The new Irish language test for purchasers of private housing in Gaeltacht areas has claimed its first casualty. A family seeking to buy an apartment in Spiddal, Co Galway, did not pass the exam set by the local authority.
The unsuccessful applicant has described the disqualification as "unfair, discriminatory" and "counterproductive to the aims of the legislation", which is intended to protect the linguistic and cultural heritage of Gaeltacht areas.
In a letter to Galway County Council, the applicant, who does not wish to be identified, says her two young sons had been enrolled in their local Gaelscoil, she had completed Leaving Certificate Irish and had a keen interest in the language.
She worked in Australia for 13 years but had been a regular visitor to Spiddal since her return.
Her husband, a haulier who spends "substantial time" working in the Connemara Gaeltacht, was deprived of the right to learn Irish as he was reared in Northern Ireland.
Galway County Council confirmed yesterday the applicant was one of eight who had completed the new oral test to date, and seven had passed. Introduced under the provisions of the planning acts and the Galway County Development Plan, the test is now being applied to both public and private housing schemes in various parts of the Gaeltacht.
Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act to TG4 Nuacht this week show that 11 legal agreements have or are being arranged between Galway County Council and developers in relation to the language provisions.
The unsuccessful applicant was endeavouring to buy one of the units in the first private scheme to which the test applied - in Spiddal village. Under a legal agreement finalised with Galway County Council in July 2004, purchasers of 18 of the 29 apartments in the €10 million complex were obliged to pass a test to measure Irish language fluency. The applicant took the test in June and is critical of the fact she was only informed of the result in mid-July.
The local authority spokesman said the test mirrored that which was applied to applicants for Gaeltacht housing grants and consisted of a "rigorous chat" in Irish with two examiners. The spokesman said it took a "sympathetic" approach to candidates and an unsuccessful applicant would have a right to retake the exam.
An Bord Pleanála has indicated it supports the language policy, as reflected in several landmark rulings in April for housing schemes of more than one unit in the Connemara and Kerry Gaeltachts.
Earlier this week it also ruled that 60 per cent of a 27-house scheme in the Donegal Gaeltacht village of Falcarragh should be subject to the language provision. The appeals board said it would be guided by census figures for daily use of Irish in determining how many dwellings should be occupied by Irish-speakers.
Fluency will also be determined under existing standards set for Gaeltacht housing, relating to the head of the household rather than by any specific new test, the appeals board has ruled.
A Law Society Law Reform Committee report issued earlier this year found Irish language proficiency conditions attached to planning approval in Gaeltacht areas were constitutional, but those which discriminated against people without family connections to the areas were not.
The report added that planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála should also "be slow" to impose language conditions uniformly over a large area.