Eastáit na Sí

...de la Irish Times:

Ghost Estates are a recent phenomenon. Housing developments lie empty throughout the country, thanks to the magical disappearing act of the Celtic Tiger. Being a recent Irish phenomenon, it has taken a little time for Irish language wordsmiths to come up with a translation.

“Eastáit na Si” or “Fairy Estates” is, of course, open to misinterpretation in today’s sexually-oriented parlance, but is an elegant Gaelicisation of this modern landmark feature and can be linked to the longstanding regard in which the Irish have held the “little people” or those from an “domhan eile”…

...My proposal is to designate a number of these estates as new Gaeltachtaí. There hasn’t been a new Gaeltacht, officially, since 1956, when the current boundaries for the Irish- speaking areas were set in legislation by Patrick Lindsay, the then Minister for the Gaeltacht.

There have been other attempts to establish Gaeltachtaí by dedicated communities in Cork and Belfast and these have had spectacular success with a significant benefit to society as a whole – though they haven’t received official recognition…