It might have just been the remnants of Hurricane Erin that hit the west coast on Monday, August 25th.
For the skippers of the ferries servicing the Co Mayo islands of Inishturk and Clare Island, the height of the waves crashing over the mainland pier at Roonagh near Louisburgh was certainly not expected as the summer season drew to a close.
Ironically, on Sunday, the previous day, the seas of Clew Bay had been more Mediterranean than anarchic Atlantic, with hundreds of visitors enjoying day trips to both islands.
It was a very different scene the following day, with a viral video of parked vehicles being bashed and shaken by the mountainous swell thundering over the quay walls and the lower car park. It not only highlighted the realities of rising sea levels and increasing storm activity but also the shortcomings of essential infrastructure for our island communities.
RM Block
After all, the Government’s Our Living Islands policy paper was launched by former minister Heather Humphreys in 2023 and its action plan for 2023-2026 is already approaching the final years of its aims: a key one of which is to “progress the priority island infrastructure projects in the National Development Plan”.
Indeed, to be fair to the Government, there was very good news down the coast for the community of Inis Oírr last month when Minister for Rural, Community Development and the Gaeltacht Dara Calleary accompanied by Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers visited the smallest of the Aran Islands.
They confirmed that €35.75 million in State funding will be provided for a new pier on the island. This necessary development was first mooted and progressed to planning about 23 years ago because of increased passenger numbers and significant safety concerns but the economic crash scuppered the much-needed infrastructure.
This is the largest investment in the offshore islands by this department. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2026 and will take two years to complete.
Speaking to The Irish Times this week, Antoine Ó Coisdealbha, the manager of Comhar Caomhán Teo, the island’s community development co-operative, welcomed how “engaged and positive Minister Calleary was about challenges facing island communities”.
“The pier extension will change the whole narrative of the quality of island life and the tourism possibilities. It is certainly one important step towards the facilitation of the 200,000 visitors who come to the island every year and will also open the possibilities for creating more long-term jobs,” Ó Coisdealbha said.
However, he emphasised the urgency of holistic thinking about island sustainability and development, citing the example of the inadequacy of public toilets built in 1987 to cater for the huge numbers of tourists, as well as the limitations of the sewerage system for the development of housing and tourism on the island.
“When people up and down the coast saw that video of what was happening to parked cars in Roonagh last month, you didn’t need to be an islander to conclude there is a breakdown in the process, which needs to have an integrated approach,” he added.
Of course, the smallest of the Aran Islands isn’t the only outpost awaiting harbour developments for decades.
Safety issues at Roonagh harbour have been highlighted to a plethora of ministers, including two who hailed from Co Mayo – former taoiseach Enda Kenny and now-retired minister Michael Ring – for more than 50 years.
Like his father and grandfather before him, Clare islander and skipper Alan O’Grady has been going to sea since he was in short trousers and can tell many tales about hairy times in Roonagh, with ropes and chains breaking and passengers being forced to jump on and off the ferry as a rolling swell breaks suddenly.
“On the day when [ex-hurriance] Erin hit the west coast, our three kids were due back to secondary school in Louisburgh the following morning. For us Roonagh has proved to be a total disaster really,” he said.
“Even though the island service offers up to four scheduled boats every day, we can’t rely on commuting from the island and we’ve had to rent a house on the mainland for the school term because our kids have medical issues.”
He said Jake (18), Emily (16) and Holly (13) “had just landed in Roonagh and walked up the quay on the evening of August 25th when all hell broke loose”.
“It was terrifying for them, and they are well used to rough seas,” he added.
The O’Gradys are not the only family forced to make the difficult decision to live on the mainland for the school term.
Clare Island community development co-ordinator Joanne Carroll confirmed that four families with three pupils who were attending the island’s primary school and two future pupils had also taken the difficult decision this school year.
Families should not have to choose between the safety and education of their children and their desire to remain on the island
— Joanne Carroll
“It is a devastating blow for a small community where every child counts. Two of those families, in particular, made this painful decision not because they wanted to, but because they felt they had no other choice,” said Carroll.
“They were forced to uproot their lives due to the lack of adequate infrastructure and support services, particularly around transport and safety for children commuting to post-primary school on the mainland.”
On a positive note, she confirmed that while there are now only eight island children attending St Patrick’s National School, a family with three children has moved to the island for the school year following an initiative by members of the community.
She said “families should not have to choose between the safety and education of their children and their desire to remain on the island”.
“Our Living Islands must be more than a document. It must be a living commitment, backed by timely, targeted action. Otherwise, it risks becoming a policy of slow decline rather than sustainable renewal,” Carroll said.
Inishturk native Anthony O’Toole urged the Government to implement “an equitable approach to infrastructure development across the islands”.
[ ‘It is past time for building a safe, all-weather pier’Opens in new window ]
“While the development of Roonagh Pier is a crucial component of this plan, it is important to underline that this project addresses only a fraction of the overall safety needs,” said O’Toole.
He said “unresolved risks” associated with Inishturk, which has a population of 56, “remain significant and unmitigated”.
“Public consultations, particularly those on Inishturk, have clearly demonstrated that the island’s breakwater project is the community’s top infrastructure priority,” he said.
Responding to questions by The Irish Times, Calleary, the Minister responsible for the islands, explained that “statutory responsibility for the development and maintenance of pier infrastructure lies primarily with local authorities, with annual funding from his department”.
In reference to the pier at Roonagh, he said: “Mayo County Council has conducted a tender process to procure engineering consultancy services to prepare a preliminary business case, incorporating a strategic assessment, for marine infrastructure improvement options at Roonagh pier.”
Up the coast in Donegal, pier problems come in a different shape for Tory islanders as they appear to be left in limbo about a feasibility study regarding key developments at their mainland harbour at Machaire Rabhartaigh.
“Donegal County Council was given the task eight years ago to carry out a feasibility study on the pier at Machaire Rabhartaigh before the Government could commit to the building of a dedicated ferry for the island,” said Marjorie Uí Chearbhaill, the manager of Comharchumann Oileán Thoraí, the island’s community development co-operative.
“As far as I am aware that study has still not been completed, as we’ve been told at meeting after meeting with them that they just don’t have the staff to carry out the study.”
It is now more than eight years since 100 islanders – two-thirds of the community – brought their campaign for a proper ferry service and infrastructure to Leinster House in Dublin.
Similar to Inishturk, Tory, which has a population of 141, is nine miles off the coast, with the crossing subject to difficult sea conditions over the winter months.
“We have just had a very good tourism season but the realities are that earlier this week, the scheduled ferry times had to be amended because of tides at Machaire Rabhartaigh,” said Uí Chearbhaill.
Calleary expressed his disappointment about the delays at Machaire Rabhartaigh, since the funding was provided by his department three years ago.
“I am pleased to note that the council has this week advised my department that it now intends to proceed with the studies and officials from my department are due to meet Donegal County Council next week to agree a timeline for completion of the work within 12 months,” he said.
On a positive note, Uí Chearbhaill confirmed that whilst some families have considered moving off the island because of such issues, they haven’t to date, with 21 pupils in the primary school and eleven in the secondary school.
The anthropologist Robin Fox once wrote that “Tory represents a hymn to the human spirit”: an accolade befitting of the country’s other island communities.
