Campaigners want solution to Gaeltacht housing crisis
Protesters gathered in Cork this week calling for immediate action to resolve the ongoing Gaeltacht housing crisis.
On Monday, Gaeltacht communities in Donegal, Galway, and Cork gathered outside the offices of several institutions which play a key role in housing in the Gaeltacht.
The Cork protest took place outside Oifig Údarás na Gaeltachta, Páirc Ghnó Bhaile Mhic Íre, (Ballymakeery).
The protests were part of the Tinteán campaign, a national, grassroots Gaeltacht housing initiative launched in October 2024.
The campaign is a coalition bringing together individuals, community groups, local campaigns, and organisations who have long been campaigning for a solution to the Gaeltacht housing crisis.
“Tinteán is rooted in the local Gaeltacht communities all over Ireland, who have come together with one united voice,” a spokesperson for the group explained. The campaign asks that the statutory power and the necessary resources, both current and capital, be given to Údarás na Gaeltachta to establish a housing section to enable it to purchase land, obtain planning permission, and provide necessary services in order to develop housing for Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas.
It also asks that funding be made available annually to the Department of the Gaeltacht to operate the Gaeltacht housing grants scheme again pursuant to the Housing (Gaeltacht) (Amendment) Act, 2001, to provide support for Irish speakers who would like to build or renovate a house in the Gaeltacht.
Another recommended action as part of the campaign is that strong Gaeltacht planning guidelines be published and implemented in relation to the statutory duty of the county councils regarding the preservation of Irish as a community language in the Gaeltacht.
The campaign’s final request is that a Gaeltacht Population and Housing Strategy be drawn up for each Gaeltacht Language Planning Area with clear, measurable targets set out to ensure the sustainable growth of the Gaeltacht communities, and to ensure an appropriate supply of housing to support that growth.