New Laois developments requested to use Irish placenames
Councillors are calling for fifty per cent of new housing estates built in Laois to have Irish place names
THE Portlaoise municipal district has been requested to ensure that a minimum of 50 per cent of new developments bare Irish names.
The official reply from the municipal district naming committee stated: Currently, the naming of public residential estates will be approved by the memorials committee of the planning authority in line. The developers must submit place name and reasons for their choice. In general, the naming of streets and residential places shall reflect the local place names and people of note shall incorporate old place names as much as possible. The use of bilingual and Irish language signs will be encouraged. It is intended that this policy will be reviewed every five years by the naming committee."
Fine Gael Cllr Paddy Buggy first detailed his reasons for the proposal in Irish before addressing the chamber in English. He made the case that there was a growing number of people nationally who wanted to speak Irish and that it would easier for people to do so, psychologically, if more signs and places bore Irish words, giving them greater cause to use the Irish language in their day-to-day lives.
He said: "What I'm proposing here will not make everyone speak Irish. It will introduce Irish into everyday use and this will be of help to those who speak it. And I hope that the spirit of what this motion is about will be taken on board by the committee and more Irish names be given."
Cllr Tommy Mulligan also supported the proposal and said: "Place names give a sense of heritage, a sense of tradition in an area and I think it's vital as a country that we have these place names."
