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ATTRACTING YOUNG FAMILIES is one of the key solutions to the problems of depopulation and ageing demographics on our offshore islands.
This is exactly what the islanders of Arranmore off the Donegal coast set out to do with their Coming Home campaign – working to bring the country’s first offshore remote working hub to the island with connection speeds that would make any rural mainland dweller jealous.
In a bid to attract residents to the island, the islanders put out open letters appealing to the likes of Australians and Americans to swap the hustle and bustle of the city for a peaceful island life.
The campaign was a massive success, with endless enquiries landing in the inbox of the island’s community council, according to its chair Adrian Begley. However, the enquiries brought up another problem – housing.
“We probably knew at the back of our minds that housing was an issue [but] it didn’t really get highlighted until our story went viral and we had so many people wanting to move to Arranmore.
“And then it became quite clear that the housing stock wasn’t as plentiful as you would have thought it was. There needs to be initiatives put in place by the Government to make those houses available.”
This article is part of the ISLAND NATION series by Noteworthy, the crowdfunded community-led investigative platform from The Journal, examining depopulation concerns on our offshore islands.
House under construction on Arranmore Island Niall Sargent / Noteworthy
Niall Sargent / Noteworthy / Noteworthy
Top concern across all islands
Lack of housing on offshore islands is an EU-wide problem. This is all too true in Ireland, according to Rhoda Twombly, secretary of Comhdhail Oileain na hEireann or the Irish Islands Federation, a representative group for the offshore inhabited islands.
Unlike issues specific to individual islands, the threat of population decline directly linked to the housing shortage sprung up across all islands consulted by the Federation for its submission on the State’s new proposed islands policy. “The number one challenge is housing because if you don’t have housing, you can’t attract people,” Twombly said.
Building on the work of the Federation, researchers at University College Cork (UCC) are currently conducting a national survey to determine the level of housing needs on offshore islands.
While still in the early stages of data collection, researcher Dr Conor Cashman said the feedback from community forums reflects the findings of the Federation in their own 2021 survey. “It speaks to that issue of depopulation and the concern around what we need to do to sustain island communities,” Cashman added.
The pier at Bere Island - one of the West Cork islands facing a housing crisis Niall Sargent / Noteworthy
Niall Sargent / Noteworthy / Noteworthy
Cork islands at depopulation risk
The national island study is modelled on another UCC study on housing on the West Cork islands released last month. It found similar concerns raised across the islands of Bere, Sherkin and Oileán Chléire that combined account for 86% of the population of the West Cork isles.
The UCC report is the most comprehensive look at housing on islands to date, with 238 respondents pointing to a wide-range of issues including planning restrictions, affordability, lack of rental properties, unused State lands and derelict houses.
According to the report’s co-author Dr Siobhan O’Sullivan, the lack of affordable and good quality housing, alongside higher than average building costs on islands, is “causing serious risk to the ability of islands to sustain themselves and to prevent depopulation”.
“I’ve been working in housing research for some time and for anyone who’s facing housing precarity and insecurity, this is obviously a huge stress for people. Housing is a big security, and so, if you don’t have access to adequate housing, this has really significant personal and family impacts.”
John Walsh wants to see swift action on recommendations in the UCC report Niall Sargent / Noteworthy
Niall Sargent / Noteworthy / Noteworthy
Housing a ‘long-term barrier’
Residents on the West Cork islands have called for support to improve housing on the island for two decades. The 2002 Bere Island Conservation Plan, for example, stated that “affordable housing should be available on the island for all existing and permanent residents”.
Unfortunately this is still not the case, according to John Walsh, a man of many hats as coordinator of the Bere Island Projects Group, board member of the Irish Islands Federation and chair of the European Small Islands Federation.
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“We are trying to encourage people, particularly young families, to live on islands,” Walsh told us, but housing remains a “huge blockage” to getting young families to move there to counter an ageing population trend – a challenge to the ongoing viability of the islands as places to live.
Ali Curry and her family are one such example, moving to the island from London during the pandemic with her husband – whose family is from the island – and their two young children.
Taking advantage of the ability to work from home, having more space surrounded by natural beauty and being part of a tight-knit community were all driving factors for Curry.
“We love it so much,” she said. So much so that “we dragged friends and family here to celebrate our wedding” – creating a “mini-music festival” vibe on the island.
