merrion street

Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dinny McGinley T.D., today 9 May 2014 announced that his Department is seeking recommendations regarding the most suitable towns to be designated Gaeltacht Service Towns under the Gaeltacht Act 2012.

Under the Act, Gaeltacht Service Towns are defined as those towns situated in, or adjacent to, Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas, and that have a minimum population of 1,000 according to the most recent census and that play a significant role regarding the provision of services to those areas. In addition, an organisation based in the town must be selected to prepare and implement a language plan in accordance with the language planning criteria prescribed in the Gaeltacht Act 2012.

The Minister said: "Considering the cultural and economic impact of the Gaeltacht on the towns which service it and the significant impact those towns have on the Gaeltacht itself, it is certainly worth looking at how this influence can be fostered by giving statutory recognition to towns as Gaeltacht Service Towns. Interested parties and the community will be given an opportunity under the consultation process I'm launching today to make recommendations regarding the towns they feel should be chosen as Gaeltacht Service Towns."

Following consideration of the recommendations, the Minister of State will decide which towns are to be selected as Gaeltacht Service Towns providing that language plans have been agreed with the communities of the various towns in accordance with the language planning criteria prescribed in the Gaeltacht Act 2012. Údarás na Gaeltachta or Foras na Gaeilge will be responsible for selecting organisations to prepare and implement language plans in the Gaeltacht Service Towns, depending on whether the town is situated within a Gaeltacht Language Planning Area or outside of it. The selected organisations will have a period of up to two years to prepare a language plan and then 7 years to implement the agreed plan.

Further information on the consultation process is available at

.

The deadline for submission of recommendations to the Department is 20 June 2014.