Údarás na Gaeltachta has announced an initiative to bring vacant houses back to life and a co-ordinator for that purpose is to be appointed.
It is estimated that the rate of vacant homes in Gaeltacht areas is greater than the countrywide ratio.
Máirtín Ó Catháin brings us this report
A study by Údarás na Gaeltachta found that 11% of Gaeltacht houses were vacant. That is significantly higher than the national figure of 8%.
An effort is now getting underway to bring those Gaeltacht houses back to life, with a particular focus on areas that are losing population.
The Údarás wants to bring life to faltering communities by turning vacant houses into homes.
It is envisaged that some of those houses would be rented on a longer term basis and that the people who would move into them would be Irish speakers.
That would be a red line; it would have to be proven that Irish would be the language of the new home.
What the incentives might be for owners and prospective renters is not yet clear. However, a system of grants is mentioned in the initial announcement.
A co-ordinator is being sought and this person’s role will be to find houses and find occupants.