However, while Curry’s family are set-up well for the short-term, availing of a family home, they face barriers to their future on the island.
“We’re incredibly lucky because we can use this [family] home but for a family of four, long-term it’s not quite fit for purpose,” she said.
“There’s a lack of housing stock, there’s some quite restrictive planning regulations, and then you’re adding 30-50% [in costs] when you’re building on an island. So that’s a long-term barrier for us.”
Housing issues are impacting Ali Curry's plans to settle for good on Bere Island Niall Sargent / Noteworthy
Niall Sargent / Noteworthy / Noteworthy
Knock-on impacts
This is compounded by other issues, such as lack of childcare services after the island lost its creche several years ago, largely as a result of population decline over the years. This means that Curry and her partner were left in a position where full-time work for both of them was not feasible.
“There’s this whole vicious circle as people migrate out, services are reduced, making it less attractive to live here.
“There used to be a 24-hour nurse, the population went down, now it’s a Monday to Friday, nine-to-five nurse. So those [services] become diminished as people move out and then as the population decreases the island’s voice diminishes too,” Curry added.
This is a big fear of John Walsh, especially for the running of vital services such as healthcare and education.
“We’re lucky that the nurse is from the island, she has her own house, but if she retires tomorrow, and a nurse has to come in, there’s no place for her to go at the moment. And it’s the same as the [school] principal. They are renting at the moment and they can’t get a house.”
Private businesses on the island are also impacted, not least one of the island’s biggest employers, the Bere Island Boat Yard run by Gerard Sullivan.
Sullivan can have up to 20 people working at full tilt in the summer repairing and painting vessels. On a regular basis, he has seven or eight staff on the island and brings in another handful from the mainland.
The business has boomed since Sullivan constructed a cover for the dry dock business a few years back, operating in any season and ensuring vital year-round employment for islanders.
“We have to make a living, and people have to live and work here, so I think it’s critical that we have people from the area living and working [on the island],” he told us.
Yet, any further plans to grow are hamstrung by the lack of housing, with no long-term tenancies available. Luckily, Sullivan said that they managed to source accommodation last year for several staff, without which “we would have been in dire straits”.
He even managed to attract an island-native engineer back to Bere from Cork City, but only with the offer of housing. “If we couldn’t offer accommodation, he wouldn’t have come back, no matter how much money we offered him. Housing from our perspective is absolutely crucial.”
Lack of housing for staff is a constant issue for Gerard Sullivan Niall Sargent / Noteworthy
Niall Sargent / Noteworthy / Noteworthy
Related Reads
‘Fragmented and unpredictable’: Healthcare services failing island communities
High and dry: Offshore islands a footnote in State priorities
‘Call to action’
The UCC report has several very clear actionable recommendations including a full-scale housing audit to assess the existing housing situation for each island, alongside appointing a vacant homes officer who would also be responsible for tackling derelict houses.
Further recommendations include setting viable population targets for each island, greater provision of social and affordable homes, addressing precarity of renters and offering higher retrofitting grants to enhance the quality and energy efficiency of islanders’ homes.
The recommendations are not just something that the researchers want to see remain on paper, according to Elaine Desmond, co-author of the report, which she said is really a “call to action” with the risk of permanent depopulation “really acute on the West Cork islands”.
“More than half of islanders over the age of 18 completed [the survey] so it’s really important to us that these recommendations are seen as something to inform policy and to be acted upon,” she said.
Derelict house on Arranmore Island Niall Sargent / Noteworthy
Niall Sargent / Noteworthy / Noteworthy
“Housing policy needs to be innovative and diverse given the need to attract a diverse population,” Desmond said, and must be done in “collaboration with island residents”. This is all that islanders want, according to Gerard Sullivan.
“It is absolutely crucial for the future of these places to have a system that we can get accommodation that is affordable and a way for people to get on the ladder here,” Sullivan said.
If this doesn’t happen, he fears that “we’re not gonna keep them. And if we don’t, we’re going to get older, retired people here and that’s not going to lead to a very vibrant community”.
Not only will the communities be less vibrant, but UCC’s Dr Siobhan O’Sullivan said they may no longer exist as we know them today. “If housing isn’t delivered, along with other services to sustain the islands, there’s a risk they will just become sites of tourism rather than areas for full-time habitation.
“And then we’re going to lose that vital part of Ireland’s heritage, as well as having an obvious massive impact on people’s lives.”
