pleanála is due to deliver several key rulings on Irish language conditions attached to new housing developments in the Galway and Kerry Gaeltachts.
The new chairman and board will serve with the authority's new chief executive, Pádraig Ó hAolain, who succeeds Ruan Ó Bric. Mr Ó hAolain, originally from Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, is the authority's former deputy chief executive with special responsibility for regional development. He also previously served as communications manager.
The Minister's department is reviewing the functions of Údarás na Gaeltachta. Based in Furbo, Co Galway, it is charged with developing the Gaeltacht economy while preserving and extending the Irish language as principal language of the Gaeltacht community.
Mr Ó Cuív has also welcomed a Scottish Parliament decision to give official status to the Scots Gaelic language, following his implementation of the Language Act here last year. The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill will establish a new authority, Bord na Gaidhlig, which will draw up a national plan for Scots Gaelic.
The legislation also requires certain public bodies in Scotland to prepare and implement plans to set out how they will use Scots Gaelic in exercising their functions. This mirrors the provisions of the Language Act, overseen here by the Irish Language Commissioner, Seán Ó Cuirreáin.
Scots Gaelic was introduced to Scotland from Ireland in the fifth century and has been in decline for 400 years.
