EU questions Irish regulations that prevent non-locals from moving in
DUBLIN: P. J. McGoldrick cannot live on land he owns five miles from his birthplace in County Sligo in the west of Ireland. He isnt local enough.
The former chief executive of the Irish budget airline operator Ryanair Holdings was denied permission to build a seafront cottage in Carrowdough. Local planners favor farmers from the immediate area when granting permits, thwarting McGoldricks dream of retiring to the place where he swam as a boy.
“I thought, My fathers turning in his grave at this, ” said McGoldrick, 67, whose relatives are buried in County Sligo. “We were devastated.”
Twenty-three agencies in rural Ireland are pulling in the welcome mat with locals-only laws that require potential house builders to have jobs in their areas or even to be fluent in Gaelic, according to the European Commission. Opponents of the rules say they unfairly deny people like McGoldrick the chance to enjoy the fruits of successes achieved elsewhere.
The commission, the European Unions executive agency, is examining the restrictions to determine whether they breach an EU treaty that grants citizens of member nations the right to settle anywhere in the region.
“Its unconstitutional in every way,” said Jim Connolly, a founder of the Irish Rural Dwellers Association, which is campaigning to change the rules. He estimated that about a quarter of all applications to build in rural areas were rejected under the criteria.
“Im hoping EU law will put an end to it,” Connolly said.
Seosamh OCuaig, a council member in County Galway on the west coast, is among those who favor the restrictions.
Many applicants are city dwellers who want to build second homes and that, he fears, would clutter up the countryside and cause house prices to rise beyond the reach of local people.
“This would open it up to every Tom, Dick and Harry with money,” OCuaig said. The agency he serves on, the Galway County Council, tests the Gaelic skills of prospective house builders in Irish-speaking areas, known as the Gaeltacht, to help protect the language and the culture.
Average house prices in Ireland have more than tripled to \301,267, or $424,515, since 1997, fueled by the fastest economic growth in the euro region. In the capital, Dublin, prices have almost quadrupled to \411,069.
The number of vacation homes doubled from 1996 to 2006, and now represent 2.8 percent of the housing stock. Local newspapers have popularized the term “bungalow blitz” in reference to the property boom.
A proliferation of detached homes in rural Ireland would overload power, sewage and road networks and make it more difficult to provide services to residents, according to the government.
Under guidelines issued in 2005, planners were told by the government to favor applicants who were an “intrinsic part” of the rural community, like farmers and other full-time workers. Consideration should also be given to the effect development in the Gaeltacht would have on the survival of the Irish language, the government said.
Dennis Lillis said the locals-only rules had kept him from relocating closer to his elderly mother. His request to build in Kilcarrig, County Carlow, was rejected in April, even though the plumber and his wife lived two kilometers, or 1.25 miles, away.
“I was born and raised a mile down the road,” said Lillis, 38. “Its disgusting that you cant build next to your own mother.”
In June, the EU asked the Irish government to explain the objectives behind the rules. The request was spurred by a complaint from an unsuccessful permit applicant in County Wicklow, on the east coast, where planners favor those who have lived in the immediate vicinity for 10 consecutive years.
“Citizens from other member states will very rarely be able to claim former residency or presence of family members,” the European Commission said in announcing its request. “Moreover, they may wish to pursue activities which do not fall within the limiting list” that allows access.
This isnt the first time the EU has questioned a countrys planning rules.
Austria was required to change its guidelines after joining the bloc in 1995. Previously, foreigners were not allowed to buy homes in the western region of Tyrol unless it was their main residence. Now all EU citizens, including Austrians, are barred from buying or building new vacation homes in Tyrol, which borders Italy and Bavaria in southern Germany.
Ireland responded to the European Commission on Sept. 28, according to a spokesman for the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. He declined to give details.