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INVESTIGATING ISLAND DEPOPULATION - FULL SERIES OUT NOW
This article was developed with the support of Journalismfund.eu as part of a cross-border project with Jamie Mann for The Ferret in Scotland and Giacomo Zandonini for IrpiMedia in Italy.
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@bmul: it’s better for your health, better for the environment, better for your wallet, better for the other animals you share this planet with. There is widespread consensus among philosophers that factory farming is deeply immoral and many predict humanity will look back on this era akin to how we look back on slavery. Abraham Lincoln, an historical figurehead of independent free-thought kept slaves. Its very difficult to understand that the status-quo is wrong when youre amidst it.
@The Bull McCabe: Nobody minds what you eat. It seems that vegans merely talking about what they eat is a red flag to some meat eaters – is it because it is perceived as a call to conscience?
Stating that a vegan diet is necessary for the battle against catastrophic climate change is OK to say, as it is true. It’s no different from saying that a high meat, high fat diet is bad for your health. That doesn’t mean anybody is telling you what to eat – just stating facts.
Despite not being vegetarian or vegan, I completely agree with this, Bord Bia and Irish farmers should be viewing this as a new (and frankly lucrative) market. They should be future proofing their business, rather than spending money to maintain a status quo.
@PaleoIreland: exactly my point must have went over the head of the guy above. Also Irish produce supporting Irish jobs. That’s what’s actually sustainable.
@PaleoIreland: much less than a ship. Also avocado is a product of carbon dioxide absorption and reaches maturity way faster than lamb. Lamb emits carbon dioxide and methane during its life time. Avocado is the carbon footprint way to go byfar!
@Padraic Burke: And them lambs are supporting real jobs , jobs where min have to get outa bed, pull on a pair of boots and wrassel animals, shout ‘hulla, hulla hulla’, stand in gaps and discard fag buts. ..
What damn jobs does avocados support – a few wimpy lads smashing it on to sourdough toast with fennel seeds – these are not real jobs.
All the vegans in the world would never support a job that put bacon on the table.
@Paul A Whelan: no it doesn’t, it takes an avocado tree minimum 5 years to produce fruit. In the meantime it needs water and fertiliser to grow both of which consume energy and lots of without including cultivation and transportation. It’s a fallacy to think all fruit and veg production is carbon neutral.
@Padraic Burke: Can’t wait to see all the delighted faces at the Sunday dinner table when a roast avocado is presented with gravy, spud and carrots. Yummmm. Roast avocado and gravy just won’t sustain a ferocious appetite. Definitely unsustainable.
@Padraic Burke: do meat eaters abstain from eating avocados? Do vegans all eat avocados? I’m pretty sure avocado isn’t a substitute for lamb. Beans and lentils are more commonly used as a protein substitute as well as Tofu or seitan for some. We export most of our meat to other countries across the globe…it’s proven that the carbon footprint of a vegan is less than half that of a meat eater. I was quite ignorant myself to these facts until I educated myself a few years ago.
@Padraic Burke: Has it not occurred to you that the people who don’t eat meat for environmental reasons are the same people who go out of their way to buy only local produce where at all possible? D’uh!
“the countless challenges that vegetarians and vegans face on a daily basis.” that could be very easily remedied… but they would rather talk down to people and try to convince others to have to deal with these challenges too.
@Shannon Mcg: you’re right it could be easily remedied by offering veggies and vegans a bit more choice and diversity! It’s a proper pain in the behind when no matter where you go your options are limited to pasta in a tomato sauce or a veggie stir fry!
@nikki: I’m all in favour of veganism and vegetarianism, but no, no, no, I’m sorry: the limits on your options are your own doing – you made a choice to restrict your diet to particular types of foods. You cannot therefore complain that you have limited choices when eating out. That’s the logical result of restricting your diet FFS.
Thank you Eva for writing the article. I got this question too when I turned vegan. I provided the reasons: health, cruelty-free, environment friendly. My husband and I will never go back eating animal products again, but that is our choice. We don’t go around trying to convince people to change their diet and we hope people respect ours too. I genuinely believe that people are becoming more aware of the effect of meat and daily in our body and the environment though. We can even see this by the increasing of vegan products in the supermarkets and by the options in the restaurants.
