Government takes on EU over 'irish speakers only'

The Government has rejected EU criticism of planning rules in Galway which lay down that people wanting to build in Gaeltacht areas should have fluency in Irish. The rules also state that a proportion of new houses, or apartments, in Gaeltacht areas must be kept for Irish speakers. The planning guidelines, which demand that people must have Irish at what is understood to be approximately Leaving Cert honours level, came in for a slating in a letter which EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy sent to the Irish Government.Commissioner McCreevy…..