Five native Irish speakers have lost a High Court bid to restrain a developer from selling a number of houses in a small housing development in An Rinn, the Ring Gaeltacht area of Co Waterford, to people without proven competence in written and spoken Irish.
Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill said that, as Waterford County Council had accepted that the first of the five houses in the development could be sold to a person with Irish to Leaving Certificate standard, it was not entitled to impose a higher standard on other purchasers.
The residents claimed the houses should be sold only to persons with proven competence in Irish and contended that having Irish to Leaving Certificate standard was not proof of the necessary competence.
The developer, Colm McGrath, of Tour South, Grange, Co Waterford, claimed he had been told by Waterford County Council that all that was required under the October 2004 planning permission for the development was for the purchasers of three of the five houses to be either natives of the Gaeltacht area or to be competent in written and spoken Irish.
He claimed a suitable benchmark for such competence was to have Irish to Leaving Certificate standard and that he had sold the first of the five houses in his development on that basis with the council's approval.
He claimed he was entitled to sell the remaining houses on the same basis, that most of the purchasers were local and that the houses were not being sold as holiday homes.
He alleged that the council, since the first house was sold last December, had sought to "move the goalposts" under pressure from some local residents and was now seeking to interview prospective purchasers in relation to their competence in Irish with the result that he was unable to sell on any more houses, placing him under financial pressure.
He claimed those others who were prepared to purchase the houses had Irish to Leaving Certificate standard and that this demonstrated competence.
The case relates to a small housing development on land at Cnocán an Phaoraigh Íochtarach, An Rinn, which was bought by Mr McGrath in June 2004 for €260,000. The court's proceedings were conducted yesterday through Irish, and translated into English by an interpreter.
The five local residents had sought orders compelling Mr McGrath to demonstrate to the planning authority that the purchasers of 50 per cent of the houses be competent in written and spoken Irish and/or fluent Irish speakers or native to the Gaeltacht area.
They sought orders restraining Mr McGrath from selling the houses until he meets the requirements of Section 25. After hearing both sides yesterday, Mr Justice O'Neill refused the application and awarded costs against the residents.
He said that what was at issue was compliance with Section 25. The council had approved the sale of the first house on the basis the purchaser had Irish to Leaving Certificate standard. While that was a low standard, the council was not entitled to apply a different or higher standard to the other houses.