@Vanessa Boschetti: Being a Vegan is not enviormentally friendly, how is it?? Do you know how much water is used to water the trees? also, to grow vegan food they use very very little perennial cropland, thus it’s wasting land that could be used for food, to feed people.
@Lisa Byrne: Meat production requires a much higher amount of water than vegetables. As average, to produce 1kg of meat requires between 5,000 and 20,000 litres of water whereas to produce 1kg of wheat requires between 500 and 4,000 litres of water. Not to mention the deforestation around the world for beef farming.
@Vanessa Boschetti: not totally environmentally friendly trees have to be cut down to make room for a more diverse range of crops thus depriving the atmosphere of co2 filters ie trees and also destroying natural habitat of countless species of animals.
@Vote4Pedro: but not as many as are being cut down for meat production or to grow the crops that go to feed cattle. And I’m not a vegetarian. There is no form of food production that is totally environmentally friendly, but meat production is the most harmful. Add to that the growing antibiotic resistance in humans, largely fuelled by the amount of residual antibiotics in the meat we eat, and meat eating is way more toxic than a vegetarian diet.
@Vanessa Boschetti: the plant based lifestyle u mentioned is as bad as a meat eater sorry to say but being a silly farmer what would I know where are all your plants grown cereals and vegetables how often are the fields planted in one year with different crops and no earth worms in those fields killed with chemical fertiliser s to make them grow chemical s used to kill of weeds and then sprayed at end of each crop for next cycle your crops are only growing because of the volume of chemical fertiliser and sprays but killed 90% of the farmers true friend the earth worm .. not including the heavy machinery used the compaction on the land where the chemical s are coming from
, the countless challenges that vegetarians and vegans face on a daily basis.
What challenges?
I don’t eat meat and can’t think of a single challenge when buying or preparing food.
The only challenge I can think of is when meat eaters expect me to start lecturing them about how ” meat is murder “….well it’s not and I could care less if someone eats meat or not.
@Mill Lane: snap, vegetarian for going on 20 years and I don’t face any daily challenges. I hazard a guess that the only people who face so called challenges are people who endeavour to seek out challenges.
@Zmeevo Libe:
Most restaurants are more than happy to make meat free versions of items on the menu where possible.
Sometimes all you need to do is ask.
@Mill Lane: my missus ordered the vegeterian burger in a Galway hotel, what she got was two big mushrooms on a burger bun with a bit of garnish. When she queried with the waitress, the reply she got was ‘What,were you expecting meat?’
Going by the authors figures there is about 700 vegans in the country. I could of sworn there was a he’ll of a lot more of them given the amount I’ve heard and number of posters up
@Adrian™: “Bord Bia estimates that 8% of the Irish population are now vegetarian, while 2% are vegan” is the quote from the original article which is linked in this article. But you are right that it is badly phrased here.
Thank Eva for writing the article. As a vegan I got asked this question too and I provided a list of reasons (health, cruelty-free, environment- friendly, as some of them). My husband and I will never go back eating animal products again and we genuinely believe this is the future, as more and more people are realising what the consequences of doing so cause to our bodies and the environment. However, I’ll never go around and try to convince people of becoming vegan. I respect people’s opinion and I hope the respect mine too.
I’m a vegetarian and think it’s harmless enough, we’re unlikely to change I guess but I don’t mind filling in a questionnaire or knowing that one exists…
I think it is impossible to be a vegan for the reason for caring about animals, it’s impossible not to be a hypocrit.
Medicine; New medicine treatments that are tested on animals that could have potential to lessen the symptoms of alzheimers, or parkinsons, if they had sucj illnesses would they refuse this medication?
And what about medicine that has already been tested on animals that are out now that help cancer patients, will they refuse the medication?
What about college? if they got accepted to trinity college and say DCU, will they choose the college that does less testing on mice? Trinity College does an awful lot of testing on mice, trinity uses thousands of animals for research purposes.
What about vegans who eat vegan food but go to restraunts that serve meat, do they protest?
What about food bought in a supermaket, do food they boycott all food manufacturers who also deal in meat and meat by products even though they make Vegan options? they don’t shop there.
what about vegans who use any sort of oil/;petroleum by products, because Oil companies are displacing many natural enviorments of aquatic creatures.
My point is, it’s hard to be a vegan on the grounds of animal cruelty without being a hypocrit.
And the bees, what about all the bees they are killing so they can drink their almond milk??? How do vegans square that hole????
