THE GRANTS TO renovate vacant and derelict properties on Ireland’s offshore islands should increase, according to Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien.
A total 14 applications for the grants were made last year.
From 1 July 2023, additional support under the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant was made available by government to support the refurbishment of vacant and derelict properties located on the islands to help bring them back into use.
The maximum rate of the grant payable is up to 20% higher for eligible vacant and derelict properties on qualifying islands.
This brings the maximum grant rates for refurbishing properties on islands up to €60,000 for the refurbishment of vacant properties and up to €84,000 where the property is confirmed to be derelict.
The maximum cost limits for the individual works categories are also increased by 20%.
14 applications for the grants have been made from islands to 17 December.
The announcement of the grants last summer generated headlines around the world, including in The New York Times and CNBC, which reported that the Irish government was providing grants for people to move to the islands.
The government was forced to clarify that the grants were not being rolled out to entice international applicants to relocate to Ireland.
The housing minister confirmed this week that he is committed to looking at “further increasing the grant for islands”, he said adding:
We should do that because of the additional costs for our islands. We want to make sure that island populations can be regenerated and rejuvenated.
The 14 applications from our islands “is not insignificant”, said the minister.
The grants are just one of numerous measures in the ‘Our Living Islands’ strategy – the first national island policy in 27 years.
The Journal reported in 2022 that Rural Affairs Minister Heather Humphreys had previously sent the islands strategy back to the drawing board, after stating that she would not publish a review until she was “satisfied that it contains credible actions that will make a difference to our island communities”.
It is understood that the minister wanted more housing measures and incentives included in the plan that would help boost island populations.
Population decline on the Irish islands following the Famine of the 1840s has been an ever-present threat for island dwellers, and is on the cards again as Census data points to worrying declines in recent years, as reported by Noteworthy in its recent series.
Arranmore, off Co Donegal, where the plan was launched last summer, was where islanders set up a 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 topping up of the refurbishment grant is seen as a mechanism that could held boost the population and encourage those that have left the islands to return.
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