@Lisa Byrne: What you’re calling hypocrisy is really the difficulty of perfectly following an ethical imperative in a broken system. Most vegans understand that they cannot completely avoid the exploitation of animals, because we live in a world where animals are simply seen as a resource to be used to whatever ends, or as an obstacle in the way of those ends.
One should never avoid trying to do what is right simply because perfection is unattainable.
@Lisa Byrne:
Its not binary. Its a scale. Start by eating meat less than 3 times a day. Then try meatless Mondays, and continue from there. Even the most extreme vegan still contributes to animal cruelty and environmental damage. The key is to not criticise, but encourage those who are lower down the scale.
@Lisa Byrne: did you forget to take your meds? You need to do some research.
The W.H.O website
Documentaries on Netflix
What the health
Conspiracy
Documentaries on YouTube
Earthlings
Land of hope and glory
Gary yorofsky
If you are ill (autoimmune, diabetes, cancer, etc) you need to quit pork (sausages to sweet gelatine) salmon (farmed or wild), microwaved popcorn and Pringles altogether as they exploit physical weakness and hinder / prevent healing. Pork is the biggest issue as pigs have an unusual way of eliminating toxins and bacteria (they do not sweat like other animals). If you are sick, take my word for it, quit all pork to the point where you gotta ask the person at the deli counter to wash the knife before making your non-pork sandwich. No chips from the chipper either unfortunately, they most likely have been fried in oil that also cooked cocktail sausages, etc… Happy healing! Pass that on to Bord Bia if you like :)
@Sara McSweeney: yes, but I’d rather you do the work! You’ll learn so much along the way. FYI the popcorn issue comes from the package internal coating leaching into the food when the microwaves hit it. Wild salmon is as toxic as farmed & has four issues; Mercury, bad cholesterol, PCPs and radiation (the latter mostly Pacific). Pringles have a bunch of chemicals that could cause cancer cells to develop overnight in immuno-compromised. Pork is the main one, we’re accustomed to the toxins and don’t notice them as long as we’re healthy and detoxing effectively….
@Sara McSweeney: Proving the pork one is easy if you have a damaged immune system. Quit all food from the piggy for six months, go find a cafe beside a hospital and order a big fry! Anyway I hope these posts help someone to heal…
Thank you Eva for writing the article. I got this question too when I turned vegan. I provided the reasons: health, cruelty-free, environment friendly…I could go on. My husband and I will never go back eating animal products again, but that is our choice. We don’t go around trying to convince people to change their diet and we hope people respect ours too. I genuinely believe that people are becoming more aware of the effect of meat and daily in our body and the environment though. We can even see this by the increasing of vegan products in the supermarkets and by the options in the restaurants. I’m delighted with that ;-)
@Vanessa Boschetti: I guess you never worked or lived on a real farm . As u have no idea the damage growing crops does to land and every insect and earthworm thats killed for those crops ..
You know alot of vaccines such as polio was researched and developed by using animal testing, I suppose vegans would be opposed to vaccinations on the basis they are cruel to animals. Children are also immunised against typhus, diphtheria, whooping cough, smallpox, and tetanus. Untold millions of people around the world are healthy adults because of these vaccines, which were made possible through animal research. But vegans of course would never ever dare to vaccinate their kids because of the inhumane cruetly to the animals that were used in the developing
I hate when vegans/vegetarians make a big deal out of their food. What they will and will not eat. i dont eat meat , my family do, i cook for them all the time i just eat the vegetables/salad whatever i dont make a scene about it. i have never ordered a special meal at an event or flying. Just eat or order the vegetables or salad or both. Stop making a fuss … nobody cares just get on with it
Veganism/vegetarianism are very unhealthy diets inasmuch they are very low in the fat soluble vitamins A, D, And many B vitamins and calcium. What we need is ethical omnivorism based on pollo-pescetarianism. This is what the data tells us is the most sustainable and nutritious diet which is much better for the environment
Decent article and while I’ll eat pretty much anything (flesh or foliage); I get annoyed myself when I hear that question being ask: “why you dont each meat”?
The same though for the militant vegans and vegetarians who harass; which happened to me at a wedding a few weeks back (a most vegetarian-spread but they DID have beef for those who wanted it). I was the only one at my table to order this but the comments; looks and snide remarks wouldnt stop all day.
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Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
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